With its beginnings at the “Barn Theater” in 1964, Fr. Sean P. Molloy was named first pastor and Divine Mercy Catholic Church became a recognized parish. This same year, Divine Mercy School opened its doors in a warehouse at Merritt Island Airport with 185 students.

 

Throughout the next thirty-five years, expansion continued with the construction of our present church (1975), our school (1965), our Dome/social hall (1967); the addition of the parish administration building, "Mercy Center", rectory, school library; the remodeling of the church and additions of a computer lab, science lab and conference room to our school in 1989. In 1994, our Church was severely damaged by a fire. Not considered a renovation but repairing what was lost, the insurance funds were limited, repairs were made with a small budget, many needed items were not included and the quality of some products sacrificed.

From its humble beginnings, our Parish has steadily grown into a vibrant Christian Community honoring the traditions of the Catholic Faith and is a shining example of what parish life is all about. Divine Mercy Parish is fortunate to have always had dedicated priests, sisters and parishioners who, through the stewardship of their varied talents, skills and abilities have built up a vibrant community of faith, love, hope, gratitude and devotion.

Our special focus on the children of Divine Mercy Parish, through Divine Mercy School, our religious education and our youth programs, helps insure that the leadership of the future will be founded in the spiritual values of our faith and tradition.

Continuing in the tradition of shaping our future, our parish leaders and committees, in consultation with architects and other expert counsel, developed in 2002-2003 the first phases of a comprehensive site plan for our community that will, with God's help, our prayers and the support of parishioners, be implemented over the next ten years.

The first priority identified was to renovate our Church, School and Dome. Our Church, renovated in 2004, included renovations to our visual environment specifically benefiting our prayer, worship and sacramental celebrations; and repair of critical elements to the building infrastructure.  In need of many of these same structural renovations, our School  began renovations in 2004. Our School also plans the creation of an Early Childhood Development Center and covered basketball/sports pavilion which will greatly enhance our ministry and service to our young children and our outdoor parish activities.

The second priority would include replacing (the old school building) with a new two-story classroom and meeting facility for our on-going sacramental programs, educational classes and outreach ministries and addressing our current parking conditions to better accommodate our parishioners.

While reviewing our present and future growth, we recognize the fundamental need for change of our campus structure. We will continue to grow as new families join our parish. It is now our opportunity to shoulder a share of the responsibility of providing for the future of Divine Mercy Parish.