Monday, November 29, 1999
Beautiful church celebrates 75 years
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON — Seventy-five years after it was dedicated, St. John's Catholic Church remains an architectural centerpiece for the city's Lewisburg neighborhood.
With its old German gothic design, numerous alcoves, and “windows on top of windows,” St. John's is one of the more unusual-looking churches in the Covington Diocese, said the Rev. Douglas Fortner. Since July, he has served as the priest for St. John's and St. Ann's parishes.
“If you've gone south on I-75, you can't miss it,” Father Fortner said. “I've always thought (St. John's) was one of the most beautiful churches in the diocese.”
On Sunday, the public celebrated the church's 75th anniversary — and the parish's 145th year — with a special Mass at the church at 627 Pike St. A choral program preceded the Mass. The Most Rev. Robert Muench, bishop of the Covington Diocese, was celebrant.
Designed to resemble churches the late Rev. Anthony Goebel had seen in Germany, St. John's current replacement value is $3.5 million.
That figure includes the $350,000 organ and irreplaceable stained glass windows designed by a Linnich, Germany, firm and valued at about $750,000, said Raymond Schmitz, a 49-year-member of the parish and author of a diamond anniversary souvenir booklet.
St. John's interior also features an arched wooden ceiling, with large wooden beams reaching across the width of the church. The altars are cut from Italian marble, and the steeple is 163 feet high. Today, as in the past, St. John's serves as a symbol of the German Catholic community that settled in Cov ington's West End in the 19th century.
“They were not professional people,” Mr. Schmitz said. “They were just ordinary laborers. They were interested in their church, their community, and their ethnic background, so they bonded together.”
Once home to several Catholic churches, Covington's West End lost St. Patrick's to the construction of Interstate 75, and St. Aloysius to a 1984 fire, Mr. Schmitz said.
About that time, a declining enrollment in parochial schools also led to the merger of St. John's school with Mother of God and St. Ann in Covington, and St. James & St. Boniface in Ludlow. The name of St. John's School was changed to Prince of Peace School, and it became a Diocesan district school.
In 1926, St. John Church had as many as 2,000 in its parish, a number that's dropped to between 300 and 350 today, Mr. Schmitz said.
“The day I got married, I joined the parish,” Mr. Schmitz said. “It's been a part of my life ever since.”
Adult businesses moving to 'burbs
Flynt keeps coming back to Tristate
Path to grandma's was clear
Name Braun a Great Living Cinicinnatian
Beautiful church celebrates 75 years
Boone advised to add parks, pool
Mason students may attend funeral
Price Hill man killed in fire
Solstice performers maintain traditions
Targeted schools making progress
A bit of the world in Butler Co.
Church school has faith in future
War over turf now tax fight
Home for disabled built as example
Lawmaker targets bad septic systems in efforts to save farmland
Residents of housing project are sister's family
Student orchestra concert today
GET TO IT
Holiday TV schedule
TRISTATE DIGEST
