On North Maple Avenue in Kingston, Pennsylvania, the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola stands as the home of a Catholic parish that grew out of three earlier immigrant congregations. The parish is led today by Monsignor David L. Tressler, with Reverend Michael J. Boris serving as assistant pastor, and remains a steady presence in the Wyoming Valley under the Diocese of Scranton. Its members come from the combined heritage of Irish, Polish, and Lithuanian families who first built Catholic churches in and around Pringle and Kingston more than a century ago.
Mass and Confession Schedule
The parish keeps a full weekly schedule that includes both weekend and daily Mass. At St. Ignatius Church on North Maple Avenue, Mass is offered on Saturday at 4:00 PM, on Sunday at 7:00 AM and 10:30 AM, and Monday through Friday at 7:30 AM. The Sunday 10:30 AM Mass is livestreamed every week on the parish's Facebook page. A second worship site, Holy Family Parish at 574 Bennett Street in neighboring Luzerne (about 1.8 miles away), shares the rotation with Saturday Mass at 5:15 PM, Sunday Mass at 9:00 AM, and weekday Mass at 12:10 PM Monday through Friday.
Sacrament of Reconciliation is heard at noon on Saturday at St. Ignatius Church and from 4:45 to 5:00 PM on Saturday at Holy Family Church. Children's Liturgy of the Word is offered at the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass, and age-appropriate children's bulletins are available in the foyer of St. Ignatius Church each Sunday.
The Story of Three Parishes Becoming One
St. Ignatius Church itself dates back to 1885, when Bishop O'Hara appointed Father Bergan as the first pastor for Irish immigrants who had settled in what is now Pringle. The first Catholic Masses in the area were held in an old schoolhouse in Edwardsville in 1883, and worship moved to a wooden building behind the present church until the stone church was completed under Father O'Malley in 1891. The parish later built Bergan Hall (the original parish house, moved to serve as a meeting space) and, in 1916, a rectory built in Spanish design. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, St. Ann's Chapel was added on East Hoyt Street along with a convent house on Market Street and a parish hall next door.
St. Hedwig's Church was founded on October 16, 1901, the feast of St. Hedwig, when a group of Polish immigrants petitioned Bishop Hoban for a parish where they could worship in their own language. The basement church on Zerby Avenue served the community until the upper church was finished in 1909. The parish grew to roughly 1,600 families before the Second World War and supported a school, a library, and a bowling alley, plus a cemetery in Larksville. Father Zavacki served as pastor for twenty years until his retirement in 2007, when declining membership led to consolidation.
St. Mary of the Annunciation, the Lithuanian parish nearby on Zerby Avenue, was begun in February 1902 by miners who used their free hours during a strike to hand-dig the foundation. The basement church was blessed in March 1903, the rectory begun in 1905, the cemetery founded in Pringle in 1906, and the church was blessed by Bishop Hoban on July 19, 1908. The parish became known for its choir's program of Lithuanian hymns and songs. Hurricane Agnes in July 1972 damaged parish structures, and the local economy never fully recovered. Father Yenkevich retired in 2009, and the parish was then consolidated with St. Hedwig's and St. Ignatius.
Through a diocesan process called Called to Holiness and Mission, the Diocese of Scranton reduced the number of parishes in the diocese from 196 to 121. The three Kingston-area parishes were merged at the St. Ignatius site, and the combined parish was formally named St. Ignatius Loyola Parish in 2009. Father Lapera oversaw the early years of blending; Father John Polednak served from 2011 to 2015; Father Chmil from 2015 to 2017; Father McKernan from 2017 until his retirement in 2018; and Monsignor Tressler began as pastor on November 12, 2018. Holy Cross priests from King's College in Wilkes-Barre, beginning with Father Kline in 1946 and continuing today with Father Issing, have been a unique and ongoing support to the parish.
