Responding to the growing religious needs of the community, G. W. Parker sold a piece of land on the north side of today's Mainstreet to build a chapel. Ten months later the foundation was laid for the Ave Maria Catholic Church. The first Mass was celebrated by the founder of the Ave Maria Catholic Mission, Rt. Rev. Msgr. John Judnic on January 12, 1916. In 1955, Catholic Church activities were moved to Castle Rock, and the old church was vacated and boarded up. St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and the Catholic Mission agreed on an offer to move the chapel from Mainstreet and construct a foundation for its new location. Finally in September 1982, St. Matthew's moved the building to its current location. On March 10, 1983, Archbishop James Casey officially renamed this Parker church "Ave Maria". The first Mass at the chapel's new location was celebrated at 11am on October 7, 1984. The chapel remained unfinished until 1985 when St. Matthew's finished the interior and dedicated it as their worship space.