Father Jason Worley

“Your church is on fire.” This is not the account of our parish staff learning of the terrible June 3, 2004 blaze that destroyed our second St. Peter’s church. Those same words were spoken that morning in the rectory kitchen at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex by pastor Monsignor Robert Hartnett to associate pastor Fr. Jason Worley who had walked in. Msgr. Hartnett had just heard on Baltimore radio about the Libertytown fire and knew that Fr. Jason was to transfer here in a few weeks. Those plans would change.

Jason Worley was born April 24, 1966 in Baltimore, the seventh of the eight children of Herbert and Margaret Worley. He started school at Woodhome Elementary, but his parents wanted their children to experience a Catholic education, so he transferred to his parish school at St. Michael the Archangel in Overlea. He would later graduate from Towson Catholic High School. While a teenager, he was very active in his parish, serving St. Michael’s as a sacristan, a cantor, in the contemporary choir, the adult choir, and working in youth ministry. He loved it and spent almost every weekend at the church. He believes this is where his vocation was fostered, even as he worked as a baker for Weis Markets and managed the Fudgery at Harborplace.

In 1988 he entered St. Hyacinth College and Seminary in Granby, Massachusetts where he would earn a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. St. Hyacinth’s provided the formation program for the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, where men trained to become Franciscan priests and brothers. Fr. Jason loves to note that he graduated in the top 3 in his class, but then always adds that there were only three of them in it!

Following his years of candidacy and then in the novitiate, he took his temporary vows as a Franciscan. As that timeframe was nearing an end, he discerned that his calling was to be a parish priest and he really wished to serve in Maryland where he had been raised. Entering Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in 1995, he would earn a Masters of Divinity there and then be ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore by William Cardinal Keeler in 1999.

Fr. Jason’s first assignment was as an associate pastor of St. Mark’s in Catonsville, before moving onto Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Essex in 2002. It was while there that he received the call to become our pastor at St. Peter’s. In early spring of 2004, Fr. Jason drove out to Libertytown for a quick peek at his new assignment. He remembers parking in the lot next to Sappington Hall and admiring the old church and the campus. In the following weeks he would return to meet with pastor Fr. John Dietzenbach, some of the staff and the Pastoral Council. By the end of May the change of pastors had been announced to the affected parishes and in the Catholic Review, to be effective July 1. Then the June 4 fire happened. Fr. Jason rushed to Libertytown that day to see how he could help, and returned regularly the following days. With the Archdiocese’s subsequent decision not to make the change of pastors in the aftermath of the blaze, Fr. Jason was instead assigned as administrator and then pastor of Our Lady Queen of Peace in Middle River. It would be five years before he again received the call to become our pastor at St. Peter’s.

Another trip out to Libertytown brought him back to the same spot in the parking lot next to Sappington Hall for a view of the new church and an appreciation for how, in the ensuing years, the parish had overcome the tragic fire. He fondly remembers the morning that he moved his possessions into the rectory. There was a knock at the door and in walked Elizabeth Lee with some of the food that the Ladies Club had sent over, following a funeral repast in the Parish Center. Fr. Jason remembers everything that they sent over for lunch that day, including pickled beets, which he had never eaten before. He ate them to be polite, and realized they were delicious. From that time on the Ladies Club members were like his “aunts or sisters,” making him feel welcomed in his new parish.

While the new church had been built and dedicated, it had not yet been fully paid for. With his new assignment to St. Peter’s came $6 million in debt to service, which weighed heavily on Fr. Jason. He recalls with great appreciation the help of Chris Gordon, a CPA and parishioner who offered to help tackle the numbers and, with his finance committee, worked out a realistic plan with the Archdiocese for repayment of the debt. The Archdiocese’s flexibility on their own capital campaign, and the ability for St. Peter’s to use all the funds that parishioners contributed to the Archbishop’s Annual appeal to service debt for a couple of years helped tremendously. Functions such as the BBQ & Bluegrass event and other parish fundraising activities also helped bring the outstanding debt down below $1 million before Fr. Jason’s pastorate here ended at the start of 2018.