The parish mission statement captures the spirit of the consolidation: "We, the blended Catholic community of St. Ignatius Loyola, draw strength from Word and Sacrament, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist. Modeling Christ's work, we embrace our commitment to God's call. We remain faithful to the shared acts of prayer, study and service. Together we extend Christ's hospitality to others and light the path of peace for generations to come."
Parish Organization: Word, Worship, Community, and Service
The parish structures its ministries around four commissions named in Bishop Joseph Bambera's pastoral letter Wounded and Loved, Regathering the Scattered: Word, Worship, Community, and Service. The Parish Pastoral Council serves as the consultative and visioning body to the pastor. Ex-officio members include the pastor, parochial vicar, and deacon, joined by twelve parishioners-at-large elected for two-year terms. Officers for 2025 through September 2027 are Margarita Rose as chairperson, Gina Weidow as vice chairperson, and Mary Stchur as secretary. The Parish Finance Council, with Monsignor Tressler as president and members Jennifer Deemer, Patrick Endler, Paul Keating, Maria Scappaticci, and Brian Thomas, advises on budgets, banking, fundraising, and maintenance.
Worship and Music
The Worship Commission nourishes the liturgical life of the parish, identifying spiritual needs and maintaining ongoing education and training for liturgical ministers. Its responsibilities include coordinating presiders, lectors, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, altar servers, the music director, musicians, parish writers, the Art and Environment team, greeters and ushers, and sacristans. The Music Ministry supports the sung worship at weekend and daily Masses, while the Altar Linen Ministry quietly ensures that the linens of the sacristy are laundered, ironed, and returned in good order. Susan Verdone leads the linen ministry, and new members are always welcome.
The Altar Server program trains young parishioners to serve at the altar, and a Marriage Preparation ministry guides engaged couples through the steps leading to the Sacrament of Matrimony.
Faith Formation for All Ages
The Word Commission promotes evangelization through faith formation for every age group. Its programs include an 8 to 10-week Bible Study each year, lecture series on topics of interest to the various demographic groups of the parish, a Young Adults group that meets monthly, sacrament preparation for Reconciliation, First Communion, and Confirmation, and faith-sharing groups. An Alpha program reaches out to those not yet in communion with Jesus. Bible Study and Eucharistic Adoration offerings have included a recent six-week course called The Eucharist in Scripture, meeting on Wednesdays at 1 PM in Conlan Hall, with one of the parish's own priests leading one of the sessions.
Faith Sharing Groups meet on the second Friday of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 PM in Conlan Hall, open to men and women 18 and older. The parish also holds Adult Faith Formation evenings; Fr. Dan Issing, C.S.C., chairperson of the Theology Department at King's College, has led information sessions on Vatican II to mark anniversaries of the Second Vatican Council. The parish subscribes to FORMED, an on-demand Catholic platform with movies, videos, Bible studies, audiobooks, and talks for adults, children, teens, and young adults, accessible through signup.formed.org using the 18704 zip code.
Religious Education is led by Carmella Faust for St. Ignatius Loyola Parish and Diane Janoski for Holy Family Parish. The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) welcomes inquirers interested in becoming Catholic, adults baptized Catholic who have not received Confirmation and Eucharist, and parents of children not yet baptized.
Mary's Ministry and the Holy Name Society
Two long-standing faith communities give the parish its backbone of lay leadership. Mary's Ministry, coordinated by Mary Hosey, is a community of the baptized women of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish who seek the living Christ through prayer, study, and service. Activities are organized under Word, Worship, Service, and Community, and include Rosary Devotions, a May Crowning with First Communion families, a Mass of Remembrance for deceased participants, days of reflection and retreat, trips to religious sites, regular donations to food banks and the St. Vincent de Paul Kitchen, clothing and material aid collections, a Prayer Shawl Ministry, and parish socials like the Autumn Fling Bingo, bake sales, bus trips, and raffles.
