Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC) Parish in the Pompton Plains neighborhood of Pequannock marked the Silver Anniversary of its church building’s dedication during a Mass on May 11 celebrated by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney.
Father Darwin Lastra, OLCG’s pastor, and Msgr. Patrick Scott, the parish’s pastor from 1975 to 2010, concelebrated the church’s 25th anniversary liturgy. Msgr. Scott shared his vision for a new church in his Easter Sunday homily on March 30, 1997. Before the current church’s opening in 2000, Masses were held in the former parish school, completed in 1964, for more than three decades.
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Parishioners participated in the church design efforts. The Liturgical Design Committee guided the process throughout. In early 1998, the Architect Selection Committee picked Martin DeSapio of Flemington to design the new church.
Guided by the theme “Out of Love Grows Our Church,” OLGC held a pledge drive. Parishioners fanned out among the parish community to gather pledges. During this time, Father Scott was also named honorary prelate with the title of reverend monsignor.
After the Pequannock Township Planning Board approved the project the following year, ground was broken for the building on May 4, 1999, during an Easter Sunday prayer service. On April 23, 2000, about 2,300 people attended Easter Sunday Mass in the new church. On June 24 that year, the church was dedicated during a Mass.
The Mass included a May Crowning ceremony with Julia Barnard placing a crown of flowers a Blessed Mother statue. Bishop Sweeney joined the other clergy, and altar servers in distributing flowers to the congregation’s mothers for Mother’s Day.
OLGC was established as a mission on Sept. 20, 1962, and raised to parish status on Oct. 8, 1963.
