Precious Blood Links
The first Mass for the Precious Blood Parish was held on June 20, 1948, in the Sisters of the Precious Blood’s Convent basement auditorium. The Sisters of the Precious Blood donated the property which is the current site of the parish. The site included a 75-year old barn, which was renovated into a church and two classrooms. On August 14, 1949, Fr. Seraphin Oberhauser, C.PP.S., then Provincial Director of the Cincinnati Province of the Society of the Precious Blood, presided at the first celebration of the Eucharist in the converted barn-church. On November 17, 1950, Archbishop Karl J. Alter issued a canonical decree establishing Precious Blood Parish and its boundaries. By the summer of 1953, the Parish had grown from 45 families in 1949, to 350.
Parish growth continued, and the last scheduled Mass in the old church (barn) was celebrated on June 15, 1958. Church furnishings were then transferred to the semi-basement of the new school building, which became “the new church”. By June of 1964, the parish had grown to 842 families. In 1966, after a gymnasium was added to the school building, the Parish conducted church services in the gymnasium. The plan was to use the gymnasium until a permanent church could be built. By February 1974, Precious Blood Parish had grown to 1200 families.
The Parish celebrated its 25th anniversary throughout 1975. Archbishop Joseph Bernardin of Cincinnati was celebrant at the Solemn Jubilee Celebration on November 2. In 1982, renovation was completed on the worship space. Bishop Daniel Pilarczyk, then Administrator of the Cincinnati Archdiocese, dedicated the renovated church on September 16, 1982.
In May 1995, a Project 2000 Committee was formed to look at current and projected needs of the parish from a physical point of view, taking into consideration the Parish’s spiritual, educational and missionary outreach to the surrounding area. In July 1996, the Project 2000 Committee presented ideas to the parish, and the general consensus was that a new church should be built. Parishioners agreed to provide financial support to construct a church, and in September John Ruetschle Associates, Inc. was hired as architect to design the new church. A fund drive was conducted in late 1997.
On June 28, 1998, a special “last Mass” was celebrated at the old barn church. In August, the structure was demolished, and the construction of a new storage building was completed. In August, R. O. Binson & Co. was awarded a construction contract for the new church. Groundbreaking was held on May 23, 1999. Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk presided at the Rite of Dedication for the new church on July 16, 2000.