The Holy Name Society gathers the baptized men of the parish around devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. Officers are Steve Ellis, president; Thomas Havrilak, vice president; Jack Lenahan, treasurer; and Don Engle, secretary. The society meets on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM in Conlan Hall. Its projects include a Nite at the Races, a Children's Easter Egg Hunt, a Children's Halloween Party, a Children's Christmas Party, a $1,000 college scholarship awarded to two seniors each year, a Thanksgiving dinner, and the purchase of equipment for the parish such as a snow plow and an ice machine. The society also prepares the meal for Mother Teresa's Haven during the weeks the parish hosts the shelter.
Reaching Out: Pro-Life, Prison, and the Homeless
The Pro-Life Ministry fosters respect for all life from conception to natural death. Parishioners are active with the Wilkes-Barre Pro-Life Center, an all-volunteer organization that provides material and moral support to expectant and new mothers in need. The parish holds an annual baby bottle collection to raise donations, participates in the Mothers' Day Carnation sale, and hosts a winter baby shower of clothing, diapers, and supplies. Parishioners also support peace and justice efforts through the Wilkes-Barre Interfaith Resource Center for Peace and Justice and the Consistent Life Network.
The Prison Ministry connects two parishioners, Mary Fiske and Cindy Liskov, with the Prison Christian Growth Group, a statewide Catholic nonprofit. They lead faith-sharing discussions with male inmates at SCI Dallas, focusing on the lectionary readings of the previous Sunday and other topics of interest. Friendships and trust have grown over time, allowing the inmates to share their faith journeys openly.
Mother Teresa's Haven, a men's homeless shelter managed by Catholic Social Services, is hosted by the parish at various points during the year in Conlan Hall. Volunteers provide a hot, home-cooked evening meal each night, share fellowship with the guests, and supplement material needs through personal donations and the St. Vincent de Paul Fund.
Care and Concern: Bereavement, Prayer Shawls, and Baptism
The Bereavement Ministry, part of the parish's Care and Concern work, supports families of recently deceased loved ones. Ministers visit the funeral home during the wake, offer transferal prayers as approved by the pastor, greet mourners, and distribute Mass programs at the church. On All Souls Day a special Mass is offered for all those buried during the previous year, and their names are inscribed in the Book of Remembrance.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry, an outreach of Mary's Ministry, distributes handmade prayer shawls and lap robes at no charge to those in need of comfort. Knitters and crocheters meet at Bergan Hall on Saturdays between noon and 3:00 PM; teachers are available for those just learning the craft, and all supplies are furnished. Prayer shawls are also given to each newly baptized child, along with baptismal bibs and scarves prepared by Mary's Ministry.
Baptismal Preparation begins with an evening session held on the second Monday of the month. Baptisms are scheduled on Sundays after the noon Mass once all paperwork is complete. Newly baptized families are invited to the semi-annual New Parishioner/Newly Baptized/Newlyweds Brunch, hosted by the Community Coordinating Team in Conlan Hall after the 10:30 AM Mass, where they are formally welcomed into the parish family.
Youth, Family, and Parish Life
St. Ignatius Loyola Youth and Family Ministry, led by Youth Minister Shannon Kowalski, is open to all youth, especially teens and young adults, and offers spiritual, social, and service activities for individuals and families together. The Community Coordinating Team publishes the quarterly SIL Parish Life newsletter, maintains the parish's Facebook and X (Twitter) accounts, prepares a ministry welcome brochure, and keeps the parish's online presence updated.
Parishioners can stay connected through the weekly parish bulletin, the Parish Life Newsletter, the FORMED digital library, the online calendar, livestreamed Sunday Mass at 10:30 AM on Facebook, and online giving through My E Offering. The parish cemetery is located in Pringle.
Honoring Forty Years of Priestly Service
The parish marked the 40th anniversary of Monsignor Tressler's priestly ordination with a special project: a 40 Days of Service in which parishioners dedicated forty days of acts of service in honor of their pastor. The celebration reflected the spirit of a parish that draws its identity from Word, Sacrament, and the shared generosity of its people, and it set the tone for the years ahead as the blended community of St. Ignatius Loyola Parish continues to grow on North Maple Avenue.