St. John the Baptist Polish national Catholic Church was organized January 1, 1923, coming under the blessing and jurisdiction of the Rt. Rev. Francis Hodur, First Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church of America. In presenting this history of our church in Frackville, it is appropriate to go back in time a few years to get a better understanding of how and why our church was organized.
Frackville’s roots go back to the year 1852, at which time, through the efforts of David Frack, the village was first settled and for whom it was named. By 1876, Frackville had grown in size and population, and a charter was applied for and granted, and so the Borough of Frackville, PA officially came into being.
By the year 1921, about 60 families of Polish descent had settled in Frackville. There being no Polish church in the borough, these people had to rely on other churches to meet their growing spiritual needs. Being unsatisfied and wanting a church of their own, they banded together in 1921, and formed a Roman Catholic Mission parish called St. Anne’s. The first administrator of the newly formed mission was Rev. Kuharski, followed shortly afterwards by Rev. Mioduszewski, who commuted to Frackville from St. Clair, PA. Rev. Mioduszewski ruled the new mission with an iron hand and the people had no voice whatsoever in the financial and other matters concerning the church.
Thus, being greatly dissatisfied with their present lot and, having heard about an entirely new kind of church in nearby Shenandoah, a delegation was sent to the Shenandoah Parish to see and hear for themselves, if what they heard was really true. Being greatly impressed by what they heard and saw in the Shenandoah Parish, they appealed to the Rev. S. Cybulski, pastor at Shenandoah, to help them organize a similar parish in Frackville. Thus with the sanction and blessing of First Bishop Francis Hodur, and the help of Rev Cybulski, St. John the Baptist P.N.C.C. came into being in Frackville, PA on January 1, 1923. The first Holy Mass was celebrated in Bradley’s Hall at Spring and Lehigh Streets, by Rev. S. Cybulski.
Of the original 60 families of St. Anne’s mission 40 families joined the new parish of St. John the Baptist. The first Committee was composed of: Peter Jaskierski, Chairman; Stanley Ufir, Vice-Chairman; Frank Lash, Financial Secretary; Joseph Stefanowicz, Treasurer; and Trustees: John Bulkiewicz, John Ptaszkowski, Valenty Golba, John Bykowski and Joseph Pascavage.
In 1923 ground was purchased at the corner of Second and Oak Streets from the Stefanowicz and Zelonis families on which to build a new church and rectory. Ground was broken in May 1923 for a new church, but unfortunately the building of a new church had to be postponed due to the declining economic conditions suffered by members of the new parish at that time. A temporary church was erected by Contractor Stephen Kotch to meet the needs of the parish until a new church could be built. The first Holy Mass in the new temporary Church was celebrated on Christmas 1923. In 1924 the Lutnia choir purchased over 3 acres of land from the Girard Estate in West Mahanoy Township section of Frackville to be used as a cemetery. In 1925 the present rectory was built. From 1923 to February 1925 Rev. S. Cybulski was temporary pastor of St. John’s. He was followed by Rev. Michael Pulit, the first residing pastor, who served until July 31, 1925. Rev. Edgar Starorpynski served until July 15, 1926. The Rev. Feliks Rekas served until July 1928 by which most of the difficult organizational work was carried out. Societies were organized, parish property was properly completed, beautified and landscaped.
From 1928 to November 1935 the Rev. Thaddeus Zielinski was pastor. At the General Synod of the Polish National Catholic Church, held in Buffalo, New York in 1954, he was elected the Bishop Ordinary of the Buffalo – Pittsburgh Diocese. Upon the death of the late Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski, he became the Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church. Very Rev. Louis Orzech was pastor from November 1935 to October 1948. During his pastorate the temporary church was completely renovated, both inside and out and also enlarged. In 1948 the Rt. Rev. John Misiaszek dedicated the renovated church and blessed the cornerstone. Rev. Peter Styczynski was pastor form October 1948 until July 1950. During his pastorate the St. John Ladies’ Auxiliary was formed, which to this day has worked diligently for the church, helping greatly in paying off the new church renovations and the rectory. The Very Rev. Jan Chwiej was pastor from 1950 to 1953. During his pastorate the church celebrated its 30th anniversary. Also a new church building Fund was begun with the hope of raising sufficient funds to construct a new church in the near future.
