A Parish on the Ridge in Towson
The Church of the Immaculate Conception sits high on a granite ridge in the heart of Towson, the county seat of Baltimore County, Maryland. For 145 years the parish has gathered at the corner of Ware Avenue, first in a small frame chapel, then in a soaring Gothic Revival church whose marble walls and stained glass have been a landmark since 1903. Around it, the campus has grown into an unbroken stretch of school buildings, parish offices, gym, and dining hall, anchored by an 11th Avenue place that draws Catholics from across the upper county.
Immaculate Conception is a Roman Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, with a special devotion to the Blessed Mother as its patroness. It is also the home of Immaculate Conception School (ICS), a Pre-K 3 through 8th grade Catholic school that was named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the United States Department of Education in both 2014 and 2024. The parish mottoes - Believe, Belong, Behold - capture the three movements of parish life: worship at the altar, community among parishioners, and wonder at what is unfolding around them.
The Granite Church on Monte Maria
Catholics had been scarce in early Towsontown. Families rode carriages over dirt roads to attend Mass at distant parishes, or walked several miles to Mass on Homewood Avenue or Church Lane. In 1880 a Towson lawyer named N. Charles Burke called a meeting of local families in his Masonic Building office and sent a committee of five to ask Archbishop Gibbons of Baltimore for permission to build a church of their own. Two years later, in April 1883, Father Dominic Manley celebrated the first Mass in town in the second story of a Towson store that doubled as the Towsontown Guards militia hall.
By 1884 the congregation had raised enough to purchase a lot on Ware Avenue and put up a 30-by-70 foot frame chapel called St. Paul's, with pews for 240. Sunday school began the next spring. Within a year the parish had its first resident pastor, Father Theodore D. Mead, who incorporated the parish in 1886 under the name of St. Cyprian's and, on May 23, 1886, had the church rededicated as St. Francis Assisi.
The new church Father Matthew O'Keefe built between 1894 and 1903 made the parish what it is today. He bought 501 feet of ridge top, called it Monte Maria, and brought granite foundation stones by rail from the ruins of St. James College in Phoenix. Brooklyn architects Keely and Houghton drafted a Gothic Revival plan modeled on St. Mary's in Norfolk, Virginia, but with a 200-foot bell tower at the northwest corner. Father O'Keefe drew his salary, bought two quarries, and accepted the donation of a third. Marble flooring and railings came from Baltimore's demolished Merchants' Exchange and old City Courthouse. The Baumstark Art Glass Works on Belair Road executed the stained glass. The cornerstone was laid on December 8, 1897, the first Mass was celebrated on May 10, 1903, and Cardinal Gibbons dedicated the church on September 8, 1904, calling it the best in the diocese outside his own Cathedral.
The bell tower never rose in Father O'Keefe's time. He died in 1906 and was buried in the Lady Chapel. The jagged stones at the northwest corner waited sixty years more, until Monsignor John Lyness and his successor Monsignor Edward Lynch finally raised a free-standing bell tower of pre-cast concrete in 1984. Its bells were cast by the Van Bergen Bell Foundries of France, and an electronic system still rings them on the hour.
Inside, the years of Operation Reverend William Nelligan brought one of the most ambitious renovations in the diocese. Monsignor Nelligan closed the church for the summer of 1964 and let the Gaudreau firm of architects modernize the interior for Vatican II: embossed tin walls resprayed in gray, a low bronze baldachin over a plain marble altar, a flat tabernacle at the far rear, new stained glass by the Rambusch Studio in brilliant blues and reds showing scenes from the life of Our Lady, and confessionals built from old chapel stone. In 1971, a Moller organ from Hagerstown, donated by parishioners, was dedicated in a service that combined the choirs of Immaculate Conception with Towson United Methodist Church.
A second renovation between 2003 and 2005, led by Monsignor F. Dennis Tinder, brought color back to the walls in gold and deep blue, removed the 1965 baldachin, and added a Gothic wooden reredos carved with pinnacles and crockets that houses the tabernacle. Cardinal Keeler rededicated the church on December 8, 2005.
