Our History

Established: 1957

Ground was broken for the church and rectory as a new site for Incarnation parish in 1956. When the buildings were ready in the Fall of 1957 it had been decided to make it a separate parish for the developing residential area.             

St. Luke’s parish had as its founding pastor Father Patrick L.
Bradley, S.S.J., the man who built it but never lived in it. He was a Josephite missionary of long
experience, deeply loved and admired by the people he served in many parishes, especially old
Incarnation Church and at the new St. Luke’s. Associated with Fr. Bradley were his young assistants, Fr.
Joseph Rimshaw, S.S.J., Fr. Robert W. Sweeney, S.S.J., and Fr. John Crotty, S.S.J. They put the first days of
planning and toil into the new parish. Archbishop Patrick O’Boyle had selected a convenient tract of land
in the 4900 block of East Capitol Street and Fr. Bradley and his associates commenced planning in the
construction of the church.

The parish was finished and dedicated on September 22, 1957 by Archbishop O’Boyle. Fr.
Stephen Hogan became the first permanent pastor of the new St Luke Church. He brought his vast
organizational and pastoral experience in establishing a spiritual foundation for the parish. Along with
Fr. Rimshaw, who knew the parish and the people in a very special way, they were a team of determined
hard workers. They organized the major church societies and the parish socials. They began a census of
the area along with an education program for the children through C.C.D.