History of the Church of Saint Luke
In 1982, the Township of Dover (Toms River Township) had two Catholic churches, St. Joseph, that had served the community for over 100 years, and the Church of St. Justin, which was established in 1972. The area of Toms River was growing so rapidly that it was necessary to establish a new parish to assist these two in serving the faithful of Toms River. The Most Reverend John Reiss, Bishop of Trenton made the decision to form a new parish and St. Luke Parish was founded on October 1, 1982 with Reverend Louis W. Kravlovich as the founding pastor. St. Luke parish covers approximately 20.5 square miles of the townships 44.4 square miles in the north and western sections. Included in the new parish were the senior communities of Holiday City, Silverton, and the Garden of Pleasant Plains. Father Kralovich resided at St. Justin's rectory for a year. In the beginning, St. Luke was truly a parish on the move. Masses were celebrated at Silver Bay, North Dover and Intermediate East Schools. Services were also held at Pleasant Plains Firehouse and the V.F.W. Bishop John Reiss authorized a building campaign to generate money for construction of a parish center. St. Luke parishioners responded very generously to the parish's fund raising drive which soon made the Parish Center and Rectory a reality. Fr. Lou lived in a house in  Silverton from 1983 until the completion of the new building.
In November of 1985, Bishop Reiss dedicated the Parish Center and blessed the Rectory. The Parish Center soon became the focal point for celebrations, catechesis and social affairs.
Fr. Martin Sherry, a retired priest from the Newark Archdiocese, assisted Father Kralovich. Father Sherry had been a Navy chaplain during WWII. He helped at St. Luke on the weekends until his death on September 5, 1988.
Over the years, we were blessed to have many caring weekend priests. Fr. William McLaughlin, Fr. George Clyde, Fr. James Sagala, Fr. Robert O'Leary, Fr. Timothy Horgan, Fr. Richard Gallagher and Fr. George Macho all assisted at weekend liturgies. Fr. James Powers, Fr. Louis Guiliano, Fr. Gerald McCarron and Fr. Sal Livigina all resided for a short time at the rectory. In 1999, our first officially assigned parochial adjunct was Fr. Robert Leahy, who served until his death on September 2, 2001. Fr. Joseph Hlubick, followed Fr. Bob Leahy as parochial adjunct until he was reassigned in January of 2002. In April, 2006, St. Luke was blessed with the arrival of Augustinian Fr. Robert S. Grodnicki. New to the Diocese and the parish, Fr. Bob did not stay a stranger long. On August 9, 2009, Fr. Robert S. Grodnicki (now a Diocesan priest) was installed as the second pastor of St. Luke by the Most Reverend John M. Smith, Bishop of Trenton.
The Rosary Society was formed in 1983, with Carole Geer being the first president. In addition to its spiritual activities, it quickly became the cornerstone of parish social activities, a place it still holds today.
St. Luke was proud to be the first parish in the Trenton Diocese to enter into a "twinning" process with a third world mission, the Solalo Parish in Africa.
The Parish School of Religion was started with approximately 100 students in 1982 under the tutelage of Mary Alice Bredeholf. Mary Santora and Mary Goss provided the leadership from 1986 to 1990. Mary Goss directed the program, which had grown to 1,100 students, until August of 2001. Sister Peggy Russell RSM, was hired in January of 2002 to direct the program.
The construction of the church was undertaken on October 14, 1995. The people of St. Luke offered more than 2 million dollars during a pledge campaign which began April 10, 1994. The Most Reverend John M. Smith dedicated the Church of St. Luke on October 18, 1997.
Welcome to the Roman Catholic Church of St. Luke, located in Toms River, New Jersey.
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