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History In the text below, click on the picture to see a larger version. Click the BACK button to return here.
The Early Years Bishop Paul Reding established St. Luke's as a parish on September 21, 1975, with Father Alex J. Kramer as the founding pastor. Previous to his assignment to St. Luke's, Father Kramer had been principal of Cathedral Boys' High School. "In the early days of the parish," recalls long-time parishioner Pat Brennan, "Father Kramer pretty much operated the parish out of the trunk of his car.'" Originally, the church property was part of the Harris farm. Several current parishioners who lived in the area in their youth remember the farm having livestock, fruit trees, grapes, and other fruits and vegetables. The farm stretched from Mt. Albion back to the Red Hill Valley. The farm house, which Father Kramer lived in until the church was built, was located where the parking lot, south of the rectory garages, is today. The first Mass in the parish was September 21, 1975, in the gym of St. Luke's School. The school had been built a few years earlier. Each week volunteers would set up and take down the seating in the 'chapel'. The make-shift altar, lectern, and offering table were all stored in the equipment room. Baptisms, weddings, First Holy Communions and Confirmations where held there. Homemade felt banners hung over the altar on the north wall, between the basketball nets.
Laying of the Cornerstone occurred on August 13, 1978, then following a busy fall construction schedule, the Blessing and Opening of the Church followed four months later on December 17, 1978, with Bishop Reding officiating. In three three years and three months from the time the parish had been established, it had grown from three hundred families to over eight hundred. Today is stands at over 1600 families.
To be continued ...
Spiritual Legacy
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