About Our Parish
Saint Richard Catholic Community is 57 years old in 2009. Father Alfred Longley, a dynamic and charismatic leader who was probably a generation ahead of his time, was asked to be the first pastor of Saint Richard. The territory of the parish came from the Church of the Assumption and other neighboring parishes. Saint Richard was the third parish in the rapidly growing suburb of Richfield.
Liturgy was one of the priorities of Father Longley and many liturgical changes of Vatican II were anticipated at this church. The parish was known locally and nationally for its liturgical renewal.
Following the construction of the church, the school was built the next year: 1953. It was staffed by the Sisters of Saint Joseph and grew by leaps and bounds. By 1965 there were two additions to the "all in one level" connected campus. In the 1970s grades 7 and 8 were discontinued. In 1994 Saint Richard School along with the other two Catholic schools in Richfield were consolidated to one school with two campuses. Blessed Trinity Catholic School has pre-school through 3rd grade on the Penn campus [St. Richard] and grades 4 through 8 on the Nicollet campus [St. Peter].
The 1952 church was expanded into the gymnasium in the 1970s and then a new worship space was constructed in 1985. The campus was 10 acres until 2002 when a strip along 76th and a strip along Penn were sold to accommodate traffic patterns with the construction of the international campus for Best Buy, Inc.
At the end 1980s there were about 1700 households; currently that number is about 1100. Many of the households are those of single, senior citizens. There are still charter members who revel in the stories of 50+ years ago.
Statistically, the population of the parish is balanced from birth through age 80. Those demographics demand specific kinds of parish ministry-the kind that might be anticipated in a first-ring suburb.
New parish governance structures are in place; parishioners are committing their time, talent and treasure for the advancing of the mission of Christ at Saint Richard.
Saint Richard of Chichester England [after whom the parish was named] composed a prayer in the 13th Century that is as true today as it was then: Lord, may I know thee more clearly, love thee more dearly and follow thee more nearly.