Outside, the lawn gave way. Monsignor Tinder added parking on the south side, shored up by a stone retaining wall, and the parish bought a half block of Baltimore Avenue from the county in 2001 to create an unbroken campus. The 1983 centennial float in the Towson July 4 parade carried the parish's motto for the celebration: A Century of Service, a Legacy of Love.
A School on the Same Hill Since 1887
Immaculate Conception School is older than the marble church. Father O'Keefe opened it in September 1887 with fifteen pupils in two classrooms made of the church basement. Two School Sisters of Notre Dame taught them, while Father O'Keefe gave up his rectory for their lodging and moved into a boarding house.
The school grew quickly. In 1921 a brick school was begun, three stories of white hydraulic brick trimmed with Green River limestone, internally supported by a steel skeleton and finished by 1923 with eleven classrooms, science labs, rooms for domestic science, music and typing, a library and a 700-seat auditorium that doubled as a gymnasium. The Sisters of St. Francis of Glen Riddle took over teaching in 1926. A third story housed the new Towson Catholic High School in 1926, which graduated its first class after a four-year program of academics and commercial studies, attained a Superior Rating from the Middle States Association in 1965, and was closed in 2009. The middle school grades moved into the renovated high school building between 2011 and 2015.
Immaculate Conception School today enrolls children from Pre-K 3 through 8th grade across two academic buildings connected by a gym with a regulation basketball court, plus a separate dining hall and an auditorium that seats 636. The campus is more than eleven acres, with open green spaces, two playgrounds, and a science lab on each end of the school. The elementary building houses preschool through 5th grade, the school library, and two elementary science labs. The middle school building holds 6th through 8th grade classrooms and two more science labs. Class sizes range from 18 in kindergarten to 22 in the upper elementary and middle school, with a 12-to-1 student-to-teacher ratio across the school.
ICS was named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education in 2014 and again in 2024, one of only three private schools in Baltimore County to earn two Blue Ribbons. Its Pre-K and Extended Day programs hold a Level 5 rating from Maryland Excels, the highest available. It has been certified as a Maryland Green School four times, and is the first STREAM school in the Archdiocese, expanding the project-based STEM model into Religion and the Arts. The ICS motto - Be respectful, be responsible, be kind, because Christ matters - is also the framework for the school's Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program.
Students in kindergarten through 8th grade attend Mass twice a month, including Holy Days of Obligation; Pre-K 3 and 4 students visit the chapel monthly and Pre-K 4 students also attend monthly adoration. First Reconciliation and First Eucharist are celebrated in the second grade, and Confirmation is celebrated in the fourth grade. The ICS Middle School STRIVE Campus Ministry runs the food drives for the Assistance Center of Towson Churches, the Cubby Stuffers for Ronald McDonald House, the Lent-a-Hand casserole program for Our Daily Bread, the Christmas gift drive for Johns Hopkins Children's Center, and the donation drives for Pregnancy Center North. More than half of middle schoolers take part in Campus Ministry Club.
Mrs. Terri Castelli leads ICS as principal, with assistant principals Ms. Lisa Metzbower and Ms. Lisa Williams and a faculty of more than sixty. Mrs. Alethea Spear is Director of Enrollment, with Mrs. Anne Krach as her assistant. Before-and-after-school care is available through the Extended Day program, rated Level 5 by Maryland Excels and run by Director Ms. Renee Banashak and staffed by school faculty from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Lunch is offered through the My Hot Lunchbox program for every grade.
Sunday Mornings, Four Ways
Imparish offers four Sunday Masses so that every kind of worshipper can find a seat. At 8:00 a.m. the Quiet Mass begins the day in peaceful devotion without music. At 10:00 a.m. the Professionally Trained Quartet, accompanied by the organist, leads the assembly in traditional hymns and psalms chosen for the readings of the day; this Mass is the one that is livestreamed on the parish's YouTube channel, with the recording available afterward as a previously live-streamed option. At 12:00 p.m. a classically trained cantor sings with the organist in a Traditional Mass of the same reverent character. At 5:30 p.m. the Praise Mass closes the Sunday with contemporary Christian music led by Noelle and Kevin, drawing on contemporary Christian musicians to create an upbeat, welcoming, multigenerational gathering.
