Welcome to St. Henry Catholic Church
Welcome, and thank you for visiting the website of St. Henry Catholic Church.
St. Henry is located in Dayton, Ohio on Route 741 across from the beautiful Cox Arboretum. We are in a pastoral region with Our Lady of Good Hope Parish and have a shared ministry in Bishop Leibold School. The West campus of BLS is located at OLGH in Miamisburg and houses grades Pre-K through 3. The East campus is located at St. Henry and houses grades 4-8. The two parishes have been supporting Bishop Leibold School for almost 50 years, which is something that ties us together as a faith community. Please join us for the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith, throughout the week and especially on Sundays. Come Join Us!
If you would like to become a member, please register by filling out a registration form available on our Forms page.
Have questions? Please feel free to Contact Us. We look forward to serving you in any way we can.
History of St. Henry Parish
Visit our Parish Galleries to view photographs from the Parish Archives.
1960-1969
On July 5, 1960, Fr. Francis Franer was appointed to establish St. Henry Parish, named for Germany’s emperor-saint. The first Sunday Mass was celebrated in August, in the C.F. Holliday School auditorium. When the first site for the church on Springboro Pike proved to be flood-prone, the present location was purchased.
Construction of a combination church-school building began in 1962, followed by a convent for the Sisters of St.Ursula, who taught at St. Henry School, and a rectory.
1970-1979
By 1970 the parish had grown to 1,000 families. The School of Religion program served 600 students in grades 1-12, and preschool religion classes, held during Sunday Mass, were initiated. In 1973 St. Henry School was consolidated with Our Lady of Good Hope School in Miamisburg, to form Bishop Leibold School. During “Census ’75,” 400 parishioners visited 8,000 homes to locate and identify area Catholics, and the parish sponsored the first of several Vietnamese refugee families.
1980-1989
A “We Are Building a Church” fund drive began in January 1980. By April, parishioners had pledged almost 113 percent of the $350,000 goal. In July 1985—following a year of family-centered programs, Masses, receptions and the return of many former pastors and associate pastors—the parish celebrated its 25th anniversary. In 1987 the Parish Council voted unanimously to begin a “sister parish” relationship with St. Peter and Paul parish in Marmont, Haiti.
1990-1999
An appreciation dinner for parish volunteers was held in February 1990, and a new “meals for the homeless” program began in September. The Parish Council approved plans for an illuminated parish sign with a mission-style cross. Plans to build a multipurpose Parish Activity Center (PAC) were unveiled at the 35th anniversary parish picnic in July 1995, and a “Vision for the Future” fund drive began in September.
2000-2009
New organizations and activities—including a vocations “traveling chalice” program, a Men’s Fellowship group, Women’s Bible Study, Vacation Bible School for children, and a Prayer Blanket and Shawl ministry—were organized. Communication with the parish in Haiti had failed, so a new “sister” parish—Saints Simon and Jude in Port-au-Prince— was chosen. In November 2009 a fund drive was launched to build a medical clinic there.
2010-2019
The kickoff event for the year-long celebration of the parish’s 50th anniversary in 2010 was a pig roast on the feast of St. Henry, July 13. The dinner was one of a series of “fun, free, family events” initiated by the parish’s seventh pastor, Fr. Thomas Shearer. St. Henry and Our Lady of Good Hope parishes formed a pastoral region.
Fr. Tom retired from active ministry in 2019 and was succeeded as pastor of both parishes by Fr. James Romanello.
2020-2022
Before the coronavirus pandemic arrived in the U.S., Fr. Jim organized a Mardi Gras celebration, with live music and a dessert bake-off, for parishioners of all ages. All public Masses were canceled in March, so Holy Week services were live streamed on YouTube. Streaming alternately from the two churches continued even after the archdiocese reopened churches—with a number of restrictions—on May 25.
In 2021, the Archdiocesan Pastoral Planning Initiative Beacons of Light, which seeks to pool parish resources in order to better live out our Catholic mission of evangelization, announced the joining of parish communities into Families of Parishes. This phase of Beacons of Light included pastor reassignment.
St. Henry became a Family of Parishes with Our Lady of Good Hope in Miamisburg and St. Mary of the Assumption in Springboro on July 1, 2022 with a new pastor—Fr. Martin Fox.