By Elizabeth Lowe
elowe@CatholicReview.org
Twitter: @ReviewLowe
St. Luke in Edgemere marked its 125th anniversary Sept. 22 with a Mass, celebrated by Archbishop William E. Lori, and a banquet. A parish history compiled by Linda Taylor and Catholic Review files show a faith community linked to the neighboring steel plant that has since closed.
· St. Luke was founded Sept. 18, 1888 as the first parish in the greater Dundalk and North Point Peninsula. Father Thomas Leonard, its first pastor, resided at St. Patrick in Fells Point and traveled by boat to Sparrows Point.
· In 1973, St. Luke’s original church was the last to be demolished within the Sparrows Point steel plant’s community, where expansion necessitated a move to Edgemere. Liturgies at the old church included funeral Masses of men killed at the steel plant.
· St. Luke School operated from 1962-89, then merged with a school in Dundalk to become Our Lady of Hope-St. Luke School. The parish’s current worship space was a former school hall. St. Luke shares its pastor, Father T. Austin Murphy Jr., with Our Lady of Hope in Dundalk.
· Outreach includes a food pantry, which provides assistance to upwards of 40 families monthly.
To learn more about the parish, visit stlukeedgemere.org. To read more parish news articles from CatholicReview.org, click here.