In April of 2015, Bishop David Zubik of the Diocese of Pittsburgh began a year of prayer and study to discern how the Diocese can best serve the faithful and spread the Gospel in the face of changing demographics, a decline in Mass attendance, limited resources, and fewer clergy. It was discerned that the best way to continue this mission was to have each parish join forces with neighboring parishes. Grouping together smaller parishes into larger parishes would consolidate resources and enable parishes to focus more on mission and less on maintenance.

In September of 2016, parish consultation sessions were held at St. Alphonsus, St. Ann, St. Columbkille, St. Michael, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. Patrick. Several possibilites of parish groupings/combinations were presented, and feedback from parishioners was accepted. After much more prayer, study, consultation, and discernment, Bishop Zubik announced in April of 2018, that the six parishes of St. Alphonsus, St. Ann, St. Columbkille, St. Michael, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. Patrick would be grouped together, and would temporarily be called "Grouping 329." In October of 2018, the parish grouping officially began, with Fr. Harry Bielewicz as the administrator, Fr. Zachary Galiyas as the parochial vicar, and two priests assigned to help provide weekend Mass assistance - Fr. James McDonough and Fr. Benedetto Vaghetto.

Over the next almost 20 months, work was begun to transition the six parishes of Grouping 329 into one new parish. Through much prayer, consultation, relationship building, and discernment, decisions were made and work was done to attain this end. The Mass schedule was realigned to try to better suit the changing needs and circumstances of the grouping. The staff was realigned to more effectively serve the people of all the parishes. Six parish offices became one central parish office. Six parish bulletins eventually became three parish bulletins, and finally (in June of 2020) became one combined parish bulletin. A new website, facebook page, and youtube channel was created to improve the parishes' digital presence.

Throughout this whole process, various reporting sessions were held. Two parish assemblies were also held on March 8, 2020. In the several months leading up to that, parishioners were invited to participate in surveys. One of those surveys asked parishioners to submit potential names for the new parish. After the many names were submitted, and the list was narrowed down, parishioners had the opportunity to vote for their favorite name. The top 5 names were submitted to Bishop Zubik for his decision. In May of 2020, Bishop Zubik announced that the new parish would be named after St. Isidore the Farmer. On July 1, 2020, the great project of transitioning six parishes into one parish became a reality, as St. Isidore the Farmer Parish was born, and Fr. Harry Bielewicz was named the first pastor of the new parish. The work of spreading the Gospel in our territory of Western Allegheny County and Northern Washington County continues. Instead of doing this work as six separate parish communities, we do so as the single, unitied parish community of St. Isidore the Farmer Parish.

Although St. Isidore the Farmer Parish did not begin until July 1, 2020, the Catholic faith in this area has existed long before. If you add up all the years that each of our six churches - St. Alphonsus, St. Ann, St. Columbkille, St. Michael, Our Lady of Lourdes, and St. Patrick - have been around, we have a combined total of over 700 years of Catholic history in our area! As St. Isidore the Farmer Parish continues into the future the work of spreading the Gospel, she joyfully builds on the foundation of faith that has already been laid before. Please click on the links in the left hand column to learn more about the individual histories of each of our churches. For an article on our parish that appeared in the Allegheny West Magazine soon after the merger, click here.