On Saturdays the 5:00 p.m. Mass, sung by the cantor and organist, fulfills the Sunday obligation. A 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday Reconciliation is offered in the main church, and a 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Sunday Reconciliation lets anyone make a quiet confession between the noon and evening Masses. Monday and Thursday Reconciliation is offered from 7:15 to 8:15 a.m. before the 8:30 a.m. Daily Mass.
Daily Mass is celebrated Monday through Saturday at 8:30 a.m. in the main church, offering a quiet morning with God to anyone in the neighborhood. There are also three weekday devotions: the Miraculous Medal Novena on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. in the Adoration Chapel, hosted by parishioner Jeremy Smith; the Weekly Bible Study for Young Adult Ministry on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the Nelligan Room of the Parish Office building; and the Divine Mercy Prayer Service and Rosary on Fridays at 3:00 p.m. in the Adoration Chapel.
The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is offered to parishioners after each weekend Mass by Msgr. Jay O'Connor, the parish administrator, and Fr. Felix Mmuoh, the associate pastor. Prayers of the Faithful may be sent to a special inbox and are brought to the clergy's holy hours.
Music That Shapes the Liturgy
Music is woven into every Sunday at Imparish. The Music Director, Nelson Streett, leads the team that supports all four Sunday Masses and the seasonal liturgies of Advent, Christmas, Lent, the Stations of the Cross, Holy Week, and the Easter Triduum. Professional cantors sing at the 5:00 p.m. Saturday Mass and the 12:00 p.m. Sunday Traditional Mass, accompanied by the parish organist. The Professional Quartet of trained vocalists sings at the 10:00 a.m. Sunday Mass with the same organ accompaniment. The Praise Mass at 5:30 p.m. Sunday is led by Noelle and Kevin and draws on contemporary Christian musicians to invite the assembly into joyful congregational song.
Volunteers are invited to offer their musical gifts as vocalists or instrumentalists. Parishioners can sign up through the Music Ministry online form or by emailing the Music Director directly.
Children, Youth, and Young Adults
Children's Liturgy of the Word (CLOW) welcomes children ages four through seven to hear the Sunday readings in the sacristy and Adoration Chapel during the 10:00 a.m. Sunday Mass (and during the summer). After the Liturgy of the Word they return to their families for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. Teens and adults may serve as CLOW ministers.
The School of Religion offers religious education for students in kindergarten through 5th grade who do not attend the parish school, with monthly whole-family gatherings and Sunday classes. First Reconciliation and First Communion preparation are offered for children in 2nd grade and older, and Confirmation is celebrated with students in the parish school in 4th grade.
Youth Ministry at Imparish serves middle schoolers through the EDGE program, which meets twice a month during the school year. The Children's Rosary Group meets in the chapel on the first Tuesday of each month, October through May, and Children's Adoration invites the parish's youngest members into a special hour before the Blessed Sacrament. Children's Story Time, for newborns through age five and their caregivers, meets on the second Thursday of the month at 9:30 a.m. on the rectory lawn, weather permitting, or inside the Saints Francis and Clare House.
Young Adult Ministry gathers Catholics aged twenty-one to thirty-five under the name Discipleship. The group hosts a weekly Bible study on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the Nelligan Room, a monthly Worship Night on the second Saturday of the month, and a calendar of social and service events that ranges from Orioles games and Relay for Life to volunteering at Our Daily Bread and local pregnancy centers.
Vacation Bible School runs for one week each summer, in 2026 from July 27 to July 31, 8:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., for children in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Becoming Catholic, Adult Faith, and Marriage
Those interested in joining the Catholic Church enter through the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), a year-round formation process facilitated by a team of parishioners and a priest. Children who have not been baptized, or who were baptized in another Christian faith, can prepare through OCIA Adapted for Children. Catechumens are received into the Church at the Easter Vigil.
