Our Mission:

To develop, nurture and cater to the Spiritual, Physical, Mental and Emotional needs of all the people in the Parish and help us become the Catholic Community to which we are called.


REMEMBERING OUR PAST
by Liturgy Ministry

 
Last Thursday, October 19^th, was the feast of St. Isaac Jogues and the 15^th anniversary of the dedication of our Church building.  This seemed a fitting time to recall our parish history for those parishioners who are new, have been members of the parish for some time or even were here from the beginning.
 
The Roman Catholic Church of Saint Isaac Jogues, Evesham Township, New Jersey was established as a parish on April 20, 1996 by the late Bishop John C. Reiss, then Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton, and formed from portions of the parish boundaries of St. Joan of Arc, Marlton and St. John Neumann, Mt. Laurel.  Then Reverend Phillip C. Pfleger was appointed “Founding Pastor” on March 1, 1996.  In 2013, he was named Episcopal Vicar of Burlington County with the title of the Very Reverend Phillip C. Pfleger.  Father Pfleger was also appointed as the Administrator of St. John Neumann Parish, Mt. Laurel and later named its new Pastor as well.
 
We celebrated our first Mass at the Frances S. DeMasi Schools on April 20, 1996.  Weekend Masses continued there with daily Mass celebrated at the rectory until 2002.  On October 19, 1997, the feast of St. Isaac Jogues, our “Building the Dream” campaign began to fund our own church facilities.  We realized our dream with the completion of construction and dedication of our beautiful Church on October 19, 2002.  Several years later, our Holy Family Parish Center also became a reality.  A third phase, a formal Parish Social Hall, remains.  Hopefully, the future will see that dream come to fruition as well. 
 
Our Church building and subsequent Holy Family Parish Center were constructed on 23 acres of farmland at the intersection of Elmwood and Evesboro-Medford Roads, acquired by the Diocese in 1994 and transferred to St. Isaac’s in February 1997.  The first rectory was a home in the Country Farms section of the Township, purchased in April 1996.  The rectory relocated in 1999 to its current home on Lord Place in Marlton.
 
Our parish namesake was selected as a tribute to the Native American heritage and influence in the South Jersey area.  Saint Isaac Jogues, a Jesuit Missionary and Martyr, was born in France on January 10, 1607.  He proclaimed the Gospel among Indian Tribes living along the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes in New France (Canada).  Returning from ministering to the Huron Indians, he was captured by the Iroquois, enslaved, and tortured.  Father Jogues escaped, but on a subsequent peace mission to the Iroquois in upper New York, was martyred on October 18, 1646 because the Indians believed that his evil spirit was responsible for a crop failure and epidemic.  He was canonized in 1930 along with seven others similarly executed by the Iroquois – five French priests and two laymen – the first martyrs in the new lands.  They are venerated as the North American Martyrs with shrines in Auriesville, New York and Midland, Ontario. 
 
As noted above, there are two different dates of importance in our past – April 20, 1996 and October 19, 2002.  In 2016, we marked the 20^th Anniversary of the founding of our parish, an auspicious day for the Catholic Church in the Marlton area.  We remembered, celebrated, and rejoiced.  Those words sound familiar.  You will find them emblazoned on the wall above the choir area in the Church.  Such milestones as the 15^th Anniversary of the dedication of our Church building last week, while significant, are recognized in one way or another but not typically celebrated to the degree of the founding and establishment of our parish.  After all, the Parish Family of St. Isaac Jogues has become a robust community of over 2,000 families and blessed with hundreds of volunteers in 30 plus ministries supporting the spiritual, educational, charitable, and social needs of the parishioners and others in our local area.  Quite an accomplishment to be memorialized and feted!