Bishop to preside at 25th anniversary Mass

Bishop to preside at 25th anniversary Mass

Bishop Matthew Clark will preside at the 10:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday, August 5, to conclude celebrations honoring the first 25 years of service to the church in Hamlin and the wider community. A parish picnic will follow the celebration of Mass on the church's grounds at the corner of Brick-Schoolhouse Road and the West Fork of Lake Road in Hamlin. This will conclude the parish's celebrations of 25 years.

The parish was the first of two begun by Bishop Clark. On February 10, 1982 the parish was formed to help serve the increasing Catholic population in Brockport, Hilton, Hamlin and Kendall. Reverend William J. Amann was the first pastor.

The first Mass was celebrated in Pogroszewski's barn at the corner of Lake and Lawrence Roads on Ash Wednesday in 1982. Services were moved to Warner's Railroad Depot in Hamlin with the first Mass celebrated there on the Vigil of Easter, 1982. In 1983, 15 acres of land were purchased at the present church site. Ground was broken by Bishop Clark on May 6, 1986. Construction began in June, 1987 with the first Mass at the church site in September 1987, in a rainstorm on the occasion of "The Rock Party," when parishioners brought 220+ tons of stones and rocks from the fields and the seven continents of the world.

The name of the parish was chosen to honor St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, a widow and mother who founded the American Catholic free parochial-school system and started the Sisters of Charity.

For information call Rev. William Spilly at 964-8627 or e-mail StJohn@aol.com.