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Welcome to St. Patrick Church, Carlisle, Pennsylvania!
From the Pastor and parishioners of St. Patrick, thank you for visiting our on-line site. We hope these pages will help to familiarize you with our Parish, School, diverse ministries, and organizations. We continually endeavor to add more information, so visit us often! St. Patrick is located in Carlisle and has two church buildings. The historic "Shrine Church:, plus the rectory and church offices, is located downtown Carlisle, home of the U.S. Army War College, Dickinson College and Law School. The other is a post Vatican II church located at Marsh Drive outside of town (South Middleton Township) and includes our Elementary school and social hall. Recently we restored the former convent next to the downtown Shrine Church that offers a Perpetual Adoration Chapel for our parishioners plus additional office and meeting space. St. Patrick church traces its history to Revolutionary times, forming a congregation in 1779 and is the first church in America named in honor of Ireland's patron saint. Our first church was a log structure built in 1784 and a brick church was erected on the present site in 1806. That building gave way to a new foundation designed and erected by Reverend Doctor Henry Ganss and was dedicated in 1894. A fire in 1923 destroyed most of the building and the present church was rebuilt within one year. Our parish was visited 12 times by St. John Neumann, and was financially assisted by St. Katharine Drexel who established a mission school for Blacks and Indians at the turn of the 20th century. Through the benevolence of St. Katharine Drexel, the current rectory was built originally as a convent and school. The All-American athlete and Olympic track star Jim Thorpe was married in our present Shrine Church Sanctuary. St. Patrick has been a rapidly growing community needing a larger worship space, thus by 1971 a second, larger church was built outside of town on Marsh Drive. Our school also experienced rapid growth and a new facility was built in 1985 at the Marsh Drive complex. The site is also the future home of a new Parish Activity Center which will include a gymnasium, nursery and multi-purpose room for our ever expanding families. We welcome visitors and newcomer, collegians and military, young and old, single or married, and invite you to "catch the Spirit" of our parish family. May you come to feel at home in our community and grow in the love of Jesus Christ. The Parish of St. Patrick |
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