History
Humble Beginnings
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church had its beginning dating back to the coal mining days of our city in 1889. The immigrants that settled Coal City brought with them their hopes and dreams but, more importantly, their faith. It was soon reported in an 1888 edition of the Morris Herald that "the Catholics of Coal City are taking immediate steps toward erection of a church." (Note: The bricks for the church were mostly of Italian descent, and so Father DeParadis, an Italian himself, became the first pastor of our church in February of 1889. As can be expected with the passage of time, our parish has become richly diverse in the Body of Christ as people of one faith.
Our Church was dedicated on August 15, 1892, which is the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and since that time has continued to bring to faith, hope, compassion, and the love of Jesus to both parishioners and non-parishioners throughout the Coal City area. From the beginning, our parish has been blessed with many good and holy priests who served both God and fellow man well.
As a parish, we have always shared our blessings in good times and bad with each other and our community. For example, during the first World War, our parish was blessed with Father James A. Griffin. He served not only our parishioners but the people at large in Coal City. He was on the war review board and wrote letters and acted on behalf of miners (who could not read or write) whose sons were missing in action in France. He was also the chairman of the Coal City War Savings Club, chairman of the financial committee of the Red Cross, and director of the drives for membership and funds for the national organization. He was the first to open a school for the Americanization of foreign-born persons living in Grundy County. During the flu epidemic, when the high school was used for a hospital, very often the only "doctor" many people saw was Father Griffin. As a final feather in his cap, the dear pastor built the school.
Of course, as good as he was, we could not keep him to ourselves. He was pastor here from 1917 to 1921; sometime after that, his holiness earned him the honor of Bishop of Springfield in 1924. Fortunately for our parish, through the years we have kept the same goodness exemplified by Father Griffin. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish today still offers meals to the less fortunate through the Monday night St. Vincent's Table meals, and we lend a helping hand to those who are struggling through the Our Lady of Mercy Fund. We are ready at every moment to help mothers in distress and look for ways to assist and comfort those suffering from disasters.
Spiritual formation is an important part of every parish, so in our chapel, daily Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is available from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. We encourage parishioners and friends to come for prayer in the Sacramental Presence of the Lord. As with most parishes, our church provides for faith, service, and social formation from childhood to the senior years. We offer family faith formation for children from first through eighth grade. The E.P.I.C. Youth Ministry group helps to keep Christ's love growing in children. Our parish also offers a rosary group, service groups such as the Marthas, and a variety of other ministries within our parish.
Reverend Joshua Miller was appointed our pastor in July of 2021, and in these few years since his arrival, our parish is growing and thriving spiritually under his direction.
We invite everyone to come and experience apostolic faith and all its works, which are alive and well here at Assumption Church, where the faith of the people has remained strong and carried them through many years since 1889.
