In October of 1962 St. Louis began as a Mission of Epiphany Church in the burgeoning area of South Dade County. It was officially established as a parish on August 23, 1963 when the first pastor, Fr. Frederick Wass, celebrated Sunday Mass in the non-air conditioned auditorium of Palmetto Senior High School. Daily Mass was celebrated in the chapel of the Dominican Retreat House.

The first lay ministry began on September 19, 1963 when 45 women met to form the St. Louis Women’s Club. This group became the umbrella organization which inspired the parishioners to participate whole-heartedly in the life of the Parish. Before long, CCD classes were held in the guest rooms of the Dominican Retreat House, as there were still no church buildings.

Ground breaking ceremonies for a temporary church and rectory took place in September, 1964. Within a year, the completed buildings were blessed and dedicated by Bishop Coleman F. Carroll on August 22, 1965. That same month, Leroy Lightbourne came to care for the grounds and buildings at St. Louis and remains here to this day.

In 1967, the first Pastoral Council in the Archdiocese of Miami was formed at St. Louis to assist the clergy and to assume roles of leadership within the rapidly growing parish. Plans were made for a new building, the Family Center, which would provide classrooms, an auditorium and much needed office space. The Family Center was dedicated in November, 1969. It soon became the hub for social and educational activities and provided a meeting place for the many ministries forming in the parish.

In August of 1971, after eight years of guiding the parish through its formative years, Father Wass departed from St. Louis.

Father Matthew Morgan became the next pastor. Fr. Morgan was here less than a year when Father John Nevins was appointed pastor in September of 1972. Father Nevins initiated the founding of the Legion of Mary during his tenure at St. Louis.

Father Michael Kish joined the parish as Associate Pastor in 1973 and remains here to the present day.

Father David Russell became pastor in September of 1974. During his time here, St. Louis saw the mortgage-burning for the temporary Church, the Rectory and the Family Center; plans began to form for the present worship space. The new church building was completed in August of 1980.

Our present pastor, Father James Fetscher, was an associate pastor at St. Louis from 1976 to 1980. He returned as pastor when Fr. Russell left in 1982. Fr. Fetscher encouraged each member of the parish to focus on personal prayer through devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist. A Perpetual Adoration Room was established on June 5, 1983 where Jesus can be adored in the Eucharist 24 hours a day, every day. In the Adoration Room there is a part of St. Louis’ history; the corpus of the Risen Lord, which came from the cross in the original church.

The Latin Pastoral Council was formed in 1985 to serve the growing Hispanic community. In that first Council, eight different countries were represented among its twelve members.

The parish celebrated its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1988. During that year the parish expanded its buildings to include a Library Resource Center, a larger Book and Gift Center and additional office and classroom spaces.

In 1997, the St. Louis Covenant School opened its doors in temporary classrooms of the church. A beautiful new school building was built and dedicated on August 25, 2001. The school serves Pre-K through Eighth Grade. In May of 2005, the first Eighth Grade Graduation took place.

More importantly than the physical growth over the years has been the spiritual growth of the parish. St. Louis has become known as a welcoming, spirit-filled community. There are presently 83 lay ministries through which the parishioners share their God-given gifts with each other and the larger community of South Florida.

As we look back with gratitude to those parishioners and clergy who paved the way for the present generation, we continue to look forward to fulfilling the vision God has given us for the future.