News

Jul 31, 2025

Greetings,

And Happy Anniversary! This weekend we are celebrating the 97th anniversary of the first Mass celebrated by the new parish of St. Sebastian in Rankin School on August 5, 1928. St. Vincent Parish, once again becoming too crowded, needed relief as the Catholic community in Akron moved westward. Just a few years earlier, in 1923, Our Lady of the Elms convent and school was opened in the former Arthur Marks estate, who also had a hunting lodge in the area after which Forest Lodge was named.

Rankin Elementary School was named after George Rankin, who oversaw the construction of all of the new Akron school buildings from 1876 to 1914. In 1926, this new school was named in his honor and, just two years later, St. Sebastian would hold its first Mass in its auditorium. Rankin Elementary School served our community for just under a century and sat largely vacant since 2012. Earlier this year, the school was demolished.

Fr. Marcelli and I were afforded an opportunity to view the inside of the building and take pictures of the auditorium in which those early Masses were held in order to preserve a piece of our history (See this week’s Angelus Letter). Although the additions to the building were somewhat lacking, even in its deteriorated state, the grandness of the old building still shone through.

As we mark 97 years of our spiritual home under the patronage of our awesome patron saint, St. Sebastian, pray for the parish and her mission as we set the stage to hand on the faith to another century of Catholics of West Akron and beyond.

IN OTHER NEWS:

THANK YOU: This Thursday through Saturday we are celebrating with our Annual Parish Festival! For those who are reading this at the Saturday vigil, you are invited to join in the procession to the Festival Grounds at the end of Mass during which we will also bless the new St. Joan of Arc statue. (thank you K of C!)

I would like to publicly thank the Festival Committee and all of the volunteers who put in a lot of work all year long preparing for these festivities! May God bless you. Your efforts do not go unnoticed.

ON THAT NOTE: There are A LOT of activities on our grounds throughout the year. So much so that sometimes we have difficulties finding places to put all of them, though we are currently working on a solution. All of this happens with a very slim parish staff. That means that it is you, the parishioners of St. Sebastian, who are organizing, leading and supporting all of these initiatives.

If you think that there is something else that should be happening at the parish that is in keeping with our mission, consider bringing it to life with a little help from your friends. The staff can help find a location and get the word out for you. First steps would either be to contact Cathy Sivec in the office, or contact a member of Parish Pastoral Council (you can find them on our webpage) with your idea.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck