St. Agnes Catholic Church

Diocese of Steubenville

The Catholic Community of Mingo Junction and Brilliant

St. Agnes Parish - 204 St. Clair Avenue Mingo Junction, Ohio

Reverend James M. Dunfee, Pastor

Parish Office: 204 St. Clair Avenue

Parish Office and Rectory Phone: 535-1491

School Phone: 535-1012

Convent Phone: 535-1376

Parish Hall: 535-0253

Parish Office Hours: Monday - Friday 9:00 am to 3:00 pm

Email Address: stagnes@clover.net

Mass Schedule

Daily 8:00 am

Saturday 4:00pm   

Sunday 8:30am and 11:00am

Confessions: Saturdays: 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

Baptisms: Parents should call the office well in advance.

Marriages: Couples intending to marry should consult the pastor six months in advance.

New Parishioners: Please stop at the parish office to register.

Care of the Sick: If a member of your family is admitted to the hospital or becomes seriously ill, please notify the parish office.

The History of St. Agnes Parish

   The early history of St. Agnes Parish is another chapter in the history of the American mission.  Little knots of people settled along the Ohio River at any point that seemed habitable or promised a means of livelihood.  Wherever there were Catholics among these people, they conspired to get a priest.  The first priests were itinerant missionaries who established the first missions.  The more flourishing of these missions became permanent parochial establishments which in turn became centers of mission activities.   These missions in turn became parishes with missions of their own in accord with a pattern which continues down to our own time.

    The Catholics among the early settlers of Mingo Junction were ministered to by priests from Steubenville.   These priests would come periodically to say mass in one of the homes of the faithful.  Among the families so happily blessed are names still associated with the parish.  The first mass was offered in the home of Matthew Kane on Burdock Street.

    When the priest was not scheduled to come, and the weather permitted, these stolid Catholics of the old school would walk to Steubenville to attend mass.

    In 1885 the number of Catholics in Mingo Junction was large enough to merit its establishment as a permanent mission.  This mission was attached to St. Francis Church in Toronto, Ohio, because it was easier for the priest to come by rail from Toronto than to come by horse from Steubenville.

    The Reverend A. M. Leyden was appointed pastor of the Toronto parish in 1887, and it was under his care that the first regular Catholic services were held in Mingo.  At first Father Leyden said mass in the auditorium of the old Mingo public school.  In 1889 he was able to erect a small church on the site of the present church.

    The church built by Father Leyden had a basement big enough for two rooms.  These rooms became the dwelling place of the first resident pastor of St. Agnes, Father Walter Ross.  Before his transfer in 1896, he was able to build a rectory next to his little church on the spot which now is the front lawn of the present rectory.

    The Reverend John Meade who succeeded Father Ross in 1896, built the school in 1898. 

    In 1904 the Reverend Daniel A. Coffey was appointed to St. Agnes.  The life and labors of this valiant priest have been record and immortalized in a book entitled "A Mill Town Pastor".  This book written by Father's friend, the Reverend Joseph Conroy, S.J. and publishedi n 1921 by Benziger Brothers, had a just popularity in its day and still stands as awork of inspiration, especially for the young seminarian.

    In 1916 the Reverend Father Dooley was appointed pastor of St. Agnes.  He continued the fine traditions, the moral unity of the parish and its physical expansion.

    The spring of 1921 saw a wonderful burst of activity at St. Agnes.  First the rectory was moved and joined to another house already standing on Murdock Street to form the present convent.   At this time Father Dooley took up residence in that part of the school which had been, prior to the move, occupied by the sisters.  Then, May 9, 1921, the last mass was celebrated in the old church, and in the following week it was torn down.  On November 6th the corner stone of the present church was laid.  Soon after, the basement was put under roof, and then the building of the new church ground to a halt.   Lack of money would not permit the work to go on and the Bishop, in view of the times, would not allow a loan to be negotiated.  After the dismantling of the old church, mass was celebrated in the public school auditorium until the church basement was under roof.  Then services were held there.  The somber setting of mass in a basement, the weekly association with foundations of an unrealized dream, spurred the people on to raise the money to finish the church.

    On December 20 of the year with the coming of the new Bishop of Steubenville, the Holy Father honored Father Dooley with the rank of Domestic Prelate and the title of Right Reverend Monsignor.

    In 1953 Monsignor F. Dooley was forced to go into semi-retirement, and it was the task of the new vicar, Reverend William Konus, to build the new school.

    Reverend William Young had the church remodeled to comply with the present day regulations for the updated liturgy.

Pastors of St. Agnes Parish