St. John the Evangelist Established 1853/55 Fr. Gene Gaffey 39 Hersey Road, Pembroke, Maine Mailing Address: 51 Washington Street, Eastport, ME 04631-1226 Eastport Rectory: 207-853-2825 Saturday Mass: 4 p.m. Sunday Mass: None Weekday Mass: None Holy Days: 7 p.m. Confessions: Saturday: 3:30-3:45 a.m.

History of St. John the Evangelist Church

The St. John Church community was founded by Irish immigrants from Rathlin Island in the northwest of the country. They came to Pembroke to work in the Ironworks, at the time the town’s largest employer. For most of its history it has been linked to St. Joseph Parish, Eastport though for a time the pastor at St. Ann’s Pleasant Point served St. John Church.

Hard documentary evidence is elusive, but a local history states that the first services of the Catholic church were held regularly in a building at IronWorks Hill. This property was purchased in December 1853. The history of the Archdiocese of Boston notes that "at Pembroke a store was bought and converted into a church about February 1854". This would have been during the time that the Jesuits were pastors in Eastport. It would seem the store/church was meant to be temporary as the present site of the church was also purchased in 1853, and the first burial in the adjoining cemetery was in September of that year.

The church was constructed 1854-1855 and remains largely unaltered. A "wedding cake" altar which once stood at St. Joseph in Eastport was transferred to St. John around the turn of the 20th century. It stands in the center of a sanctuary framed by an oval-shaped communion rail. Electricity and a furnance were not added until the 1950’s. Prior to that winter services were held in parishioners’ homes.

Today the core of the parish remains small yet strong. Most activities are planned and organized on a parish-wide basis with folks from both St. Joseph and St. John churches joining in.

In the past several years much work has been done on the building – exterior painting, major repair, and restoration of the cemetery stones. Members of the parish have also repainted the interior of the church.