The history of our parish and its grounds impressed Fr. Jason. He would often walk through the cemetery as he was saying his prayers, much as his predecessor of a century earlier, Fr. Samuel Kavanagh had done. In fact, while Fr. Jason was here, the Calvary group statue of the crucifixion at the front of the cemetery, which is the earliest known memorial to victims of the Titanic sinking, dedicated by Fr. Kavanagh in April 1912, was rededicated by Fr. Jason in April 2012. And speaking of the campus, Fr. Jason liked to help out our maintenance supervisor Ryan Danieley when it came time to clear snow. He would grab a snow shovel to take care of the stairs, reminding him of his days as a youth when the kids would walk to St. Michael’s to shovel snow after clearing the walk at home.

Fr. Jason fondly recalls that St. Peter’s has “a deep sense of faith, community and family, with a great spirit.” He talks about we are blessed with a loving staff who was so supportive when his parents were facing health issues. With Deacons John Martin and Jerry Jennings and Adult Faith Formation Coordinator Carolyn Nolan, Fr. Jason initiated the Sacred Sunday sessions at the Parish Center, in between the Sunday morning masses. He also notes how the parish has been a veritable “gold mine” of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, as well as hosting “awesome” youth ministry and elementary religious education programs. It was while one of those vocations, Fr. Michael Ruebling, was completing his final year of study in Rome that Fr. Jason led a group of parishioners on a pilgrimage there organized by parishioner Sheila Gorman.

Fr. Jason left St. Peter’s when he was assigned as pastor of St. Ursula’s in Parkville in January of 2018, where he continues to serve the faithful in his parish.







Other Key Moments in St Peter's History

Monsignor John A. Dietzenbach

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John Augustine Dietzenbach was born on December 9, 1951 at West Union, Iowa, the second of six children. He grew up on a family farm near Fort Atkinson, Iowa and attended St. Luke Church and school in St. Lucas, Iowa. After graduating from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa in 1974 with a BA double major in Business Administration and Philosophy, he attended St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Roland Park, Baltimore, MD. He graduated with a Masters of Divinity in Theology from there in December of 1978 and during his last year in the seminary, he sought incardination (the official acceptance by one diocese of a clergyman from another diocese) with the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Fr. John was assigned to All Saints Parish on Liberty Road in January 1979, where he remained through his deaconate ordination on May 24, 1980 and his ordination to the priesthood on November 29, 1980. In the summer of 1981 he was assigned to St. Elizabeth Parish on Baltimore Street where he remained for 5 ye
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St. Peter’s Bicentennial

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The most recent key moment in St. Peter’s history is the commemoration of the parish’s bicentennial. 2021 marked 200 years since the establishment of the parish and the beginning of construction of our first church building, a stone chapel, on land donated by the Coale family. In September 1823, the newly completed first church was consecrated by Archbishop Ambrose Maréchal of Baltimore. To commemorate this milestone, a Bicentennial Committee consisting of 20 parishioners planned a number of activities beginning in September 2022 and culminating in Fall 2023. In order to carry out these plans without impacting the parish’s normal operating budget, Bicentennial fundraising efforts were undertaken. Early on, a logo was developed showcasing the current church with the extant portion of the second church prominently featured. This logo was used in the development of a Bicentennial ornament, which has been sold over the past year. A ticketed Bicentennial Ball dinner dance is planned f
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Deacons John Martin, Jerry Jennings and Michael Dvorak

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“I’ve come to serve.” That was the response called out by John Martin in May 2009 and by Jerry Jennings and Michael Dvorak in May 2011 as each was called forward from the pews of Baltimore’s Cathedral of Mary Our Queen to be ordained as deacons by then-Archbishop (now Cardinal) O’Brien. When asked today to talk about their roles as deacons assigned to St. Peter’s, they each summarize by saying “I’m here to serve.” Both Deacon John and Deacon Jerry have served in our military, and Deacon Mike works for the Employee Assistance Program for the Department of Defense.  Deacon John was in the U.S. Air Force and Air Force Reserves, while Deacon Jerry is a retired U.S. Army Colonel.  All are husbands and fathers, and Deacons John and Jerry are grandfathers. They each talk about how blessed they are to serve in our parish which values its deacons and allows them to exercise their full diaconal ministry through the liturgy, sacraments, preaching and outreach ministries.  Over the years, our d
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Fr. Martin W. Flahavan

