Celebrating 25 Years
St. Andrew the Apostle, Apex
In the early 1980s, Apex, NC was a small town with a population of 3,192, and less than three percent of the area was Catholic. When a group from St. Michael the Archangel parish in Cary instigated a new parish in Apex, it was referred to as the Apex Mission Church.
Approximately 80 people attended the first Apex Mission Mass held in the basement of a restaurant. A small but determined cadre worked with the Diocese of Raleigh in hopes of establishing a permanent Catholic church in Apex to be known as St. Andrew the Apostle.
Jim Boyle, a member of that original group, recalls meeting with Bishop Joseph Gossman, who asked, “Can this be a viable parish on its own?” So Boyle collected the data and came up with a 10-step action plan. He told the Bishop that their group would do nine of the steps, if the Bishop would do the tenth – get priests. “That was in March 1983. By May 1983, he had priests for the parish,” said Boyle.
One of the other nine steps was to find land. This was achieved by four parishioners who stepped forward to buy a 60-acre estate – selling 12 acres to the Diocese at the original price and donating all profits made on the sale of the remaining acres to the church.
Fr. William Schmidt (Fr. Bill) and Fr. Joseph Cavoto (Fr. Joe) from the Friars of the Atonement arrived in September 1983, marking the official beginning of the parish.
At first the local community, predominantly Protestant, was a bit unsure of this new Catholic presence. But Fr. Bill and Fr. Joe, as Franciscans, brought with them the special “charisms” or features of the Friars – outreach to the poor, hospitality and ecumenism.
They made outreach a priority from the onset. Other local churches responded graciously in a spirit of Christian unity, offering use of their facilities and joining efforts to serve the needy.
One of these first efforts, led by parishioner Antoinette Clark, was the Western Wake Crisis Ministry (WWCM), which continues to serve the needy in Apex and the surrounding area. Clark solicited support at other local churches and created the WWCM as an ecumenical community effort to support those struggling financially.
More than 50 St. Andrew ministries now serve both the members of the parish and the local community. Father David Fitzgerald, S.A., Pastor of St. Andrew, said that outreach is an important part of the parish culture.
“When someone wants to start a new ministry, we are open to it. Two recent examples are the Brown Bag Ministry which feeds the homeless every Saturday and the Special Needs Ministry, a support group for families with special needs children,” said Father David.
Today St. Andrew has more than 3,100 families – more people than the entire town of Apex when the parish began. That growth, while a blessing, can also present challenges for the future.
“We’ve always been a welcoming parish. The majority of people have relocated here from somewhere else, so the parish has an extended family spirit. As we grow, we want to always maintain those bonds,” said Fr. David.
- Ann Marie DiSerafino