100th Anniversay Celebration
1920s
St. Anne Church became a parish in November, 1923, after 200 Catholics in Lancaster presented a petition to Bishop Philip R. McDevitt for a church in the north section of Lancaster City. One month later, the first Mass was celebrated by Bishop McDevitt in the convent chapel (currently the Parish Library) on December 16, 1923.
Read more in the first installment of the Centennial Chronicles covering the 1920s.
1930s
The cornerstone of the new church and school was laid on Sunday, October 5, 1930 at a special ceremony held at Duke and Liberty Streets. Clergy and a large group of Catholics from other parishes in the city joined with St. Anne’s parishoners. The church was founded in December 1923 with Father Thomas McEntee as the pastor. The first seven years the church and St. Anne School, which was founded in 1924, met in a former private residence at the corner of Duke and Liberty Streets.
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the Centennial Chronicles edition for the 1930s.
1940s
On December 1, 1948 over 600 persons attended a Mass marking the 25th Anniversary of St. Anne’s. The Most Rev. George L. Leech Bishop of Harrisburg presided over the ceremony and was joined by 60 priests. According to the Lancaster New Era of December 1, 1948 Bishop Leech “saluted the local parish which was founded in 1923 and paid particular tribute to the late Rev. Thomas McEntee founder and the first pastor.”
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the 1940s edition of the Centennial Chronicles.
1950s
The blessing of automobiles was quite popular throughout the decade and was tied in with the Feast of St. Christopher, the patron saint of safe driving. Throughout the decade, each July hundreds of cars would be lined up to be blessed. The above picture from 1959 shows Father Maurice Sullivan, a Passionist Priest of Pittsburgh being assisted by Father Ronald Haney, who was Assistant Pastor of St. Anne's. The altar boys in the background are Michael Hahn, Frank Christoffel and Thomas Showalter.
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the Centennial Chronicles edition for the 1950s.
1960s
Parish Membership Grows Rapidly
In The Decade
The 1960s saw a rapid increase in membership which would require the parish to increase the size of the school twice, as well as purchase property on North Duke Street for a possible future expansion.
Between 1959 and 1960 the church saw an increase of 279 members to a total of 2,177 parishioners. The parish had more than doubled in size since the 25th anniversary in 1948.
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the 1960s edition of the Centennial Chronicles.
1970s
St. Anne Parish Welcomes Vietnamese Refugees
In April 1975, the South Vietnamese government collapsed and the country was occupied by forces of the Viet Cong and the Communist North Vietnam government. Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese fled their homeland and many came to the United States. Various churches and other humanitarian groups in Lancaster County helped in sponsoring refugee families for settlement. On June 17, 1975, the parish of St. Anne welcomed Linh Dinh, his wife, Mai Thi, and their three sons, Thien, Duc and Danh. They arrived from Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County and took up residence in the upper floors of the convent.
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the Centennial Chronicles edition for the 1950s.
1980s
The parish underwent a series of enhancements to the worship space in the 1980s.
The church had been renovated in 1978 and 1979, which moved the orientation of the altar to its present location. In December 1979, a 9-foot by 13-foot sculpture created with steel, bronze and copper was placed over the Tabernacle in the newly renovated church. The sculpture by Stan Lipman, a local artist and teacher, was entitled, The Burning Bush and the Tree of Life. The artist remarked, at its dedication as reported by the Intelligencer Journal on December 26, 1979, "May this work enhance the Holiness of the Sanctuary it graces, so that you who worship here in this parish church may encounter the presence of our living God."
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the 1960s edition of the Centennial Chronicles.
1990s
Parish Begins Annual Christmas Dinner
After serving Thanksgiving Dinner for twenty years to local residents in 1992, the parish added a free Christmas Dinner for individuals who would be alone or had nowhere to go for a holiday meal. When the parish began the Thanksgiving Dinner in the 1970s, no other parish or community group was serving the meal on such a large scale. As the years went on, more churches and organizations added Thanksgiving Dinners. In 1992, the parish decided to add Christmas Day along with the traditional Thanksgiving meal. In 1994, the parish shifted resources and only offered a Christmas meal since many other organizations had filled the needs for Thanksgiving Day. The meals attracted hundreds of people who would be served by volunteers from the parish, as well as numerous community volunteers. This community outreach continues to this day.
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the Centennial Chronicles edition for the 1950s.
2000s
Church Sanctuary Refurbished
During the summer of 2002, the church’s sanctuary was remodeled. Completed under the direction of pastor, Rev. Gerald Lytle, the project updated the worship space which had been last renovated in 1978. That year, the orientation of the altar was moved from the south wall to the east wall of the church. Planning for the 2002 project had begun three years prior and the total cost for the work was around $300,000. Members of the parish raised the money with many small donations. Cathy Trusz, Pastoral Assistant, was quoted in the Lancaster New Era, “It didn’t depend on any large contributions. The people really wanted to refresh our worship space.”
Read more about St. Anne's parish in the 1960s edition of the Centennial Chronicles.
