Building Up the Body of Christ - As members of one body, we strive eagerly to follow our Lord, make disciples, seek out the lost, share fellowship, love our neighbor, and above all worship God.
At the turn of the 1900’s all the Catholics in this area traveled to Moorestown for all their religious functions.
- 1919 the Catholic population of Maple Shade was large enough to have its own parish, and in May, Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish was formed and the boundaries assigned. Father Dineen celebrated the first Mass in the silk mill on Stiles Avenue. This building served as a church until the growth of the parish demanded larger quarters.
- March 14, 1920, Mass was celebrated in the auditorium of the school on Poplar Avenue which was rented from the Board of Education until April 3, 1921.
- October 11, 1920 ground was broken for the first church which seated about 300 on Main Street between Poplar Avenue and Fellowship Road.
- April 10, 1921 First Mass was celebrated in the new church. The cornerstone was laid by the late Most Reverend Thomas Walsh, Bishop of Trenton, on April 24, 1921.
- September, 1928, school classes were held in the church building in Maple Shade for the first four grades. During these years, the Sisters of Mercy came from St. Mary’s in Camden to instruct the children in Christian Doctrine.
- May 14, 1929, Father Leo Dineen was appointed first permanent resident pastor. Work was begun immediately on an addition to the church and four additional classrooms. (The first graduating class was that of 1930.)
- September 1936 the Convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph was dedicated.
- April 18, 1955 ground was broken by Father Nolan for the new church. A Georgian colonial style, this beautiful church could seat 900.
- November 4, 1956 the church was dedicated and blessed by the late Bishop Ahr.
The church seeks but a solitary goal: to carry forward the work of Christ Himself under the lead of the befriending Spirit. “To serve and not to be served”. "Ministrare non Ministrari"
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