Downtown Cincinnati
What is the role of a church in downtown Cincinnati in the third millennium? A century ago, St. Xavier Church was essentially a neighborhood parish for downtown residents. Today, people from 211 zip codes come here to worship; most of our parishioners do not live downtown.
Connecting People With Place
St. Xavier is a community church, a downtown church. Even if we don”t all sleep here, we are proud to participate in all aspects of downtown life. Each week, St. Xavier Church is the destination for thousands of people from around the tri-state. They come to downtown Cincinnati to worship. As a Roman Catholic parish, worship is our primary role, but we are involved in many aspects of downtown Cincinnati life.
St. Xavier Church connects our far-flung members with downtown people, places and issues. We become involved in downtown ministries and interact with downtown people. In the process, we become more aware of the things we have in common, rather than the circumstances of location, wealth and status that seem to divide.
A Practical Choice
Downtown Cincinnati, like many other city centers, derives it unique character from its compact utility. Here still, you can live, eat, worship, shop, work, play, attend school and access nearly all you could need or want within the area of a few blocks. Long ago, people started gathering here, opposite the mouth of the Licking river. They did not decide to make a downtown, they became a downtown.
Change and renewal have always been part of the life cycle of downtown Cincinnati, driven by supply, demand and other social forces. Nostalgia cannot recreate what was, it can only hinder and stunt what could be. St. Xavier Church is part of this continuum. We have moved, built, rebuilt, burned, rebuilt, razed and redecorated our buildings as needed; our regard is that our members feel a part of a community, not part of a building.
We”re Better When We”re Together
We invite you to come downtown to St. Xavier Church. Come for the historical architecture, or the daily mass offerings. Come to reconnect with the Jesuit charism you may have experienced in school. Stay and see what events, attractions, opportunities and personalities downtown Cincinnati offers you today. Our greatest blessings are in community.
