History

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish was establish in the winter of 1980, with very humble beginnings.

It all began on November 29th, 1980 with a Mass at the Adcock Funeral Home in Spring Lake, and a week later, December 7th, our first mass was celebrated in an abandoned 7-11 store on MacArthur Rd. which came to be affectionately known as "Saint 7-11." On November 18th 1981, we received our official name and became the parish of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, no longer a mission church of St. Patrick.

After celebrating mass for 18 months in several locations, we moved to our current location on Andrews Road and began worshiping for 10 years in the building that is now known as our parish hall. Construction for he rectory was completed in the summer of 1983. Numerous additions to the hall and grounds were made over the years, giving us our current facility that house the church offices, a kitchen, a nursery, the faith formation classrooms, meeting space and is the building we now use for all of our parish social functions. 

In the spring of 1991, construction began on on the current church building. Our first mass was celebrated in this building on Palm Sunday, 1992. Bishop F. Joseph Gossman officiated at our dedication on September 13th, 1992. 

Our parish has continued to grow over the past several decades. We currently have a membership of over 500 families, a generous mix of military and civilian families joining together to share both the sacramental and social side of parish life. 

The church was renovated in late 2011 and reopened in February of 2012 to accommodate the growing size of our community and make sorely needed updates. 

Priests who have served with us in the past: 

Father Corbin W. Ketchersid (affectionately known as Fr. K)
Was our founding pastor, developed this community rooted in faith and his leadership provided facilities for:

  • Worship
  • Education
  • Social gatherings. 

Father Willard J. Rucinski, OSFS (affectionately known as Fr. Willard or Fr. Will)
We continued to grow as a faith-filled and welcoming community under Father Willard J. Rucinski, OSFS. He was from the religious order of the Oblates of St. Francis of de Sales.