About Our Parish

Our History (1955-2016)

Pastors of Saint Lawrence Parish

Reverend Alfred J. Carmody (1955-1958)

Reverend John F. Culliton (1958-1967)

Reverend Philip Morrissey (1968-1974)

Reverend Monsignor Francis Galla (1974)

Reverend Monsignor Joseph M. Fitzgerald (1974-2004)

Reverend Michael K. Jones, S.T.D. (2004-2021)

Reverend Ciprian Bejan (2021 - present)

The Parish of Saint Lawrence was founded on February 11, 1955, by Bishop Lawrence J. Shehan of Bridgeport who foresaw the growth of the Huntington section of Shelton. The Parish began ministering to 150 families in the mid-1950s, celebrating the first Mass in the Huntington School auditorium. Bishop Shehan dedicated the new Church on October 5, 1958, and the parish school and hall were built in 1965. Under the leadership of Monsignor Fitzgerald the parish plant was improved in two stages: the building of a new rectory and parish offices in 1991 and the expansion of the Church, school and parish center in 2001.  Since 2004 new developments have included the new marble floor in the church sanctuary as well as a new Blessed Sacrament altar, pulpit and Baptismal font. The former rectory building has been renovated and includes office space for the religious education program, the Knights of Columbus, a conference room and a small living room appropriate for such group meetings as our Bereavement program.  With a restored statue of Our Lady as its centerpiece, the Brick Memorial Walk along Means Brook is a place where parishioners can remember loved ones while praying amidst a setting of natural beauty.  In December 2012 a new Rodgers organ was installed, a state of the art musical instrument that the Parish should enjoy for many years to come.

Alongside practical improvements, the spiritual life and service ministries of the Parish continue to develop. In addition to a new and active Knights of Columbus council and the Bereavement Ministry, the Women of Saint Lawrence continue to reach out with spiritual, service, social and education programs including collecting school supplies for the Saint Vincent dePaul Society, food for the Merton House in Bridgeport, books for the Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport, and the Christmas Giving Tree project, a parish-wide drive which provides over 750 Christmas presents to the needy in Bridgeport and the Valley.

In November 2008, Bishop William E. Lori celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the Church's dedication in the presence of a new generation of parishioners who gave thanks for the thousands of families and friends who for the last half-century had passed through the very same Church doors with the same faith and fervor as the current parish family.