The Church is the People

St. Patrick’s began over 38 years ago as a dream of several people from a few Episcopal churches in the Columbus area.  They began planning to meet for worship and fellowship in Dublin.

The generosity of the Dublin Community Church found us worshipping in the Kennedy Room on the second floor. A beige cinder block rectangular room with an Altar, Credence Table, and Pulpit. The room held about 60 people. When the collection plate had to be passed up and down the stairs because the metal chairs were full, we knew we had to move.

The next step was the All-Purpose Room at the Dublin Middle School across the street. There we set up, worshipped, and took things down every week.  We continued to grow.  We held a Christmas Eve Service in the gymnasium.

Planning for our church home was ongoing from the beginning. Groups were formed:  Worship, Christian Formation, Fellowship (later called Parish Life), Service, and of course, Finance, as we started figuring out how to pay for it all. The very first thing we learned: The Church is the People. We also learned a lot about Church History and Church Architecture. Our dreams began to emerge under the watchful eye of the architect. Form follows function. We had Sunday School for little ones, a youth group, and Vacation Bible School. We gathered in parishioner’s homes for First Friday Fellowship. It was a potluck and we passed the hat for beverages. We had summer and fall picnics.

Service took the form of bringing canned goods for the Dublin Food Pantry and quarterly cooking and serving meals for St. John’s Town Street. We began cooking for Friends of the Homeless shortly after that. Support for Christmas Gifts for Franklin County Children’s Services began early. Many ideas, programs, and outreach continue, many more have been added, and the list will continue to grow.

In March 1987 after the Eucharist at the Middle School, we all drove to Muirfield Drive and Tara Hill to dedicate the land we had purchased. The Parish Hall and administrative wing were built first. We needed worship space and we wanted space for education and fellowship. We worshiped in the Parish Hall for 10 years.  The Sanctuary was built in May 2000.

We have experienced steady growth every year and expanded our outreach, fellowship, education and programming to create a vibrant and dedicated community of people seeking and serving Christ in all persons. The Church Is The People.