TIMELINE - History of the Church

• St. John is part of the Arch Diocese of Louisville
  
• 1800's
• In the early 1800's
• Priests serving the Diocese of Bardstown rode the mission circuit and visited the scattered Catholic families in Meade County about once a year. In 1824 Rev. Elisha J. Durbin began to attend to the congregation of St. Theresa, near Rhodelia, about once a month. Rev. John Thomas O'Connor became the resident pastor of St. Mary of Pazzi in Payneville and was also entrusted with the care of Brandenburg. Rev. O'Connor locally erected a church on West Hill in Brandenburg and placed its people under the patronage of St. George.
• 1892-1901
• The early St. George records, November 19, 1892 stated, "On Tuesday, November 15 St. George Catholic Church was dedicated to the service of God." The first baptism (Eleanor Hardesty Brown on September 17, 1899), the first marriage (Romanus Burch and Lela Craycroft on September 7, 1899), and the 1st burial (Agnus Malin) on March 11, 1901).
• 1900-1920
• St. George Cemetary established in 1902
• Land donated by the Sebastian family along Hwy. 448.
• 1919-1920 The first church was struck by lightning in 1919 and destroyed. A new building was also struck by lightning in 1920 and once again destroyed. Due to these tragedies, except when the priests celebrated the Eucharist in individual homes, the people attended Mass in neighboring parishes.
• 1957
• Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity Were assigned to St. Mary Magdalen and thus, took over the care of St. John the Apostle Mission. The Trinitarians served St. John's until 1982, when diocesan priest once again served the parish.
• 1931-1950
• St George becomes a mission of St Mary Magdalen of Pazzi
• A large contribution was received from John Kelly of Philadelphia, the father of Princess Grace of Monaco, through the Catholic Extension Society. This allowed for construction of a church building on Old State Road. In gratitude, the church was placed under the patronage of St. John the Apostle in honor of Kelly's patron saint. Mass was celebrated there on Sundays and Holy Days.
• 1948-1949
• The church was enlarged to double its seating capacity. and in 1950
• Reverend John Floersh purchased 19.6 acres of land in anticipation of future growth-the site of our current parish.
• 18 August 1960
• Rev Lambert Stack
• St. John the Apostle became a parish Rev. Lambert Stack, S.T. became the first pastor. A rectory was erected in 1964. An elementary school opened in 1965 and was staffed by the Augustinian Sister from Malta. The former rectory on Old State Road served as both a convent and school building. The school closed in 2005.
• 1998 - Present
• Parish renovations
• The parish undertook a new model of parish Leadership with the appointment of Sr. Justina Heneghan, R.S.M. as Pastoral Administrator and Rev. Philip Erickson as Sacramental Moderator. A parish center was added in 2000, which was blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Thomas Kelly, O.t. Father Paul Beach was assigned to serve both St. John's and St. Martin of Tours in 2005, followed by Father Anthony Chandler in 2008. In 2016 a brand new Narthex was added.
• Our current pastor is Father Michael
• To be Continued...