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 Main worship area
 Bas-relief | Construction of our Church . . .
Ground breaking for the St John Neumann Church building took place on August 21, 1982, on land donated by the founders of Montgomery Village, the Kettler Brothers. At last, 16 months later, the parish had a permanent home. Our odyssey had ended! The new building consisted of a worship area and a yet-unfinished parish center. The worship area is beautified by a bas-relief that was once the liturgical screen behind the altar on the Washington Mall where His Holiness Pope John Paul II, celebrated Mass on October 7, 1979. The sculpture, a creation of Miles Stafford Rolph, known professionally as Jarbo, is called "CHRIST AMONG THE NATIONS" and depicts Christ with people of different races and cultures. Not only does the sculpture beautify our church and remind us of our Holy Father's visit to our country, but it is a daily reminder to us all that our brothers and sisters are all of the people who inhabit His world. Fr. Torsiello celebrated the first Mass in the new church on December 18, 1983. Three months later, the Most Rev. James A Hickey celebrated Mass with us and blessed and dedicated the new Church.
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Parish Center and Rectory . . .
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By 1986 the parish had grown to 1,043 families, and plans to complete the unfinished space in the church building began. Soon a kitchen and six rooms for classes or meetings (convertible to one large room for social activities) were added. The increased space, finished in 1988, also expanded the seating capacity of the church's worship area.
Plans for the construction of a permanent rectory and office annex began in the fall of 1990. When completed, the office section of the building provided space for staff offices, a conference room, and meeting rooms. Fr. Torsiello moved into the new rectory in September 1993, along with the parish's first associate pastor, Rev. Joseph Zalotay, who came to the parish that same month. In 1994, Fr Zalotay was transferred, and the parish's second associate pastor, Rev. Paul Passamonti, arrived in August 1995.
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Catechetical Center . . .
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By 1997, the parish rolls listed 1,611 families. To meet the growing parish's needs for more space for religious formation classes, plans got underway to construct a catechetical center in a new wing of the church building. In April 1997, Fr. Passamonti was transferred, and one month later Fr. Torsiello, our pastor of 19 years was also transferred. Our second pastor, Rev. John T. Dakes, arrived on July 7, 1997, and on October 1 of that same year our current deacon, Rev. Mr. Robert Allen joined us. Construction on the catechetical center and remodeling of the worship space began in July 1998 and was completed in October 1999.
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Into The New Millennium . . .
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We welcomed our third pastor, Rev. Michael W. Fisher, in January 1999. That same year the St. John Neumann chapter of the St. Vincent de Paul society was formed. Our third parochial vicar, Rev. Paul Tam Tran, came to us in July of 2000 until July, 2002, when our next parochial vicar, Rev. Scott Woods, arrived.
In 2000 we increased Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament from once a week to Monday through Friday from 9:30AM to 9:00PM and by July 2002, we were ready to begin Perpetual Adoration. In February of 2001, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick celebrated Mass at St. John Neumann and blessed the Adoration Chapel and Catechetical Center.
2003 was our 25th Anniversary year. We celebrated with two pilgrimages, one to the Shrine of St John Neumann in Philadelphia and the other to the Grotto of Lourdes at Emmitsburg. A dinner-dance, a concert presented by the St. John Neumann Choir and a picnic also helped celebrate the anniversary. Our founding pastor, Rev. Ralph C. Torsiello, returned to celebrate our Anniversary Mass with concelebrants Rev. Michael W. Fisher, Rev. Scott Woods, Rev. Paul Tam Tran and Rev. John McKay. Also in 2003, James McCann became our second deacon.
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More Growth . . .
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2005 was marked by a number of milestones. Our pastor, Fr. Fisher was made a monsignor as one of the last acts of Pope John Paul II before he died on April 2nd of that year. Msgr. Fisher was soon transferred to the Archdiocesan offices (effective July 1) and our new pastor, Fr. Rory Conley arrived. Our Evangelization Committee began door-to-door canvassing of nearby neighborhoods inviting those who do not belong to a church to consider joining ours. At the end of 2005 we were blessed to welcome Gene Cummins to serve as our third deacon.
Fr. Gellert Ailer, newly ordained, was sent to us in June 2006 to replace Fr. Woods as our parochial vicar. Using his gift with languages and people, the parish began to offer a Mass in Spanish in July to accommodate a growing population of Spanish-speaking parishioners. The old organ bit the dust and a new one was purchased largely from parishioner donations. It was dedicated May 19, 2007 during a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Wuerl. In June of 2007, Carlo Caraballo became our fourth deacon, however, in the meantime we had lost Dcn. McCann who moved out of the area. By August of 2007, we became the proud owners of the property across from the church on Warfield Road now known as the Neumann House. There is a house and another old building on its four acres which are waiting to be used to their full potential as zoning changes are being made.
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 Our Lady of Guadalupe Feast Day  Neumann House |
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Our 30th Anniversary was celebrated in 2008 by an extra lavish picnic and another trip to the Shrine of St. John Neumann. There was also much celebrating and anticipation as we welcomed Pope Benedict XVI to Washington where he celebrated Mass at Nationals Ballpark on April 17. The Archdiocese distributed an allotment of tickets to our parish and using a lottery, 223 thrilled parishioners were chosen and attended the Mass. In addition to those ticket holders, 7 members of our choir were privileged to sing in the large chorale comprised of members from diocesan parishes who had passed an audition. Michael Davy, a long-time parishioner, was ordained a deacon and serves our parish.
Fr. Conley (left) and Fr. Gellert (right) are shown celebrating Mass at the Shrine of St. John Neumann on the altar containing the saint's preserved body
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As is always the case in parish life, 2009 brought its share of changes and causes to celebrate. Andy Davy, son of our deacon Mike and his wife KC, received his 5th sacrament here at St John Neumann when he was ordained a priest on May 30 for the order of Marians of the Immaculate Conception. We were greatly honored that Andy's wish to be ordained in his parish was accepted and welcomed Bishop Martin Holley, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Washington, as the main celebrant. By July, we were saying farewell to Fr. Conley and welcomed Fr. Thomas G. LaHood as our new pastor, and by the end of the year, we had to say goodbye to Fr. Gellert also as he took on a missionary assignment in his native Hungary. We were all relieved and excited that our new parochial vicar, Fr. William Brailsford, came to us January 27, 2010, which was sooner than we were originally expecting. We welcomed him with record February snow storms which postponed some parish activities including his reception.
Now as we are in the second decade of the new millennium, this parish of 1,725 families looks forward to further growing as a community of believers.
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Contact us at: info@saintjohnneumann.org
©2006-2007 by Saint John Neumann Catholic Church - Last updated 3/5/2010
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