Resurrection, Brookline

Parish History

Resurrection parish was established in 1909.  The origin of the parish can be traced to the opening of the Mt. Washington Streetcar Tunnel in 1904.  Before the tunnel opened, travel to Pittsburgh from the South Hills was time consuming and difficult.  This kept the population in the area down.  Once travel to and from Pittsburgh became easier, Brookline experienced a rapid growth.  By 1909, Brookline had grown to the point that a parish could be supported.  On May 3, 1909, land for a church was purchased and on May 25, the parish was officially established.  The first Mass of the parish was celebrated on May 30 in a rented storeroom.  This storeroom served as a church for a year. 

Beginning in June of 1909, work began on a combined church and school building.  The cornerstone was laid on September 19, 1909, and the first Mass was celebrated in the new church on March 27, 1910.  The basement of the building was devoted to the church and the upper floor constituted the school.  To meet the growing needs of the school, a second floor and a wing was added to the original building in 1912.  A second wing was added in 1923 to 1924.  A final addition, connecting the two wings, was constructed in 1928.

The continuing growth of the parish led to the building of a new church.  Ground for the church was broken on April 25, 1938, and the completed church was dedicated on February 13, 1939.  The original church was converted into a gym and, in 1953, into four classrooms.  The church was renovated in 1955 and 1984.

With the turn of the century, trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh began to reveal a decline in Mass attendance and sacramental participation.  At the same time, the number of priests available for parish ministry also began to decline.

To address these challenges, Bishop David Zubik announced on April 12, 2015 a new diocesan initiative, On Mission for The Church Alive!, a consultative strategic planning process designed to foster viable, sustainable and vibrant parishes.  As part of this process, the Bishop, in consultation with the faithful, began to consider new models of parish life based on pastoral needs, financial and temporal resources and available clergy.

In 2018, following the period of consultation, parishes were grouped together and served by a single clergy team to eventually form one new parish.

During this transition period, Resurrection Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parishes.   This ended on July 1, 2019 when Resurrection Parish merged with the Brookline parishes of Our Lady of Loretto and St. Pius X and the Beechview parishes of St. Pamphilus and St. Catherine of Siena to form the new St. Teresa of Kolkata Parish.  As part of the merger Resurrection Church remained open to serve the new parish.