The Marriage Ministry, in partnership with the St. John Paul II Foundation, offers the Together in Holiness Formation series, seven sessions combining video, discussion, prayer, and fellowship for couples who want to enrich their marriage and family life. Three Together in Holiness Circles meet regularly for prayer and conversation. Father Cibelli serves as the priest moderator.
Men's Fellowship gathers every Saturday from 6:30 to 8:00 a.m. in Monsignor Tinder Hall for the That Man is You (TMIY) men's program, hosted in cooperation with Paradisus Dei. Walking with Purpose anchors the Women's Fellowship with two seven-week Bible studies a year, Rooted and Radiant in the fall and Fearless and Free in the winter, plus a Wednesday morning Coffee & Conversation group that meets in the Parish Office Building from September through May to discuss the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' annual Life Issues materials. The Sodality, the parish's women's devotion to the Blessed Mother, meets on the first Saturday of each month for the Rosary, Mass, and a program.
The Work of Mercy: Outreach in Towson and Beyond
Imparish is an active member of the Assistance Center of Towson Churches (ACTC), a coalition of more than forty congregations that offers emergency aid: food distribution, help with rent and utilities, clothing assistance, mentoring, back-to-school supplies, and meals for those who are homeless. The parish Food Closet stocks nonperishable food each month for direct distribution and for distribution centers in Baltimore. During Advent, the Giving Tree and Adopt-A-Family programs support seventeen Baltimore City and County agencies by placing specific needs on ornaments and matching very needy families with parish groups, school classrooms, and local businesses.
Parishioners also serve through Good Samaritans, a group that offers transportation to doctor's appointments, shopping, and church for fellow parishioners who need a helping hand, and telephone companions for those who are isolated. Meals on Wheels volunteers deliver hot and cold meals five days a week to roughly eighty clients a day on eight routes. Our Daily Bread, Maryland's largest feeder of the homeless, is served by Imparish on the first Sunday of every month, a partnership that has provided monthly meatloaf dinners since 1981, along with flannel shirts, gloves, and hats at Christmas. My Sister's Place, a day program for homeless women and children in Baltimore City, is served a hot lunch on the second Tuesday of every month by Imparish volunteers. Respect Life and Pregnancy Center North organize the annual March for Life, 40 Days for Life, and parish support for a local pregnancy center.
The parish maintains a sister-parish relationship with St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Hampden-Woodberry, sharing revenue and ministry with a less affluent neighboring parish, and a sister-diocese relationship with the Diocese of Gonaïves in Haiti. Pastoral Visitors carry the Eucharist to homebound parishioners, conduct weekly Communion Services in approximately twenty assisted-living facilities, and bring Communion to patients at St. Joseph's, GBMC, and Sheppard Pratt Hospitals, as well as to those incarcerated at the Towson detention center.
A Perpetual Adoration Chapel and a Place to Belong
The Perpetual Adoration Chapel, dedicated in 1998 by Cardinal Keeler in the sacristy wing at the rear of the church, has been kept continuously manned by teams of parishioners who follow the instruction to pray always. The Adoration Chapel Team, one of seven pastoral advisory committees, helps with scheduling, tidying, and candle care.
Imparish is governed with the help of seven advisory committees named by the pastor: the Adoration Chapel Team, the Pastoral Council of seven members serving two-year terms, the Finance Committee, the Hospitality Committee, the Immaculate Conception School Board, the Safety Committee, and the Facilities Committee. Liturgical Ministries, including altar servers, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, sacristans, greeters, ushers, and the Encounter Ministry, recruit new members throughout the year.
For first-time visitors, the Parish Office is open Monday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (closed for lunch from noon to 1 p.m.), and is closed on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The parish office can be reached at (410) 427-4700 or info@theimmaculate.org. New families may register through the Join Our Parish link, and those interested in any of the parish's many ministries are welcome to sign up online or contact the relevant ministry leader directly. Whether a parishioner comes for the quiet 8:00 a.m. Mass, the 10:00 a.m. livestream, the 5:30 p.m. Praise Mass, or any one of the dozens of ministries, programs, and outreach efforts that fill the week, the granite church on the hill has been the same place since 1903: a parish rooted in faith, growing in Towson, and full of light worth beholding.