History

On September 28th 1902 two masses were said at the former assembly hall in New Ferry and a new Parish of St John’s was born.

The Assembly hall has since undergone various uses and its last occupant was the Post Office. The then Bishop, Dr S. Allen, had identified a need in the five hundred or so Catholics now living in the area to have a local place for mass rather than having to travel to St Anne’s (which had been established in 1862. The two masses on the first day were at 8.30am and 10.am and the collection was £3.17s.7d (circa £3.80).

On October 18th 1903 the foundation stone to the first school and chapel was laid and the chapel (now within the Parish Hall) was opened on March 6th 1904. The new school was opened on September 5th 1904. The school started with 100 pupils.

Father (later Canon) William Baine was first Parish Priest, a local man, he was well loved by his parishioners and up to this time had lived in Stanley Road, New Ferry. The presbytery, costing £1,300, was completed on March 26th 1906.

The second Parish Priest was Canon Joseph O’Leary. Unfortunately he was confined to a wheelchair for the last six years of his life but was ably assisted especially by the third assistant priest to come to St John’s - Fr Peter Gerard. Fr Peter was very musical and founded an operatic society in the parish which performed at venues such as the Crane (now Neptune) theatre as well as at other theatres and at local hospitals.

At this time the congregation was getting too big for the small chapel, so plans were made for a new and much larger church on the site of a garden next to the presbytery. The foundation stone to our church was laid by the Rt Rev Ambrose Moriaty on March 10th 1934 and solemnly opened by him on Sunday November 4th of the same year. Many hundreds of people, Catholic and non-Catholic, came to see the design of the spacious, airy and dignified building.

By 1935 many Parish organisations were established and the primary school had 420 pupils. Miss Margaret Noonan was headteacher. The new parish hall was opened by De Donnelly on 27th December 1936. There is still a room named the Donnelly Room in the parish hall complex.

Father George Worsley took over in 1941; he rode a “sit up and beg” bike and wore a frock coat. A stickler for correct procedures, folklore has it that he would lock the doors of the church and make the congregation practise hymns if he thought the standard of singing was not good enough! The new church was consecrated on August 4th 1943 by his Lordship, Rt Reverand A. J Moriaty. The ceremony lasted 4 hours. Fifty clergy from all parts of the Shrewsbury diocese took part (In 2002 we remembered the day by photographing the Parish Community who attended a special mass at 5pm. This was followed by a barbecue and entertainment.)

In 1950 the church was redecorated completely and the church had a very active community - amongst other activities, pilgrimages were organised to Blessed Jon Plessington’s grave.

In 1952 a small band of parishioners established St John’s Men’s Club. The Men’s Club celebrated its 50th birthday in 2002. An important part of the youth community it was an integral part of the Parish. The Club had an honourable tradition of ecumenism - those of different faiths, and none, were always welcomed and many made vital contributions to the life of the club and through it to the Parish. The Club was situated on the car park at the rear of the church and has since been demolished.

In the next year, 1953, work began on building St John’s secondary school. Fr Worsley died suddenly in 1957 after celebrating mass at the age of 55. He is remembered as giving powerful sermons particularly on the subject of Our Lady, a subject very dear to him.

Father (later Canon) Hickey came to the parish in the same year and remained until 1980. He lived through a changing Parish which saw amongst other developments Plessington High School (now with Technology College status) formed as a result of the amalgamation between St John’s Secondary and Holy Family Convent School. Canon Hickey celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his ordination on June 2nd 1979. The Canon retired to Claughton where many visitors kept him up to date with parish news.

Father Roger Clarke described by many as a “whirlwind” arrived in 1980 and remained Parish Priest until 1987. The sanctuary was re-designed; using the many talents of parishioners the altar was moved forward and its size reduced (the reduced size left enough marble for the lectern which is used today). A new lighting and sound system was fitted and the parish celebrated its 80th Birthday with style in 1982!

In 1983 there were 3,400 parishioners. A Parish Mission of Renewal took place in 1984 with the theme of Each One, Reach One - many will remember the three priests who preached - Frs James MacNicholas, John Dillon and Michael Keogh.

One World Week in 1987 was a joint event organised by the Justice and Peace group and the local United Nations Association.

1989 was a year for the ecumenical movement which saw Archbishop Derek Warlock give an address at Christ Church, Port Sunlight. In June Canon Frank Pullen (Parish Priest from 1987-1993) made history when he became the first Roman Catholic priest to become chair of the Bebington Council of Churches and early in 1990 the Anglican Bishop of Liverpool Rt Rev. David Bishop, preached in St John’s and received appreciative applause from a packed church.

Father John Blanc became Parish Priest in 1993. During his time here, St John’s hosted the areas Women World Day of Prayer and Fr Blanc organised a memorable “get to know you” day when all the groups of the Parish displayed their activities and got more people to join in. Sadly Fr John Blanc died on 17th August 1997 (RIP).

Father Frank Rice came to us the same year, 1993-2013 and added his own special touch to the parish, always willing to try out parishioners ideas - the co-ordination of our Centenary celebrations were orchestrated by him with his usual never ending enthusiasm. Fr Frank retired in 2013 and sadly died on 18th August 2019.

Our next Parish Priest was Fr Bernard Forshaw 2013-2022. Fr Bernard established links with the schools and had regular masses in the church attended by the pupils and parents and teachers from the infants and junior schools. The church was also decorated and the baptismal font was relocated to the back of the church. Re-construction work has taken place within the presbytery. With the parish hall unsafe to use, the dining room and front office have been knocked into one big room to accommodate parish groups and Pastoral Team Meetings. The office has moved into what was the reception room. We are now able to have tea and coffee mornings every Sunday after the 9.30am Mass and after the 11am mass on the first Sunday of each month.

We are delighted this summer 2022 to welcome our new Parish Priest Fr Mario Ashuikeka and also Fr Emmanuel Chukwujekwu. We will continue to support Fr Mario and Fr Emmanuel with our prayers as they use their gifts to minister to us to help to make us one big faithful, Christ centred welcoming community.

HERE’S TO THE NEXT 100 YEARS!!