Saint Christopher, Prospect

Parish History

St. Christopher was established in 1974.  The origin of the parish, however, can be traced back to 1944.  Before that time, the small community of local Catholics had to travel to Butler, Slippery Rock or Zelienople for Mass.  In 1944, some local Catholics approached the pastor of St. Gregory in Zelienople about celebrating Mass in Prospect.  The bishop gave permission for St. Gregory to establish the mission.  The first Mass in Prospect was celebrated on November 26,1944, in a private home.  Until the next summer, a priest traveled from Zelienople twice a month to celebrate Mass.  This was discontinued on August 19, 1945, when the home where the Mass was celebrated was sold.

In January of 1946, the pastor of St. Paul, Butler, requested permission to revive the mission in Prospect.  Permission being given, Mass was celebrated in a closed school building beginning on February 17, 1946.  Land for a church was purchased on December 8, 1948.  In 1949, St. Paul tore down the "white building," a building that had variously been used as a church, youth center and social hall.  St. Paul donated the lumber from the building for a church for St. Christopher.  A parishioner of St. Christopher took charge of constructing a church, which was built with volunteer labor.  The completed structure was dedicated on July 16,1952. 

In 1974, the parish was formally established and a resident pastor assigned.  The church was later renovated in the mid 1980's.

With the turn of the century, trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh began to reveal a decline in Mass attendance and sacramental participation.  At the same time, the number of priests available for parish ministry also began to decline.

To address these challenges, Bishop David Zubik announced on April 12, 2015 a new diocesan initiative, On Mission for The Church Alive!, a consultative strategic planning process designed to foster viable, sustainable and vibrant parishes.  As part of this process, the Bishop, in consultation with the faithful, began to consider new models of parish life based on pastoral needs, financial and temporal resources and available clergy.

In 2018, following the period of consultation, parishes were grouped together and served by a single clergy team to eventually form one new parish.

During this transition period, St. Christopher Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parishes.   This ended on January 4, 2021 when St. Christopher Parish merged with St. Alphonsus Parish, Boyers/Murrinsville/West Sunbury and St. Peter Parish, Slippery Rock to form the new St. Faustina Parish.  As part of the merger St. Christopher Church remained open as part of the new parish.