Make a Joyful Noise Before the Lord Campaign! 

On December 27, 1854, the feast day of St. John the Evangelist, a church under his patronage was solemnly dedicated to him at Leonard & Worth Streets in Covington, Kentucky.  Seventy years later in November 1924, a new St. John Church located at 627 Pike Street would theen become the gathering place for the local Catholic community to assemble in worship and profess their religious beliefs.  the present parish church, a magnificent structure of early German gothic design, still remains the centerpiece of the Lewisburg neighborhood of Covington. 

St. Jonn is a monument ot that heritage of which many of us are so proud.  it represents an era of immigrants who came to this country called America.  They were willing to forsake their homelands in search of a more meaningful and rewarding way of life.  The origin of St. John with its German-CAtholic influence is just one of the many Catholics parishes in Northern Kentucky whose beginnings can be attributed to a commonality of ethnic roots and religious persuasion.

St. John is the thrid oldest parish in Covington.  One of the first offical acts of the newly formed Diocese of Covington (1853) was to give permission to build a church in Lewisburg.  Work began on December 27, 1854.  By the turn of the century, the church, because of it's hillside location, was in need of major repairs.  The only alternative was to find a new location.  In 1908, Rev. Cammilus Maes, Bishop of the Diocese of Covington, purchased the land on Pike Street which is the present site of St. John.

The school building was the first to be erected and served as church, school, rectory and nun's convent.  It was dedicated in 1914.  Rev. Anthony Goebel who was assigned as pastor in 1909, continued as pastor for forty five years until his death in 1954.

In 1922, ,ground was broken for a new church and a new rectory.  It was dedicated on Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 1924.

The style of the church is German Gothic.  The proportions are of the old masters of Medieval Architecture.  The height of the steeple corresponds to the length of the church, both measuring 163 feet.  The interior has a beautifully arched wooden ceiling and altars cut from Italian marble.  The stained glass windows were designed by the Art Glass Firm of Dr. Oidtmann, Linnich, Germany.  The seven windows in the sanctuary depict major events documented in the Old and New Testaments.  At the right side of the front entrance is a niche which contains a statue of the Pieta, a copy of the masterpiece in the Cathedral of Muenster in Westphalia.  The church bells are a exact reproduction of the bells in the Cathedral Aix-la-Chapelle in Aachen, Germany.  The installation of the pipe organ was completed in 1934.  The church is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In December, 1963, Monsignor Edward Fedders, a member of the Marynoll Order was elevated to the rank of Bishop.  He was a son of St. John Parish and remains the only native son to date of the Diocese of Covington to be consecrated as a Bishop in the Roman Catholic Church.

In 1986, St. John merged with three other locat parishes to become a Diocesan District  school.  The name was changed to Prince of Peace.  In July, , 1999, St. Ann of West Covington became a mission of St. John's.

Today, St. John continues to provide spiritual and social guidance to the community as it has for the last one hundred and fifty years.