Add an Article Add an Event Edit

The Church Of Saint Edward The Confessor

785 Newark-Granville Road
740-587-3254

St Edward the Confessor Parish began in 1946 when Bishop Ready bought the Dr. C.J. Loveless property at the comer of Broadway and Pearl Streets, the current site of one of the Granville Inn's parking lots. Monsignor Joseph R. Casey, who had been assigned the job of establishing the new parish, said the first Mass in the house's parlor on July 20, 1947. At the time, there were thirty-five families in the parish. Over the years, gradual remodeling of the house led to the addition of a completely furnished chapel capable of accommodating seventy people. Those renovations took place under the shepherding of subsequent pastors: Monsignor Herman E. Mattingly, Father Leonard Scannell, Monsignor Francis Schwendeman and Father Vincent Moody.

In May of 1954, with Father Augustine L. Winkler acting as the parish priest. Bishop Ready undertook construction of the current Church of St. Edward the Confessor, laying the cornerstone on October 30th of that year and celebrating the church's first Mass on March 20, 1955. The rectory and the original parish hall were completed later that Fall. During the subsequent pastorship of Father Ambrose Metzger from 1961-1970 St. Edward's continued to grow. In 1972 St. Edward's began implementing the documents of Vatican II. Under the leadership of Father John M. Fulcher, eight parish commentators and lectors were installed as lay distributors of Holy Communion. They were: Egbert Fisher, Eugene Gray, Joseph Lombardo, Eugene Murphy, Herbert Murphy, Anthony Skufca and Philip Stukus.

In the 1970's and 1980's, during the pastorates of Fathers Arvids Bemans and Thomas Lowery, the parish community continued to grow. Consequently, under the guidance of Father Lowery, ground was broken for the construction of ten classrooms and a new parish hall which was completed in 1984 and blessed on May 19th of that year by Bishop James A Griffin.

The 1990's saw the arrival of Father G. Michael Gribble, first as administrator and then as pastor of St. Edward's. This period saw a continued growth of the parish to over 800 families. In 1991, with the help of Barbara Doran and Patricia Chojnicki the RCIA process to bring adults into the Catholic Church was implemented here. The Knights of Columbus established the St. Edward's Council Number 10,876 in 1992 and they continue to serve the parish and the community. Margery Hendy and Barbara Hinterschied helped to make the former Altar Society more relevant to the needs and lifestyles of our current parishioners. This resulted in the formation of the Mary/Martha/Ed Ministry. The purpose of this ministry is to reach out and meet some of the spiritual, physical and social needs of the parish in a personal way. The parish has been divided into 7 geographical areas to encourage neighborhood contacts and to promote a spirit of community.

The 90's also saw an increased involvement in working in the soup kitchen of Holy Rosary/St. John as well as the mission in Waverly. St. Edward's became the annual host for the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Worship Service and has supported from its' inception the Ecumenical Cross Walk on Good Friday. The Ecumenical Vacation Bible School continues to thrive. Most recently, under the leadership of Suzanne Baker and the help of Rachael Scholten our children's choir has been formed.