Holy Redeemer

Holy Redeemer parish was established on February 5, 2000.  The parish was formed by the merger of the then two existing parishes in Ellwood City, St. Agatha and Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The merger was the result of a study begun in July 1998 by a committee consisting of members of both parishes.  The study looked at the parishes' ministries, demographics, finances, worship and buildings.  The study concluded that the declining population and shrinking economy meant that Ellwood City could no longer support two independent parishes.  Since both parishes already shared priests and several ministries, a merger of the two parishes was the logical next step.  This merger took place on September 5, 2000.

At first, both churches remained open and served the new parish.  It soon became obvious, however, that the parish could not support two churches.  On September 8, 2007, St. Agatha was officially closed and Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary was renamed Holy Redeemer.

An additional change to the parish happened in 2011.  On April 1, 2011, a fire struck Queen of Heaven Church, Koppel.  Before repairing the church building, the diocese conducted a study to determine the needs and resources of the local Catholic community to determine if the church should be repaired.  Based on the study, the diocese decided to merge Queen of Heaven Parish into Holy Redeemer Parish.  The merger took place on November 26, 2011.