St. Christopher's History

In 1866, just seven years after the community of Forest was founded, the first Catholic church opened as part of a long tenement building.  Up to 1884 the Parish was under the care of priests from the nearby community of Wyoming.  From 1884 to 1897 priests from Parkhill attended to the spiritual needs of parish members.  In 1893, under the leadership of Fr. McCrae, the current church was built at a cost of $6,000.  Named in honour of a large contributor to the church, St. Christopher's has proudly served our parishioners for over 107 years.

It was not until 1939 that the parish had its first full time resident priest.  Fr. Kelly served Forest and Grand Bend until 1945, followed by Fr. John Jordan (1945-49), Fr. Fallon (1949-56), Fr. Zimmy and Fr. Glavin from the Seminary in London (1956-57), Fr. Smith (1957-65), Fr. Graham (1965-69), Fr. Boyer (1969-87), Fr. McManus (1987-93), Fr. Sharp (1993-98)  Fr. Michon.(1998-2000), Fr. Julius B. Frondosa (2000-2003) and most recently Fr. David Rankin, S.J.

Throughout its entire history, rural and urban residents of the area have worshipped in times of both joy and tribulation, in the fine building built by some 50 parishioners in 1893.