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PARISH HISTORY

On May 31, 1972 Bishop George Ahr of the Diocese of Trenton established Saint Anselm Parish, made up of parts of Saint Mary, Deal; Saint Jerome, West Long Branch; Saint Michael, West End; Saint Dorothea, Eatontown; Holy Spirit, Asbury Park; and Holy Innocents, Neptune. Father Joseph Miele was named founding pastor.

The first liturgy celebrated by the new Community of Saint Anselm was held in the Wayside School at 7:00PM on Saturday, June 17. The school and the first Parish House at 6 Pine Lane, Ocean Township became familiar gathering places for the new parish community until November 2, 1975, when the Parish Center was dedicated by Bishop Ahr. The Parish Center, designed by Charles Surmonte, a parishioner, provided ample worship, classroom, and community gathering space for the 130 families registered in 1975, with plenty of room for growth.

FAMOUS FIRSTS

Fr. Paul Scaglione was first a deacon serving St. Anselm's and celebrated his first Mass at Wayside School on May 27, 1973. Nancy Vierling and Fred Anton were the first couple married in the new parish on September 19, 1974. The initial First Communion was celebrated on May 23, and the first Confirmation on May 31, both in 1973. In the beginning, religious education classes were held in homes, and later were moved to Wayside School on Sunday mornings. When the new parish center was completed in 1975, Gail Ambrosio became the first religious education coordinator, and served in that capacity until 1984.

Vince Colangelo was the first choir director, and in 1981 Cindy Bariscillo, Renata Montedoro and Tom Ren started the folk group. The choir and folk group were instrumental in establishing the parish's long history of participation in the liturgy.

The first parish council meeting was held on January 14, 1980. Gloria Freer served as the first president, and Frank Cassidy was vice president. The first Seder Meal was celebrated in 1982, the same year that our first RCIA group began preparing for the Easter sacraments. 1982 was also the tenth anniversary of the founding of the community, an event celebrated by 200 parishioners and invited guests.

NEW BEGINNINGS

In 1984 Fr. Miele became pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Seaside Heights, and Fr. Robert Kaeding was installed as pastor in July. Joan Rusnock was hired as director of religious education in September of that year and in 1987 she became our full time pastoral minister. Between 1984 and 1987, we took a parish census, completed the RENEW program, began the Pre-Cana ministry, paved the parking lot, and began the beautiful Peace Garden to help celebrate 15 years together as a community.

By the end of the decade, it became apparent that the Community of St. Anselm had grown beyond its original expectations. The number of registered families had more than tripled since the Parish Center was built, and there were 350 children enrolled in the religious education program. It was time to expand the building to accommodate the size of the community.

By this time, Sr. Pat McGinley had succeeded Joan Rusnock as pastoral minister (1989), with Sue LeBeau serving as religious education coordinator; the Sacrificial Giving Program and COR, Community OutReach, were both established as part of our financial planning and sharing (1987); and a Hospitality Room for homeless families was opened in our basement as part of our commitment to Interfaith Neighbors (1988).

A NEW LOOK

April of 1991 brought Kayde McElroy on board as our Parish Secretary. In 1992 construction began on the expansion of the Parish Center which allows for over 100 new seats in the Worship Center, a new chapel, eight classrooms, an auditorium that holds 100, and office space for the parish staff. That same year, Sr. Mildred Rothwell joined our parish as director of religious education. She was joined by Ann Vitelli, our Spiritual Director. 1992 also saw the first meeting of the restructured parish council, designed to be more representative and to make decisions by consensus rather than by majority rule. 1994 ushered in the addition of Nancy Lee, our coordinator of religious education.

As the parish celebrated its 25th anniversary, the community numbered one thousand families. A wonderful event with an outdoor Mass celebrated under a tent and the joint celebrating of Father Bob’s 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood made this community event memorable.

Jean Potter was welcomed as the Pastoral Care Coordinator in 2001. Jan Santanello was welcomed as the Director of Religious Education in 2002, as was Michael Zorner who was named Music Minister for the Parish.

2003 marked the 30th anniversary of the Community of Saint Anselm. About 2000 families are registered with over 900 children in our Religious Education program. As our Parish Family continues to grow, additions and changes to our church property must also: A World Trade Center Memorial was erected and dedicated in remembrance of all who perished in the catastrophe of September 11, 2001; the paving of an additional area for parking; the replacement of the roof over the worship area.

The community also celebrated the 30th anniversary of our beloved pastor’s ordination to the priesthood. Father Bob was presented with a monetary gift and informed that any trip he would take must require a round trip ticket so that he would always return to us.

In May 2005 Father Bob resigned as Pastor of Saint Anselm to become the full time Director of The Center in Asbury Park, which he founded in 1992 and which ministers to those who have HIV/AIDS. He is overseeing the construction of Center House, a facility that will further address the housing and the needs of the marginalized living with HIV/AIDS.

Father Gene Vavrick, a frequent visitor at Saint Anselm, was appointed by Bishop John Smith to be the Administrator. On March 31, 2006, Monsignor Gene Rebeck, Episcopal Vicar for the Diocese of Trenton, presided at the Installation Ceremony whereby Father Gene became the third pastor of Saint Anselm. Father Gene was acknowledged with a standing ovation welcoming him formally as our new pastor.

On January 15, 2006, the parish welcomed its new Pastoral Associate, Sandy Mullarkey, a graduate of the first diocesan Lay Ecclesial Ministry training program.