Parish Registration

Welcome, all members to our new parish family!

Please note, there was no automatic transfer of records during the recent parish merge. If you are from St. Josaphat’s, St. Mary’s, or St. Lucy’s parish, and would like to join The New St. John the Baptist, please call the rectory at 215-482-4600  so that we may transfer your information to the new parish database, or download the form below.   We want to keep your information active as a Manayunk parishioner.  Thank you.

THE NEW SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH

PARISHIONER REGISTRATION FORM

Masses are Monday – Thursday at 6:30 am, Saturday Vigil at 4:00 pm, and Sunday morning at 9:00 & 11:00 a.m, & 6:00 pm.  Confessions begin at 3:00 pm before the Saturday Vigil mass.  Our church is handicapped accessible, on-street parking is available, and our parking lot is behind the Rectory.

All are encouraged to participate  fully in both the spiritual and social life of St. John’s, and  join our parish  Ministries & Organizations.  If you would like to share your talents, organize or chair a Parish Organization, or just want to become more involved and informed, please contact the rectory.

Please notify the rectory if you are moving from the parish, or if you have changed your address or telephone number.

A Brief History of St. John the Baptist Parish and Church

The tenth oldest parish in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, St. John the Baptist Parish started in the small milltown of Manayunk, and the parish founders were Jerome and Eulalia Keating.  In the winter of 1829-30 it is believed that the first Catholic Mass in our area was celebrated in the Keatings’ home (the former convent on Cresson St.), and Eulalia Keating was said to have held a weekly Sunday school for a dozen or so neighboring children.

Eventually when about 20 families were attending, Jerome Keating proposed the start of the parish and made a gift of the ground for the church and cemetery, which opened 1831. The rapid growth of the church and beginnings of a school became too small for the manufacturing town, calling for the building of a new cathedral-like church.  The current church was designed by architect Patrick Charles Keely of New York.  It was dedicated on April 1, 1894 and built at a cost of $250,000 with help of the local community.  Over the following decades it was outfitted with interiors, the stations and many of the sculptures the work of eminent sculptor Joseph Sibbel of New York.  The church organ is the original from 1906, and may be heard at our Sunday 11:00 mass.

It is believed our cemetery has buried more Civil War Veterans than any other small cemetery in our country.  Our school buildings served both a Girls’ High School and elementary school.  The Parish Hall, or Social Hall, once served as a place where mass was said for other neighboring parishes’ beginnings, during their Church’s construction.  When visiting our Social Hall, please note our Honor Roll, listing our parish veterans who served our country during World War II.

A printed, fully detailed history of our parish including historic photography, timelines of our parish and its beginnings, architectural history, dates and changes in the town of Manayunk, is available for purchase at the Rectory and was printed during our 175th Jubilee in 2006.  Call 215.482.4600 for details.