Our History
In 1885 Louisville Bishop William McCloskey appointed Rev. Bernard Westermann to establish a new parish in the fast growing Highlands area just outside the city along the Bardstown Pike. There is no record of why a parish serving German farmers and staffed by diocesan priests was named for Francis of Assisi. Nevertheless by March of 1886 construction was started on a new frame church at the corner of Bardstown Pike and Bishop’s Lane (which has since been re-named Rutherford Avenue.)
Only four months later, on July 4th, the new church was dedicated. There were about forty-five families in the parish at the time. Next to the church were a wooden rectory and a frame, two-room schoolhouse staffed by the Sisters of Mercy.
By the early 1900’s many of the farms in the area were being sub-divided and the Highlands were becoming a suburb. Bishop McCloskey established St. James church near by in 1906 to serve the growing English-speaking population. However things were changing fast at St. Francis, and English soon replaced German in sermons and in the classroom.
In 1921 Rev. Theodore Reverman was appointed pastor, and soon began planning a new church and school to serve the fast-growing population. The new school building, housing a temporary church, was dedicated on July 4, 1925, the fortieth anniversary of the dedication of the original church. Two days before the dedication, it was announced that Father Reverman had been appointed bishop of Superior, Wisconsin. It is Bishop Reverman’s ornate chalice that our parish continues to use for special feast days.
By 1936, when St. Francis celebrated it’s fiftieth anniversary, it had grown into a community of 650 families, with 533 students in the school. Plans were made in 1941 for a new church building that would face Rutherford Avenue, but when the United States entered World War II later that year, those plans were put on hold.
It would not be until July 4th, 1950, the sixty-fourth anniversary of the dedication of the first church, that the cornerstone would be laid for the current church under Monsignor Edward Link. Meanwhile, the original plans were abandoned for the English Gothic style church that stands today.
Throughout the 1960’s and 70’s St. Francis changed most through the implementation of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. A long tradition of excellence in liturgy led eventually to a new altar, blessed sacrament chapel and organ for the celebration of the centennial of the parish in 1986. More fundamental changes though, came in the expansion in the ministry of the people. New structures like the parish council and finance council were implemented early on. St. Francis became involved in ecumenical outreach through organizations like the Highland Community Ministries. And the parish staff expanded to include deacons and lay professionals.
Now in the 21st century, the parish of German farmers has become a thriving, diverse urban community that actively seeks to minister to the needs of its people, its neighborhood and the world.