Founded to meet the needs of the “Colleens,” Irish immigrant women working in the wealthy homes, hotels, casinos and race tracks of Long Branch, then one of the nation’s premier resorts, St. Michael Parish was at first a mission of Star of the Sea parish, its neighbor just to the north.

By 1882, due to the growth of its community, St. Michael became a parish in its own right and was used by the Most Rev. James Augustine McFaul, second bishop of Trenton, as his summer cathedral.

St. Michael Parish was named after the first bishop of Trenton, the Most Rev. Michael J. O’Farrell, who started the parish and construction of the church in 1886 and dedicated the building on Aug. 1, 1891.

The main altar was given in memory of Francis Anthony Drexel, the Philadelphia banker and philanthropist and father of St. Katharine Drexel who, herself, might have worshipped there on summer visits to Long Branch.

For much of its early history, the congregation remained predominantly Irish but by the mid-twentieth century, but by the mid-twentieth century, it had come to reflect the ethnic population of much of New Jersey in its service to Catholics of all nationalities, including a wide representation of those of Italian heritage.

Despite the decline of Long Branch as a premier resort and the slow emergence of a local economy based on manufacturing and hosting summer visitors of a more modest means, the parish remained a beacon of faith and a source of comfort on the Monmouth County shoreline through two world wars, and the Great Depression.

The period following World War II brought a population and transportation boom to Monmouth County. In greater Long Branch, many summer homes were converted for year-round living and many new families were added to the parish population which came to include many Italian families in the post-war boom era.

Through periods of economic decline in the later decades of the twentieth century, the parish   remained a vital hub of worship, religious education and communal activity among the members, whose ethnic variety continued to increase.

These days, the parish serves people who hail from more than twenty zip codes in the area and travel between three and fifteen miles by car.

Under the pastorate of Father Charles B. Weiser, the parish has worked hard to meet the challenges of the times through the establishment of many ministries.

The St. Vincent de Paul Society, established in 1995 with 18 volunteers, oversee the distribution of food and assistance to more than 130 families per month.

The Stephen Ministry, HomeLife Ministry and Paduan Ministry have all been set up to reach out to those in need of the healing face of Christ.

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