St. Ignatius Martyr Parish was established in1963 with Father Stanley Schmidt as the first pastor. Its strong and vibrant outreach ministries have expanded, aided by volunteers and donations from an ethnically diverse membership that hails from more than thirty zip codes.

St. Ignatius has one of the strongest St. Vincent de Paul Society conferences in the Archdiocese. The Southeast Helping Hand Center, founded in the parish in 1994, assists four other St. Vincent de Paul Society chapters and fed more than 10,000 people in 2005.

Staffed by the Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph, St. Ignatius School educated children from 1963 to 1991, when it merged with Resurrection and Guardian Angels Schools to form Thomas Merton Academy, which closed in 2003. St. Ignatius campus hosted a Multicultural Child Development Center for ages six months to pre-school-age children. This continues to the present day. The Eagles Athletic Club was formed in 1978 to support school athletics. In 2006, this group became the ICI Group (ICI is a Latin anagram for “anonymous charities”). Through monthly chicken dinners, the ICI provides aid to many communities through services and financial support both locally and around the world. It also provides fellowship for many men over a wide area who would otherwise have no contact with the Church.

Parishioners participate in numerous religious, charitable and social activities. Five parishioners have received Outstanding Leadership Awards in recent years. A rich ecumenical dimension of parish life emerges in efforts to work toward improving living conditions in troubled areas. A Hidden Treasures group formed in 2003 serves senior citizens. Outreach extends beyond immediate boundaries into Belize, Nicaragua and Eastern Kentucky through Hand in Hand Ministries.

The robust, multicultural worship owes much to parishioners’ service through hospitality and art and environment ministries and as Eucharist ministers, servers, lectors, choir and cantors. Children’s Liturgy of the Word has been growing since it began in 2004. Concern for others flows into ministry to the homebound and home visitation.

With almost 650 parishioners, St. Ignatius strives to live up to its Catholic identity within the “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic” Church, open and flexible to the work of the Holy Spirit.