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A Short History of St. John the Evangelist Parish

In January 1988, several families in St. William's parish were called to meet.  They were given the assignment to discuss the feasibility of establishing a new parish in the north part of Naples.  It mattered not that these families had just founded and funded and built St. William's church.  A new parish was needed.  To this end the Comeriato family, the Geisler family, the Vooz family and the Shannon family among others set to work and planted the seed for a new catholic community.  The first Mass for the "Mission Church", as we were known as at that time, was celebrated at 4:30 pm on Saturday the 27th of February 1988.  There were two hundred and forty members who attended that first Mass which was celebrated in Naples Park Elementary School.  The seed that was planted had sprouted.  It wasn't long before colorful banners were constructed and hung and brought warmth to the bleak surroundings.  The Mission Church was canonically established as a parish in October of 1988.  Father Thomas J. Glackin was appointed as the first pastor.  The community chose St. John the Evangelist as their patron saint in November of 1988 and the seed began to grow.

Land for the new church was acquired during the summer of 1989.  A formal fund raising began on Pledge Sunday 18 March 1990.  The success of this campaign was a direct result of the enthusiasm of the new community.  On 27 December 1990, the feast day of St. John the Evangelist, the ground breaking ceremony took place with Bishop John Nevins presiding.  The tree had started to take shape.  After a series of unforeseen  delays, the new church building was finally completed and the first Mass was celebrated on Christmas Eve 24 December 1992.

It soon became apparent that this new catholic community was growing and needed more room for the many activities that were taking place.  The seed for the Parish Life Center was planted and, as before, the St. John the Evangelist parishioners took to the task and got the job done.  Today the Parish Life Center is the finest building of its type in Collier County if not all of Southwest Florida.  The seed had now blossomed into a full grown tree.  We, at St. John the Evangelist, invite you to come and join us and grow both spiritually and emotionally along with us.

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