Bishop O'Hern named the Mission Chapel of St. Helen, dedicated in 1930, in honor of his mother, Helen. For the first ten years a priest offered only one Mass from St. Augustine's Church. St. Helen Church became a parish in 1940. The first Pastor, Father J. Beecher Sullivan, lived in the rear of the church until the rectory was built. A room in the church was home to our school until the school building was completed in 1956.
With $250,000 in pledges, construction of a new rectory and church began in 1959 with work completed and the church dedicated in 1962 at a final cost of $350,000. Sadly, two years later Father Sullivan died after nearly 25 years of parish service.
Monsignor Patrick J. Flynn became Pastor in 1965. The parish continued growing and through our parishioners' support, school programs expanded, including a pre-school program and a cafeteria. Our Parish Council was formed, people participated more fully in our liturgies and the Country Fair and Bingo were established to help maintain the school program. Father L. John Hedges became pastor in 1978. Working together, the Staff and Council expanded parish life. Our Religious Education Program was firmly established and our first Pastoral Associate joined the staff. Having greatly developed the pastoral dimension of parish life, Fr. Hedges retired in 1988 and his successor, Fr. Michael J. Bausch became pastor the same year. For the first time in forty years, St. Helen no longer had a Parochial Vicar (assistant pastor). The change fostered new staff positions, e.g.: Outreach to the Elderly Director, Liturgy/Music Director and Youth Minister. Major church renovations were also completed reflecting the vision of Vatican II. Father Bausch was assigned to another parish in the summer of 1994 and Nancy DeRycke became St. Helen's Pastoral Administrator. On July 1, 1996, Fr. John A. Firpo became our pastor. On June 24, 2008 Fr. Malachy Nwosu (Eloo) became pastor.
Looking to the future, our consistent hope is to live the Spirit of Vatican II and to ensure that in faith our community continues to grow as the "People of God". Since 1999 we are part of the Covenant Catholic Community of Gates-Chili that includes: St. Pius X, Holy Ghost, St. Theodore, and St. Jude.
We have committed ourselves to a "Strategic Plan" that has us collaborating with these other Catholic parishes in the Gates-Chili area. This plan is an expression of our parish's viability and dedication to the ministry of evangelization, outreach and service. Today, St. Helen Church is a Community of approximately 1150 families. Our identity and strength is realized and fulfilled in the living presence of Jesus Christ and His Gospel.
We value our past, we celebrate the present and we are confident in our future. St. Helen remains strong and vital because of the faithful work and dedication of our people and the spiritual leadership of our Pastoral Staff.
