A Pillar of the East End Since 1959
Tucked into a residential stretch off Westport Road in the east end of Louisville, St. Albert the Great Catholic Church has anchored its neighborhood for more than six decades. The parish was founded in 1959 and takes its name from St. Albertus Magnus, the thirteenth century Dominican educator and scientist. Today it is home to more than 4,500 households, served by a staff that lives out a simple mission: to be a Christ-centered community of disciples dedicated to inspiring people to love, serve, and know God and one another.
The 1395 Girard Drive campus includes the church itself, a fully staffed nursery, a parish school, a parish hall known as Visitation Hall used for blood drives and large gatherings, and the spaces that host everything from choir rehearsals to Boy Scout meetings. The parish office is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the church building itself is open daily for private prayer during the same hours.
Mass, Reconciliation, and Adoration
Weekend worship centers on a Saturday Vigil Mass at 4:00 p.m. and two Sunday Masses at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Daily Mass is celebrated Monday and Thursday at noon, and Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at 8:30 a.m. Holy Day Masses are offered at 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. All liturgies are celebrated in English.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is heard Monday and Thursday at 12:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 9:00 a.m., and Saturday from 2:45 to 3:45 p.m., with appointments available outside those times. Eucharistic Adoration is held on Wednesdays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., giving the parish a quiet weekly hour of prayer in the middle of the day. Mass is livestreamed on the parish YouTube channel, and homily recordings are posted as a podcast for those who cannot be present.
Worship Ministries Behind the Liturgy
Worship at St. Albert is supported by a Worship Committee made up of the pastor, the Director of Worship, the Worship Chairperson, a Pastoral Council member, and the coordinators of each ministry. The committee coordinates every aspect of the liturgical celebrations, and the celebration of the Holy Eucharist is understood as both the source and the summit of parish life.
Altar Servers are students in grades five through eight who assist the priest at daily and weekend Masses on a rotating basis, and training is provided each spring. Extraordinary Ministers of Communion distribute Holy Communion at liturgies and also bring Communion to residents of several nearby nursing homes and to homebound parishioners on Sunday mornings; any confirmed Catholic may serve. Lectors proclaim the scriptures at liturgy and are open to all parishioners high school age and older. Ministers of Hospitality, the parish's team of ushers, greet the community, help people to seats, take up the collection, and straighten the church after Mass, with a normal commitment of just two to four months out of the year.
The Music Ministry is led by Director of Music and Worship Laura Sullivan and includes an adult choir, a Resurrection choir, a children's choir, cantors, and instrumentalists who together enhance the parish's worship. The Art and Environment ministry cares for the worship space through the seasons, welcoming anyone with talents in sewing, decorating, designing, painting, gardening, or other creative work.
Formation for Children and Youth
Children's Ministry at St. Albert meets children where they are and walks with them through every stage of growing in faith. Children's Liturgy of the Word is offered during the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass for children ages four through seven, who are dismissed before the first reading and return during the Preparation of the Gifts. A fully staffed nursery is available during the same Mass for children ages one through four, with sign-in and sign-out required by the same parent or adult caregiver.
The Parish Religious Education Program, known as PREP, offers catechesis for students in kindergarten through 8th grade who do not attend the parish school. Classes meet Sundays from 9:00 to 10:15 a.m. and combine study, prayer, and activities that ground students in Gospel values and Catholic tradition. Catechists and assistants are trained, with in-service programs offered during the year and catechist certification available through the Archdiocesan Office of Lifelong Formation and Education. The OCIA for Children program prepares older children, age seven and above, for the sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, and Confirmation. The Sprouts Ministry connects families with children from preschool through first grade through dynamic, fun-filled gatherings that build long-lasting friendships in the parish.
St. Albert is also home to an active scouting community. Cub Scouts is open to boys in grades one through five, Boy Scouts welcomes boys in grades six through twelve, and Girl Scouts serves girls from kindergarten through twelfth grade. An annual Vacation Bible School evangelizes and catechizes children through crafts, play, song, games, and education in God's Word.
Youth Ministry fosters the Christian formation of adolescents through catechesis, spiritual formation, community, service, and worship.
Sacramental Preparation
Sacramental preparation is a core work of the parish. Baptism is celebrated monthly for infants and children under the age of seven whose family is registered in the parish and who has completed the Baptism Preparation Class; sponsors must be at least sixteen and confirmed practicing Catholics. Children generally celebrate First Reconciliation in the spring of first grade and First Communion in the fall of second grade, engaging in a process of study, prayer, and activities that explores the meaning of Eucharist and the celebration of the Mass.
Confirmation is presented as the completion of the grace we receive in baptism, sealing that grace through the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit and enabling fuller participation in the worship and apostolic life of the Church. Older children and adults seeking Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist follow the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, known as OCIA, which is also the path for adults Baptized in another Christian tradition who wish to become Catholic.
Couples interested in marriage at St. Albert are asked to make arrangements at least six months in advance. Either the couple or their parents must have been registered members of the parish for at least one year. The parish provides a Sponsor Couple program, along with access to the archdiocesan marriage preparation resources.
