A HISTORY OF ST. PATRICK CHURCH
(PART OF ST. BRIGID PARISH AS OF JANUARY 2023)

St. Patrick's is located in Wadsworth, Illinois, part of Vicariate IB of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Our parish, originally known as St. Andrew’s, began in a log church constructed in 1849 in Mill Creek.  Fifteen years later a larger frame church was built, and the name was changed to St. Patrick.

In 1911 land was purchased to build a new church in Wadsworth. This, in 1912, would become the white frame church that we fondly refer to as the “Historic Church” today. 

This “new” church served the area well until the explosion of new housing began in the 1980s.  The need for a larger church and a multipurpose building (now known as the Boehm Center) became apparent to the pastor at that time, Fr. George Dyer, and the long-range planning group.

It is a credit to the good people of St. Patrick’s (who were very satisfied with the old church) that they opened their hearts and pocketbooks to make the new facilities a reality for newcomers.  After many meetings, architects Belli & Belli were chosen.  Jerzy Kenar, a wood sculptor, was picked to design the interior furnishings and sculptures.  The architects, sculptor and committees proceeded with the new designs following guidelines found in Environment & Art in Catholic Worship, Bishops’ Committee on the Liturgy (National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1978). 

On Saturday, May 11, 1991, Fr. Dyer celebrated the first Mass in the new church for 84 children who received their First Communion.  The dedication took place a few months later on September 15, 1991.  Father Dyer retired December 31, 1995, and was succeeded by Reverend Patrick Cecil.

The final phase of construction, the completion of the school addition with its all-purpose hall, was begun in August 1997 and dedicated on February 15, 1998.  As proud as we are of the new church and school addition, we try never to lose sight of the fact that the most important part of any church is THE PEOPLE.

Father Cecil remained our faithful pastor for almost twenty years, until October 2010, when he was succeeded by the next pastor, Reverend Fred Pesek.   Fr. Pesek served as the "shepherd" to our St. Pat's flock from October 2010 until his transfer in June 2016.  On July 1, 2016, the Reverend James Merold (who was a student in St. Patrick’s) became our Parish Administrator.

In early spring 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began our main church went through major renovations including rearrangement of the pews, new carpeting, updated lighting and a new sound system.  Our altar was converted from a carpeted area to the beautiful hardwood, and a new baptismal font was installed.  Staring in March 2020 the Archdiocese closed all campuses in order to keep the parishes safe from the virus. 

As a part of the Archdiocese Renew My Church initiative St. Patrick Parish and Our Lady of Humility Parish combined to form a single unified parish temporarily known as the “Parish of Our Lady of Humility and St. Patrick.”  On July 1, 2022, the merge between the two parishes became effective, and welcomed a new pastor Father Wojciech Oleksy. Shortly thereafter our new parish name, by vote of the parishioners of St. Patrick and Our Lady of Humility was announced: St. Brigid Parish.