Parish History

On February 29, 1976, in the spirit of love and fellowship, hard work, and a lot of fun, St. Vincent de Paul Church community was born. Father Philip L. Johnson was appointed founding pastor and our first Mass was celebrated in the mini-warehouses on Arkansas Lane in space on loan from the Knights of Columbus. A Parish Council and a Finance Committee got to work and the vision of St. Vincent de Paul was on the way. Financing was arranged and the land for the church was purchased. A rectory was also purchased and it was furnished in early garage sale motif.
 The long-term vision of the parish campus began to take shape when construction began on the multi-purpose building. We moved in a little ahead of schedule, Christmas 1977. This building was home for everything from Masses to weddings, classes to seminars, dances, taste tests and, of course, everybody’s favorite, Doughnut Sunday.

In the first year the women of the church formed the Ladies of Charity, now called the Women’s Guild. The men of the church soon followed suit and formed the Men’s Club. Over the history of this parish, these two organizations have grown in service and fellowship supporting the church and the community. Many parishioners have given time as Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist, ushers, lectors, counters, and office ministers though the years of our parish. Early groups like the Ministry to the Sick, Starting a New Life, the Grief Ministry, Morning Mass Group, and Empty Cradle offered opportunities for our members to be active in our community. Our social action committee cooked for the night shelter, sponsored the blood drive and flu shots, and supported many local charities that work with the less fortunate. Over the years many groups have been formed to serve the needs of the parish and our local community. 

Our faith formation programs have grown from teaching a handful of children to reaching everyone from 2 yrs old to senior citizens. Part of building community is the faith formation  of all our members. We offer many opportunities to our parishioners during the year for classes, talks and gatherings to grown in their faith.

Construction began in October 1983 for a building to hold the main church to seat 1,000, a chapel, offices, classrooms, and nurseries. On November 4, 1984, the building that we worship in today was dedicated. In the past, there have been times when we have been bursting at the seams with community. Sometimes our resources have been stretched so thin we could bearly meet our immediate needs and we put our vision of the future on hold. But throughout our history, there have been times when we could fulfill our dreams, for ourselves and for our children, both physically and spiritually. 

In the spring of 1999, we underwent some improvements to add more seating in the church, provide more meeting space, and an activity center to meet the needs of everyone in the parish. After 25 years as pastor, Father Johnson was assigned to a new parish.

 Father Thomas J. Craig joined us in June 21, 2001, and served here until June 2016. He was a wonderful addition to the parish and helped to continue the growth of the parish and our ministries. He helped add to our parish ministries and encouraged opportunities for faith formation programs to flourish.  On July 1, 2016, Father J. Michael Holmberg became our pastor. He worked hard to move our parish forward as a stewardship parish.  Fr. Holmberg retired from St. Vincent on July 31, 2018. 

 Father Philip Brembah joined St. Vincent on August 1, 2018.  Since he has joined us we have changed out the crucifix in the church, we have added a few devotionals - the rosary before Mass in May and October, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, and Friday adoration. Father Philip has also been instrumental in our parish starting its first capital campaign: Revive, Revere, Reach, in over 20 years to update the church. 

 In August of 2023, we started construction to update the interior of the church. Construction finished in May 2024. We had our dedication Mass on May 7th. The updates to the church include a cupola in our narthex, new flooring throughout, all-new sanctuary space and furniture, new pews, and the baptism font at the front of the church.