Celebrating 75 Years: Our Lady of Peace Parish

The big picture of history is composed of the myriad pixels of ordinary lives and communities that quickly become forgotten with the passage of time. Something like an anniversary provides an opportunity to look back to what has been and to remember. This year, Our Lady of Peace Parish in New Providence celebrates seventy-five years of history serving the Catholic community of the area.
It is now hard to believe that Catholicism began its American history in the thirteen original colonies as a banned and often persecuted religion. Then came the revolution and religious freedom. In 1790, John Carrol was installed as the bishop of Maryland, the first and only diocese in the United states. Twenty-five priests served under him. The census of that year showed there were fewer the 65,000 Catholics in the newly founded republic, a mere 1.6% of the population. New Jersey did not grant Catholics full rights as citizens until 1844! In 1853 Pope Pius IX established the Archdiocese of Newark to include all New Jersey, formerly divided between the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Philadelphia. The early history of American Catholicism is the history of European immigration to this country; the history of the Archdiocese of Newark is the history of poor Catholic immigrants who built churches and schools.Puritan settlers first arrived in the area that included present-day Summit, Berkeley Heights and New Providence in 1720. The abundance of wild turkeys led them to name their new home, rather unimaginatively, Turkey Town, a name that was thankfully abandoned in favor of New Providence after the collapse of a balcony in the crowded Presbyterian Church in 1859 without injuring a soul. Sixty years later, in 1919, about four benches worth of local Catholics, predominantly Italians attracted to the area by work in the great local greenhouses and long taxed by the trek to St. Teresa’s Church in Summit, happily celebrated their first Mass in the old Council Chambers of New Providence Borough Hall, rent-free, as the newly created mission named Our Lady of Peace in recognition of the termination of hostilities of World War I.
Within a year, the local Catholics had built a tiny church from recycled wood from a local ballpark on the property now occupied by Old Glory Restaurant. The mission church was serviced by priests from St. Teresa’s. Senior members of Our Lady of Peace Parish still remember attending Mass in this quaint little church, and some of the lovely stained glass windows that once decorated it have been restored and now grace the foyer of the present-day rectory. Catholics continued to settle in the area, and on June 5th, 1942, in the midst of a second World War, the Archbishop of Newark proclaimed the elevation of the congregation from mission status to that of Parish of Our Lady of Peace.
The ever-increasing number of parishioners soon necessitated a larger facility and in 1952, the present property on South Street was purchased. A school building with a basement to be used as an interim church was completed in 1954. In 1961, another building was constructed as an auditorium/gymnasium/cafeteria for the school and yet another interim place of worship awaiting the completion of a separate church. The first Mass in today’s church in the round was celebrated at Midnight on Christmas 1966.
On June 10, 2017, Our Lady of Peace parish celebrates seventy-five years of serving the needs of its parishioners within the context of the greater community. But a parish is so much more than the bricks and mortar of the physical structure; it is the life of men, women and children of faith coming together to worship and work, to pray and play. It is the memories of those who have been and the legacy of those who are yet to come.
Our Lady of Peace remains committed to education, and today, the Academy of Our Lady of Peace continues its tradition of academic excellence within the parameters of a Christian community with programs beginning with Pre- K3 through Eighth grade. Before and After School Care helps relieve the burden on working parents. For children not attending the academy, there is a vibrant Religious Education program, and for teens, a youth program, Bold.
Rallying around the gospel message to be good stewards of time, talent and treasure, ministries for adults offer opportunities to serve not only the parish, but the “least of Christ’s brethren” in the community, the archdiocese, country, and indeed, world. The groups of Small Christian Communities provide a spiritual and social intimacy within the context of the large, 1300 family parish.
On Saturday, June 10th, under the leadership of the pastor, Father William A. Mahon, Our Lady of Peace Parish will celebrate with pride and joy, seventy-five years of doing the Lord’s work with a five o’clock Mass celebrated by Joseph Cardinal Tobin followed by a gala under a tent on the front lawn.