St. Faustina Parish and its formal beginning on January 4TH, 2021 is the result of what was a very prayerful and thoughtful process that took years to realize. The name given by Bishop Zubik for this endeavor was called, “On Mission for the Church Alive!” The first steps in the process began in July 2015 when the Bishop, along with his staff and members of the laity from across the Diocese, came together to present what were then called “models,” to Bishop Zubik. These “models” were groups of Parishes in the same geographical area that were established with the goal of one day taking the models and merging each Parish in that model to become one new Parish. We know from experience that this word, “models” was later changed to the word, “groupings.” The initial “groupings” of Parishes were then discussed, analyzed, and provided to the faithful for feedback and consultation. After much prayer and consultative work with the faithful, Bishop Zubik formally announced the official Parish Groupings in the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2018. Each Parish in our Diocese was impacted by the establishment of these Parish Groupings. Here in our geographical area of the Diocese we became known as the “Parish Grouping of Northern Butler County.” Throughout the last two years this was how we identified ourselves. The Parishes in our Grouping were St. Alphonsus Parish in West Sunbury, St. Christopher Parish in Prospect and St. Peter Parish in Slippery Rock. It is an important point to note that in the Roman Catholic Tradition the word “Parish” means a group of the faithful that come together in prayer and worship of God and the “Church” means the actual physical building that prayer and worship takes place. St. Alphonsus Parish included the Church buildings of St. Alphonsus Church in Murrinsville, Epiphany Church in Boyers, and St. Louis Church in West Sunbury. St. Christopher Parish was made up of one Church building in Prospect. St. Peter Parish in Slippery Rock was made up of St. Peter Church in Slippery Rock and St. Anthony Church in Harrisville. St. Alphonsus Parish was established on August 6, 1993 as part of the Diocesan revitalization program and was formed by the merger of the above-mentioned Churches. St. Paschal in Argentine was also part of this formal merger but was closed before the official implementation phase of the “On Mission for the Church Alive!” began. The origin of St. Christopher Parish can be traced back to 1944. It was at this time that local Catholics in Prospect requested that a priest from nearby Zelienople travel to offer Mass in Prospect. In 1946 the mission that began in Zelienople was transferred to Butler at St. Paul Parish and then finally in 1974 St. Christopher Parish was established. The founding of St. Peter Parish can be traced back to 1934 at which time the then Bishop gave permission for a priest from St. Fidelis Seminary in Herman to begin visiting Slippery Rock to celebrate Mass in Grange Hall. Finally, a Church was built and dedicated in November of 1938, but it was not until 1955 that St. Peter Parish was formally established. St. Anthony Church in Harrisville can be traced back to 1908. It in 1993 as part of the Diocesan revitalization program that St. Anthony church was merged with St. Peter Parish. In October 2018, Father Adam M. Verona was appointed as the Administrator of the “Parish Grouping of Northern Butler County,” which included all the names of the communities above mentioned. After two years of prayer, working together and coming to know one another the formal merger of our three Parishes took place and was approved by Bishop Zubik in October 2020. Following an extensive consultation process with the members of our Parish Grouping Bishop Zubik named the new merged Parish St. Faustina! On January 4, 2021 St. Faustina Parish came into existence with Father Adam M. Verona as the founding Pastor. While our Parish covers an extensive geographical area, we know that our shared faith in Christ in the Eucharist unites us all! As we now move forward together, we commend our efforts to the Divine Mercy of Christ and the intercession of St. Faustina!