Welcome to our parish website!
If you are looking for a parish where the Catholic Faith is solid, and the heart of our people is warm and generous -- look no further than Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church.
We are a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Erie Pennsylvania, located in the small college town of Edinboro Pennsylvania. We strive live each day in fidelity to our triune God: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. We embrace Jesus as the Christ as the Lord of our Lives. We firmly embrace the Catholic Church's official teachings on the Holy Scriptures, the Sacraments, and the Traditions of the Church as illustrated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Our Mission is the mission of Jesus Christ: To follow the will of the Heavenly Father with the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
We have been an active presence in the Edinboro PA community as well as on the campus of PennWest - Edinboro University since we were established as a Mission of St. Anthony of Padua parish in 1950. We received our canonical status as a parish of the Diocese of Erie in 1953. Ours is a fascinating story of deep faith and hard work for over 70 years!
Our Lady of the Lake Parish is a sacrificial giving parish committed to serving the Lord with God-given time, talents, and treasures.
All members, including young adults, who are wage earners, should be receiving and using their envelopes regularly.
Parish membership is required to be a sponsor/Godparent,
to be married, to have a child baptized, and to receive parishioner rates for Religious Education Classes.
Please notify the Parish Office of change of address, telephone number or name change.
At Our Lady of the Lake Church, we are dedicated to spreading the love and teachings of Jesus Christ to our parish community and beyond.
As the Catholic Church of the greater Edinboro Pennsylvania area, we strive to make a positive impact as the face of the Catholic Christian faith.
Our roots go back to the mid 1920s when Catholic families in Edinboro traveled to Cambridge Springs PA for Mass and the sacraments. By 1932 Father Harold Simpson and Father George Dwyer, priests of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, were extremely gracious in celebrating the liturgy on the campus of Edinboro Normal School, now Penn West Edinboro University. The Mass was celebrated in a humble classroom, gathering what became the seeds of the first families of our parish.
In 1949 the families were granted permission to establish a mission chapel. After securing the appropriate land, the cornerstone was blessed and laid on August 8, 1950, and the building was blessed by Bishop John Mark Gannon on June 17, 1951. By decree of Bishop John Gannon, we were canonically erected as a parish of the Diocese of Erie PA on May 26, 1953, with Father George Dwyer named at our founding pastor.
Over time and by God's blessings, we grew to the point of needing to build a new church building which was dedicated on March 31, 2007 by the Bishop Donald W. Trautman, bishop of the Diocese of Erie Pennsylvania.
Our Lady of the Lake Parish has been recognized as a cornerstone of our community with a rich history of serving others and sharing the message of Christ with all who will listen. Thousands of children and adults were taught the faith and given the sacraments with great joy.
You will find us strong in our Catholic faith, faithful to magisterial teachings of the Church and compassionate towards our neighbors. Are you looking for a wonderful parish to join? Come pray with us and consider us your new home!
Our church is led by our pastor, Father Mark Hoffman, and our deacon assistant, Deacon David Romanowocz. They work together to provide faithful servant leadership for our families.
Advising our pastor is our Pastoral Council and Finance Council.
THE BACKSTORY
Our font has had a leaking problem almost from the time it was installed. Several fixes were made over the years, but none permanently solved the problem. We now have the opportunity to remove the current font and install a beautiful new font in 2024.
Our goal was $22,000.
Two parish families donated leadership gifts in the amount of $10,000 and $12,000 respectively. Those generous gifts allowed us to do a "Matching Gift" component, the first for a 1:1 match, and the other for a 2:1 match.
The drive began on Monday, November 13, 2023
and ended on #iGiveCatolic Tuesday, November 28, 2023.
By the grace of God and the generous support of our parishioners and friends, we were gifted $38,603 Raised by 125 Donors, AND we were given an award of $1,000 by the Quinn Law Firm through the Catholic Foundation of Northwestern Pennsylvania.
This brings our total to $39,603!
Our Lady of the Lake Parish thanks everyone who made donations, large or small.
We have already begun our project. Our hope is to have it completed in May of 2024. It will look beautiful! After it is completed, we will be inviting Bishop Persico to preside at a liturgy and bless our new font.
A serious problem with our roof has been identified several years ago. It is to the point that we really need to address it as soon as possible as leakage has already affected the ceiling in various areas of the church as well as causing condensation striping on all exterior walls.
in this project we are addressing some architectural issues that have surfaced since the building of our church. These include:
Funding will be from two sources:
We held 5 meetings in late 2023-early 2024 and from the feedback we received from our parishioners --- this project has been very well received. The most common response we received was -- "Let's get going on these projects!"
Our CSA 2024 diocesan goal is $56,740. Recently we surpassed this goal and are now to the point that every dollar donated will directly support our church project.
Overall, the project will be under $700,000. A more exact figure will be published when bids have been completed. We will draw over $400,000 from parish funds, thus making our fundraising goal $300,000.
We invite all our parishioners and friends to please make a gift to our annual Catholic Services Appeal. Call or visit our parish office. This is a fantastic way to use IRA distributions and receive a tax break. Together we can fund this church project and continue to move into the future!
God Bless you for your generous response. You are amazing!
Please click on the link to go to the parish YouTube channel to watch livestream masses.
128 Sunset Dr, Edinboro, PA 16412, US
(814) 734-3113 Listen to the menu for the phone extension of your choice.
Open today | 09:00 am – 03:00 pm |
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