Saint Kilian, Adams/Cranberry Townships

Parish History

St. Kilian was founded in 1920.  The beginning of the parish can be traced to 1917.  In that year a mission church was established in Mars at the request of the local Catholics.  This mission was served by priests from the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.  The first Mass of the new mission was celebrated on March 18, 1917.  Initially masses were celebrated once a month in Robertson Hall, a former hotel.

In the spring of 1920 the congregation purchased an abandoned Free Methodist Church.  The building was renovated and repaired and was dedicated on December 5, 1920.  However, the parish was still served by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine until August of 1924 when the first resident pastor arrived in the parish.

On July 4, 1935, fire struck the church.  Quick work by the local fire department saved the building, although it was heavily damaged.  While repair work was done on the church, Masses were held at Mars High School. 

Over the years the church has been renovated and enlarged.  However, the explosive growth in population in southern Butler County beginning around the turn of the century caused the congregation to outgrow its existing church.  On July 4, 2015, ground was broken for a new church building.  The completed church was dedicated on September 25, 2016.

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. Kilian Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parish.   This ended on July 1, 2023 when St. Kilian Parish merged with Holy Sepulcher Parish, Glade Mills to form the new St. Mark the Evangelist Parish.  As part of the merger St. Kilian Church remained open as part of the new parish.