Parish Notes '100th' with New Church
September 10, 1971
New Milford – The 100-year-old St. Francis Xavier Parish will dedicate a new church on Park Lane here this Saturday, Sept. 11, at 11 AM.
Archbishop John F. Whealon will dedicate the new church and celebrate the dedication Mass. The Archbishop will also give the homily.
The new church replaces an old wooden edifice on East Street which has served the parish for most of its history. The parish celebrated its 100th anniversary last May.
According to Father Robert E. Sanders, pastor, the parish has been using the new church since June. The old church is up for sale.
The new church, located about a mile and a half from the old. is of contemporary design with simple lines. The exterior walls are of a composite material simulating fieldstone trimmed with redwood.
The building is square in shape and has a capacity of 650 in the main nave, with room for 300 more worshippers in the social hall, which opens into the nave by means of sliding partitions.
The sanctuary is located in one corner of the square. The other corners are occupied by the baptistry, sacristy, parish hall and kitchen.
A feature of the interior is a unique set of stations of the cross, handcrafted by artist Ines Ryan out of “found materials,” cast-off everyday objects.
The sanctuary and aisles are carpeted.
The new structure was designed by Robert H. Mutrux of J. Gerald Phelan Associates, of Bridgeport. General Contractor was the Morganti Construction Co. of Ridgefield.
A nine-room pre-Revolutionary house adjacent to the new church is being renovated and enlarged for use as a rectory. According to Father Sanders, the new rectory should be ready for occupancy by Christmas.
In the early 1850’s the Catholics of New Milford were served by visiting priests. They then came under the jurisdiction of St. Rose’s Parish in Newtown. The pastor at Newtown, Father Francis Lenehan, bought land on East Street here and converted an old mill on the site into a temporary church which was dedicated in 1860 by Bishop Francis P. McFarland in honor of St. Francis Xavier.
The church remained a mission of Newtown until May 21, 1871. It was made a separate parish, with Father P. G. McKenna as the first pastor. Father McKenna built a permanent church on East Street which was to serve the parish for 98 years.
Succeeding Father McKenna as pastor through the years were Fathers Maurice Herr, Martin Lawler, William Hart, P. H. Finnegan, William Bray, James J. Gleeson, James C. O’Brien, Charles McElroy, Jeremiah J. Curtin, Timothy Crowley, Thomas J. Kelley, T. J. Cronan, James
J. Egan, Daniel J. O’Connor, Joseph H. King, Walter F. Kenney, Michael F. Martin, Francis P. Heavren, and the present pastor, Father Sanders.
In 1928 Father King purchased a local academy for girls and made it over into a parish school. The parish school on Elm Street was enlarged in 1955 by Father Martin.