St. Peter - Welcome

St. Peter Catholic Church

(Updated November 4, 2007)

Welcome to our Parish Website!

St. Peter Catholic Church in Kirkwood has been blessed by Almighty God with a long and proud history. Beginning with a few families and a small wooden church in 1832, our parish has changed, grown, and prospered over the years. Today, St. Peter Parish is home for over 1900 families and our parish Church is an essential part of downtown Kirkwood, Missouri. Many faithful priests and parishioners have helped our parish to become well-known for its uplifting liturgy, welcoming community, living stewardship, and loving service and outreach.

As we move into the New Millennium, our parish boasts over 60 organizations and groups. Our parish grade school enrolls over 400 students, and hundreds more are involved in religious education programs. Everyone, from the very young to the very experienced, has a part to play in our parish community! You are welcome here!

Our parish is committed to the command of Jesus Christ, "Go out to all the world and preach the Good News!" Our hope is that this website will help us to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world and to our community. We hope it will also be a source of good information and communication. Please explore our website and contact us if we can be of any assistance to you. May all of us look to the future with hope and confidence in the Holy Spirit!

Father Jack Costello Father Mike Esswein

Pastor Associate Pastor

Our Mission Statement

We, the parish community of Saint Peter Catholic Church in Kirkwood, guided by the Holy Spirit, are called to live as Jesus would live. Our mission is to share our faith, as individuals and as a community, through Worship, Education, Service, Stewardship, and Leadership. We are continually called to proclaim and to live God's word by making it the foundation for all that we do.

From the Pastor’s desk…

Where did we leave off seventeen years ago.....

On January 28th Archbishop Burke called and wanted to see me at his home at 4510 Lindell Blvd. I realized as I was driving to St. Louis from Washington, Missouri that he probably didn't want to discuss how I thought the Baseball Cardinals would do this season. I knew that he was going to transfer me. So I came loaded with excuses why it would not be a good idea to move me from St. Francis Borgia Parish at this time. When he began the conversation with the sentence, "Well, Father Costello, as of February 22nd St. Peter's in Kirkwood will not have a pastor and I would like you to be its pastor." I was shocked, surprised and elated as he immediately took the wind out of my sails and my excuses disappeared. I have wanted to return to St. Peter's since I left seventeen years ago. If I had to leave St. Francis Borgia Parish in Washington then St. Peter's is the only one I would readily go. I remember wanting to leave the Archbishop's office quickly for fear he might change his mind.

This is the parish of my roots in many ways. My family has been in the Kirkwood area for the past 45 years. Many nieces and nephews still live here. My five years here in the 80's were some of the happiest of my priesthood. So I very much look forward to being your pastor and walking our journey of faith together once again. One of the joys of being here is re-connecting with so many wonderful friends, and coming back "home." I very much treasure having my name alongside that of Monsignor Westhoff, one of the greatest priests of the Archdiocese, who pastored this parish for 42 years and whom I remember well. Monsignor was a great pastor, a liturgical giant in the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's, and a gentle and grace-filled man. Not only did he build most of the buildings here today, more importantly he built a community of people who knew the liturgy and who could pray the liturgy well.

In my first few weeks here so many have come up to me and welcomed me home and seem so genuinely glad to have me back at St. Peter. I cannot tell you how good it is to be here with you again. What a joy it is to celebrate Mass in our beautiful church once again. I have to say Father John Brennell did an outstanding job in restoring our church. It has never looked better. Thanks to all of you who gave of your time, talent, and treasure to make it all happen.

Please be patient with me as I try to tie names with faces. So many new faces, young faces, as the parish has grown a whole lot since 1988. In fact the median age of the parishioners has actually gone down...younger and younger all the time. St. Peter's Parish… 172 years young and going stronger all the time. The future is ours and the sky is the limit with possibilities.

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