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.