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The parish family of St. Edward Church is committed to being an evangelizing community by faith, with love, in hope. We are a committed community of Catholics devoted to worship, fellowship, and service.
St. Edward Parish in Waterloo, Iowa, is a faith community of 3,936 Catholics comprising 1,587 households, located in a residential area about one and a half miles south of the city's downtown business district. [map]
The parish was established in the mid-1940s in response to the growth of the Catholic community on the west (south) side of the Cedar River. In 1944 Archbishop Henry Rohlmann appointed Fr. John M. Fischer to secure a location for the establishment of a new westside parish. Five acres of land known as Longwood, the Bickley Estate, were purchased at the corner of Kimball and Mitchell Avenues, and the new parish was founded in January, 1945.
The first Masses in the new parish were held in the gymnasium of Kingsley School until space could be converted in the Bickley home for a temporary church. Five Franciscan Sisters from Dubuque arrived in the summer of 1945 and St. Edward School opened that fall. Construction of St. Edward Church, located in front of the Bickley home, began in 1946; within a year the basement of the new church was completed and Masses were celebrated there until the new church was finished. Over 1,000 worshippers celebrated Mass in the newly completed church on Christmas Eve, 1948 and the new church was formally dedicated in 1949.
A new school building was built behind the Bickley home in 1953 and a rectory was constructed north of the church in 1957. The original Bickley home, which served for many years as the convent, now houses the offices for Catholic Charities. St. Edward Church was renovated in the early 1970s to accommodate the liturgical changes which followed the Second Vatican Council; a second major renovation of the church was completed in 1996.
Over the years, the St. Edward community has developed a commitment to active lay leadership, full and active liturgical participation, stewardship of time and talent, and support for social justice activities and organizations. The parish has maintained sister-parish relationships with St. Theresa Parish in Okolona, Mississippi since 1992 and St. Therese de'enfant Jesus Parish at Grison-Garde, Haiti since 1999. Volunteers from the St. Edward community make regular mission trips to both sister parishes.
St. Edward Parish is currently served by Fr. Scott Bullock, who was returned to the parish July 8, 2014, after previously serving as an Associate Pastor in the 1990's. The parish is served by four permanent deacons: Tom Lang, Ray Larsen, Rick Lynch, and Brad Kneeland. Toni Pint-Burke is the Business Manager; Anastasia Nicklaus serves as the Liturgy and Music Coordinator; Megan McFadden serves as the Coordinator of Parish Life; Jannette Serafin is the bookkeeper; and Joan Dalan is the Coordinator of Parish Outreach. The parish participates in adult formation and youth ministry provided by the Catholic Parishes in Waterloo.
(Last updated 11.2022)