From July 1953 to April 1954, first the Rev. Demboski and then the Rev. Awcis served as our pastors. On April 4, 1954 the Rev. Edward J. Tomczyk became our pastor and served in that capacity until his un-timely death on April 18, 1999. In 1952 a new church Building Fund was formed. Contributions came in very slowly and by the end of 1960 there was only $6,600 in the Fund. At the annual meeting in 1961 a five year plan was put into effect with the hope that sufficient funds could be raised so that construction of a new church could begin. A committee was selected to visit the members of the parish to accept pledges. As a result of this five year plan we built up our building fund to $31,000 by the end of 1965. At the 1966 annual meeting of the parish, a new church Building Committee was formed to move ahead with plans for a new church. The Committee consisted of the following members: Rev. E. J. Tomczyk, Carl Pyzowski (Chairman), Bernard Halaburda, Jr., Henry Pascavage, Joseph Politowski, Leonard Tokarczyk, Peter Kolas, John Davis and John Rice.
Robert Bosak was selected as architect. After many meetings and conferences, plans were drawn up and submitted and approved by the members of St. John the Baptist Parish. Ground was broken for our new church in April 1967 and our first Holy Mass in the new church was celebrated on Easter 1968. The Formal Dedication and banquet was held in June 1968, with Prime Bishop Leon Grochowski blessing the new church and cornerstone. Since 1968 we completed many projects including Rectory renovations, purchasing of a lot on the corner of Oak and Third Streets, sidewalk replacement, addition of Stained Glass Windows to the Church Choir Loft, improvements to the Parish Cemetery and paving of a parish parking lot to name a few. During our 90 years the following have served as Chair of the Parish Committee: Peter Jaskierski, John Ptaszkowski, John Bykowski, Valenty Golba, Stanley Ufir, Anthony Wojtukiewicz, Francis Minakowski, Frank Staneck, Hippolite Iwaskiewicz, Peter Studlick, Joseph Licholat, Bernard Halaburda, Jr., Michelle Keim-Mulchay, Esq. and Edward Halaburda.
In November 1999, Father Joseph Cyman was assigned Pastor of St. John’s Parish by Prime Bishop John Swantek. Father Cyman had served as pastor until October 2003. Father Robert Plichta was assigned as the parish Administrator in 2003 and on August 1, 2009 he was appointed as pastor of the parish. Fr. Robert was formally installed as pastor on November 8, 2009.
Sons of our parish who have entered the Holy Priesthood are: Rt. Rev. śp. Walter Slowakiewicz, Bishop Ordinary of the Eastern Diocese, Manchester NH and Rev. Felix Pyzowski, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish, Washington, Pennsylvania.
Parish Organizations
- Parish Committee
- Blessed Sacrament Society
- Lutnia Choir
- School of Christian Living
- Adult Bible Study Group
- Altar Servers
- Greeters Ministry
- Coffee and Cake Fellowship Group
- Polish Language Class
Clergy Who Have Served St. John’s
+Rev. Stanley Cybulski (1923-1924)
+Rev. Michael Pulit (1925)
+Rev. Edgar Starorypiński (1925-1926)
+Rev. Felix Szczęsny Rękas (1926-1928)
+Rev. Thaddeus Zielinski (1928-1936)
+Rev. Louis Orzech (1936-1948)
+Rev. Peter Styczynski (1949-1950)
+Very Rev. Jan Chwiej (1950-1953)
+Rev. Carl Dembowski (1953)
+Rev. John Awczis (1953-1954)
+Rev. Edward Tomczyk (1954-1999)
Rev. Joseph Cyman (1999-2003)
Rev. Robert Plichta (2003-Present)
Parish First’s
- Wedding: Klemens Kiskerewicz to Bertha Morawski – February 6, 1923
- Baptism: Francis Kozak – December 31, 1922
- Funeral: Francis Slotkiewicz – May 19, 1925