St. John the Baptist Catholic Church located in Continental, Ohio, (20 mile southeast of Defiance, Ohio) serving the Catholic community in northwest Ohio since 1903, dedicated its first church in 1907 and since that time has been a growing, active community of Christians praying and giving glory to God. Since July of 2001 St. John’s has been clustered with two other parishes (St. Barbara Catholic Church, Cloverdale and St. Joseph Catholic Church, North Creek) under one pastor.

St. John the Baptist Church’s mission is to provide spiritual nourishment to all those who seek it through Mass & the sacraments. We are also active with the ongoing formation programs for the parish’s youth, assist with the needs of area poor and hungry, & provide social activities for parishioners & visitors. In addition to dynamic preaching of the Word of God, the parish sponsors special presentations, missions & spiritual activities for members and the community.

The major program which we are currently in is a fund-raising campaign for a new church. Presently we are forced to have weekend Mass in the Continental School cafetorium and a weekday Mass during the school year in Christ Lutheran Church, Continental. We are grateful to be able to use their facilities temporarily until there are sufficient funds available to build. The old church in downtown Continental was decommissioned in July of 2001 due to an unsafe structure. Any donations to our building fund would be gratefully appreciated.

Since 1998, the 175 families of St. John’s have been actively involved in planning and doing some preliminary site work on our new church property located on the north edge of Continental along St. Rt. 634. We look with confidence and hope to the future growth of our faith community. We ask you to especially pray that we may be successful in our building efforts to provide a new home for our church.

Some of the accomplishments that we have seen thus far is the purchase of 27 acres of farm land on the north edge of Continental where we hope to build the new church & hall complex. Approximately 10 acres will be used for soccer and ball fields for the children and adults of the parish and community. During the Fall of 2002, we have had a flurry of activity installing water and sewer lines, large drain tile & catch basins and a stone driveway. The ball fields were leveled and seeded with grass.

A major fund raising campaign last Fall has netted $380,000 in pledges & donations in the quest for $900,000. We still need some $150,000 in donations before we can begin to lay the first brick. We are very hopeful that soon our new church will begin to rise. With the help of our liturgical consultant, Joanne Lopez-Kepes and architect, Bob Fessler of The Collaborative, the church will build upon the best traditions of our past & present faith communities while still looking to the future needs of our community. Your donations to help us realize our vision would be greatly appreciated. Please send your donations to: St. John the Baptist Building Fund, P.O. Box 8, 160 Main St., Cloverdale, Ohio 45827-0008.