Adult Faith, Pastoral Care, and Healing
Adult Formation at St. Albert integrates lived experience with the scriptures, teachings, traditions, and practices of the Roman Catholic faith, helping adult parishioners grow in both wisdom and holiness.
The Pastoral Care Ministry reaches out to parishioners confined to homes, hospitals, and nursing homes with visits, Holy Communion, and notes of encouragement. Within Pastoral Care, the Bereavement Committee provides food for the family gathering held after a funeral. The Elizabeth Ministry delivers meals to new mothers and their families as a way of welcoming newer parishioners with young children. Markey's Support Group is a monthly social gathering for those who have lost a spouse, meeting for dinner at a restaurant. The Prayer Chain prays confidentially for intentions shared with the parish. The SOS Committee offers short-term help with household chores, transportation, meals, and visitation to parishioners who need temporary support. The Pastoral Care Committee also oversees Wedding and Funeral arrangements and offers grief counseling and support groups.
Parish Life: Aces, Knights, GAP, and the Annual Picnic
Parish life at St. Albert is anchored by a handful of long-running groups. The St. Albert Athletic Ministry, known as SAAM, brings parish youth together for team sports throughout the year and models Christian competition as respect for self and others. The St. Al's Aces is the parish's senior club, with meetings, trips, and an annual Christmas party, and dues of $20 per year. The GAP Club, short for Graduated Albert Parents, keeps families connected after their children have moved on from the parish school. The Bishop Flaget Council of the Knights of Columbus serves St. Albert along with Ascension, St. Bernadette, St. Margaret Mary, and St. Patrick parishes, meeting on the first Tuesday of the month at St. Patrick.
Two signature fundraisers bring the wider community onto the Girard Drive campus. The St. Albert the Great Summer Picnic is the parish's largest fundraiser, running three days, with Family Night on Thursday and the main picnic on Friday and Saturday evenings from 5:00 to 11:00 p.m., featuring games, raffles, a hole-in-one contest, food, and beverages. During Lent, the Athletic Ministry hosts the Friday Night Fish Fry, another major community gathering that depends on dozens of volunteer slots filled each week.
A New Member Welcome Mass extends hospitality to all new parishioners, followed by a reception with food, fellowship, and brief testimonies that connect newcomers to the ministries and programs of the parish.
Social Concerns: Faith Put Into Action
The Social Concerns Committee helps the parish live the Gospel call to serve those in need. The work is wide-ranging. Loaves & Fishes collects canned goods, meats, formula, and other food donations on the first weekend of each month and distributes them to local food banks, with an annual Thanksgiving Basket collection that supports Eastern Area Community Ministries and the St. Vincent de Paul Open Hand Kitchen. Appalachia Outreach gathers new and gently used clothing, household items, furniture, school supplies, computers, and classroom equipment to support neighbors in poverty in Piarist, Kentucky, including the Piarist School.
The Giving Tree Ministry, each Advent, places Christmas trees with ornaments in the Gathering Space so that parishioners can purchase gifts for less fortunate children and adults across Kentucky. The Lenten Tree Ministry expresses appreciation to more than 400 retired religious from organizations that include the Ursuline Sisters of Mount St. Joseph in Owensboro, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, and the Little Sisters of the Poor. Habitat for Humanity builds a home every other year with volunteer labor. Hand in Hand Ministries sponsors collections and immersion trips to Appalachia and Belize. The parish supports the Sister Visitor Program through a seasonal Back to School Project, and parishioners can volunteer with St. John's Center for Homeless Men, which offers showers, coffee, mail, and TARC tickets seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. The St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Albert responds to calls for temporary assistance with food, rent, and utilities, with collections taken up on every fifth Sunday of the year.
The Respect Life Committee coordinates efforts to pray for and defend human life at every stage, from the unborn to the elderly, and sponsors the Baby Bottle Boomerang and Mother's Day Card Sale in support of Little Way Pregnancy Center. Red Cross Blood Drives are held quarterly in Visitation Hall. Justice Initiatives partners with Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities' Refugee Ministry, and a multi-parish Social Justice Committee to foster solidarity and to disburse grants to non-profits that align with Catholic Social Teaching. A new Environmental Concerns Committee is forming around the call of Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si' and his follow-up Laudate Deum.
Joining the Parish and Supporting Its Work
An active, participating member of St. Albert is a person who regularly takes part in the liturgical life of the parish, commits to stewardship of time, talent, and treasure by completing an annual Stewardship Commitment Card, and lives up to that commitment. Newcomers can register with the parish office, and current members who have a change of address or phone number are asked to call extension 107.
Giving can be done online through the parish's secure giving portal, by text to 877-254-4667, through the Give+ mobile app for iOS and Android, or by placing cash or checks in the collection basket at Mass. Gifts of stock, qualified charitable distributions from retirement accounts after age seventy and a half, and planned gifts through charitable bequests, charitable trusts, appreciated stock or mutual funds, retirement plan beneficiary designations, life insurance beneficiary designations, and gifts of property and real estate are all welcomed and coordinated through the Business Manager.
The parish school, with its own phone line, has long been part of the campus, and the parish relies on the school community alongside its many ministries to make 1395 Girard Drive what its patron saint represents: a place of teaching and a place of wonder.