Mission:

The counsel that Our Lady gave to the waiters at the Wedding Feast in Cana of Galilee is the biblical foundation for the title of our parish; The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel. The parish is legally incorporated in the State of New Jersey. The legal title is "The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown."

As disciples of the Lord Jesus, we are a community called to do whatever He tells us under the patronage of Our Lady of Good Counsel. The Roman Catholic tradition of the Diocese of Trenton provides the context in which we live out this call. As a parish community we emphasize:

Meaningful worship of the God who blesses us constantly,

Religious education, especially of our children,

Caring response to the cry of the poor at home and abroad,

Strong commitment to the sacredness of human life.

History:

In 1832, James and Fannie Laverty, recent emigrants from Ireland, settled on a farm in Fellowship (on a parcel of land that is now occupied by Exit 4 of the NJ Turnpike). The Laverty's home soon became one of the regular stops for itinerant missionary priests who served the scattered Catholic families of the West Jersey area. This gathering of the Faithful soon outgrew the Laverty home. One of the out-buildings was turned into The Chapel of Our Lady and St. Patrick and ministered to by the priests from the Immaculate Conception Parish (now the Cathedral) in Camden.

So rapid was the growth of the Catholic community that in 1852, Saint John Neumann (then bishop of Philadelphia which encompassed at that time all of the West Jersey area) directed that Mass be said at The Chapel on the regular interval of once a month. In 1866, fire destroyed The Chapel and the community acquired a parcel of land on the main street of Moorestown for their new church. Because of strong antipathy toward Catholics, a third party had to be engaged in the person of Peter Verga of Camden to negotiate the transaction. When asked what use he had for the land, Verga responded that he was acting as an agent for one who would open a business of repairing souls. Thinking only in terms of a shoe repair shop, the seller readily signed over the deed. And so in the Summer of 1867, a brick church was built in the heart of the village of Moorestown.

On February 27, 1879, Bishop Michael A. Corrigan of the diocese of Newark elevated the status of The Church of Our Lady and Saint Patrick from that of a mission-church to a parish with a resident priest. Sometime in the early 1890's, the building sustained such damage from a "wind storm" that a new and larger church was necessitated.

On July 14, 1895, the corner stone was laid and sixteen months later the new church was dedicated under the title of Our Lady of Good Counsel. The same imposing edifice built of Stockton gray stone graces Main Street, Moorestown, today. But the Parish has grown beyond all the dreams of those early settlers.

Today, Good Counsel Parish, which encompasses most of Moorestown and a portion of Mount Laurel, consists of over 2800 Catholic families. The Parish maintains a parochial school with an enrollment of over 530 students from Nursery School to Eighth Grade. A Religious Education program is also provided for 800 students in public schools. True to the spirit of the early settlers of Our Lady's Church, the parishioners of Good Counsel today are filled with a sense of ministry and service that is nurturing the growth of the Catholic Church in our own generation.