You too are living stones, built as an edifice of spirit, into a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5


The Story of this Parish Family

St. John the Apostle & Evangelist Parish was founded in 1847. It served Catholics moving to the first suburb of the original village/city of St. Louis. The area had been a peach orchard. Names of many of the Catholic founding families of St. Louis, of diverse nationalities, appear in the parish record books.

The present church was dedicated on 4 November 1860. It has, since then, been in continuous daily use. In the late 1800’s the Old Cathedral, on the riverfront, was no longer adequate in size & its location had become undesirable. Archbishop Peter Richard Kenrick then designated St. John’s, for some twenty years, the Cathedral Church of this Archdiocese. The Archbishop occupied a residence, across the main plaza of the church, on what was then 16th Street.

In 1960, for the 100th anniversary of the church dedication, and coinciding with the Plaza Square redevelopment of this center city area, at a cost of $600,000, St. John’s was completely restored. The generosity of parish members throughout the years has made possible ongoing maintenance and needed improvements to the church. In 2004, at a cost of one half million dollars, the upper quarter of each bell tower, was demolished and restored. The American Institute of Architects recognized this as an award winning project for restoration and preservation.

Distinctive interior features include the reproduction, in the east apse, of Raphael’s 1520 painting of The Transfiguration recounted in the Gospel of St. Matthew. The original is displayed today in the Vatican Museums in Rome. Scenes in the stained glass windows present depictions of various events in the life of Christ recounted in the Gospel of St. John. Beneath the image of Mary in the sanctuary, the shrine Altar was given in 1864, by James M. Slevin in memory of his wife, Elizabeth Patterson Slevin, who died in a tragic accident shortly after the couple was married at St. John’s. The facial image of The Madonna on the front piece of the Altar is a likeness of the young bride. The Stations of the Cross are oil painted on copper and were imported from Europe. On 15 September 2002 the 8 rank Wicks pipe organ was dedicated.

In 2005 a marble Baptismal Font for the church was erected. It was transferred from the now closed Church of St. Boniface in South St. Louis. In 2009 a fixed Marble Altar of Sacrifice, for daily Mass celebrated as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, replacing a temporary Altar of Sacrifice constructed of wood, was built. The Altar was solemnly consecrated and inaugurated by Bishop Terry Steib, former Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis and now Bishop of Memphis in Tennessee.