Grand Junction - St. Brigid

The first Catholics came to Greene County in about 1855. During the early years, the spiritual needs of the people were administered by the priests from Des Moines and Fort Dodge.

At the end of the 1860s, the priest from Boone had charge of the territory.

St. Brigid's became a parish in 1873. It is not known when the first Mass was said in Grand Junction, or in what year the first church was built, which was located between the former rectory and the former school.

The second church was built in the 1880s by Father M.J. Quirk and was located about three blocks west, because the grounds were rather low and wet near the old church. Later this ground was tiled and drained. In 1885, Father Quirk's assistant, Father McGrath, established Mt. Calvary Cemetery several blocks south of the church property.

Father Patrick C. Kenny arrived to assist Father Quirk in 1888 and by 1894, he had built a church in Paton, which was destroyed by fire and completely rebuilt in 1895. In 1896, he moved the St. Brigid's Church to the site east of the rectory. Supposedly it was the first brick building in Iowa to be moved.

Father Quirk built the first rectory. In 1888 he contacted the Sisters of Mercy in Cedar Rapids about teaching classes to the area children. He volunteered the rectory as a convent for the sisters when St. Mary's Academy welcomed approximately 40 students on Oct. 28, 1888. In 1902, a two-classroom wing was added. Previously, in 1898, Father P.C. Kenny had built a new rectory, which was in continual use until 1988.

Electric lights and the stations of the cross were both installed in the church in 1908. Father John Phelan (1909-1920) followed and Father William Veit, Father Joseph Mallinger and Father T.J. McKenna all served the parish during the years of 1920-1943.

Father Henry Meyer and Father C.A. Knobbe served from 1943-1967.

During Father Phelan's pastorate, the name of the church was changed from the Swedish spelling of St. Bridget to St. Brigid of Ireland. St. Mary's Academy was closed in 1962 after serving the needs of the people in the St. Brigid's community for 85 years.

Father Albert McCoy (1967-1968) and Father Peter Fransco (1968-1976) also were assigned to St. Brigid's. From 1976 -1988 the parish was served by the following priests: Father Robert Daugherty, Father C.T. Flannery, Father Jerome P. Coyle, Father Blaise C. Schumacher, Father Bruce LeFebvre and Father Alan Reicks.

St. Mary's Educational and Recreational Center was constructed and dedicated in 1972. The parish celebrated its centennial in 1973.

Ground was broken for a new church in September of 1986. The new church was built in the summer of 1987. A year later St. Brigid's became clustered with St. John's Paton, St. Columbkille's and St. Patrick's of Churdan. The cluster is under the stewardship of Father Donald Slaven. For the first time since 1888, there was no resident pastor in Grand Junction.