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 Fr. Flahavan was a man of varied talents.  One example was a Marian Children’s Missal with Martin Flahavan featured in photos celebrating Mass.  This Missal, published by the School Sisters of Notre Dame, was designed to help children prepare for their First Communion, and was widely purchased throughout the country by parents for their children in the 1950’s and 60’s. In all the parishes he was assigned to, he was perpetually active doing something to advance the mission of the Catholic Church.   At St. Peter’s, where he was assigned from 1961 to 1965, he constructed a basketball court, developed the largest Altar Boy Society in the history of St. Peter’s, revived the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, organized an Usher Society, began high  school and adult discussion groups in cooperation with the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (known to many of us as CCD), made major maintenance improvements to the church and (old) rectory, renovated the parish hall, and developed a new
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Religious Educators of our Children Over the Years

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While the religious education of our children has always been the responsibility of their parents (and extended family), there is documented evidence that the Jesuits who visited Libertytown in early years of the Parish, and later the diocesan pastors, provided specific instruction to our young, prior to their receiving their First Holy Communion and Confirmation. Archive materials from the School Sisters of Notre Dame, however; provide us with our earliest window into the beginnings of formal religious education at St. Peter’s. From these records we learn that the religious women from that Order, beginning with Sr. Theophora Foley and Sr. Fidelis de Katow, moved into their new convent on October 25, 1892. This convent was adjacent to the school where they would be teaching – Notre Dame Academy (now occupied by the Parish office staff). Records don’t indicate how many sisters were teaching at the school at one time, but in 1935, the number of religious in the community were reduced t
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Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

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Catholics in Libertytown were blessed to interact with some of the major pillars of early Catholicism in the United States. For example, the first US bishop, John Carroll, was involved in the initial discussions about the possibility of a church in Liberty. Fr. John Dubois, who would go on to become Bishop of New York had ministered to Catholics here, as did Fr. John McElroy who completed our first church and later founded Boston College. Very notably, they also interacted with the first American born saint! Some eight decades before St. Peter’s would open the Notre Dame Academy, and a decade before our first church building even got underway, a young lady from Libertytown would benefit from the fact that the first free Catholic school for female education staffed by religious women in the U.S. opened here in her county. “Received the sum of twenty five dollars for three months advance payment for the board + tuition of Miss Sarah Coale,” reads a September 1811 receipt signed by Mo
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Father John McElroy, S. J.

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The priest who saw to the completion of the first St. Peter’s church was one very busy Jesuit. He was also responsible for building other local Catholic churches and schools before moving onto important roles from Mexico to Massachusetts. John McElroy came to the US from his native Ireland as a young man in 1803. He was ordained a priest in 1817 at the age of thirty-five. He was sent to Frederick in 1822 to aid the ailing pastor of St John the Evangelist Church, Fr. Francis Maleve, S.J. the successor to Fr. John Dubois, S.S. After arriving, Fr. McElroy, S.J. stayed with Fr. Maleve until he passed away a few days later, on Oct 3, 1822. Fr. McElroy was subsequently named pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church. St. Peter’s was a mission of St. John’s, as was St. Joseph’s on Carrollton Manor. While here, Fr. McElroy continued to build the church in our community…both figuratively & literally. Fr. McElroy’s journal notes that he made his first visit to Liberty on Nov. 12, 1822, and
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James McSherry Coale

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The building of the second St. Peter’s Church (dedicated in 1871, accidentally burned in 2004) was made possible by the generosity of the son of Richard and Catharine McSherry Coale who had donated the land and funding for our first church, dedicated in September 1823.   As our parish outgrew the original stone chapel, James McSherry Coale, son of Richard and Catharine, helped see to construction of a new brick church next to it. James was born in Libertytown on January 19, 1805, educated at Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg, and later studied law under Richard Potts of Frederick.   He was an Elector in the Electoral College for the 1836 and 1840 Presidential elections.   As noted in another Key Moment it was James, who had inherited the land where our church sits, who followed through in November 1867 on his late father’s intention that the 2 acres be transferred to the Catholic Church.   The “better late than never” transfer facilitated efforts to construct the larger church that the
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Consecration of St. Peter’s First Church

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Jesuit records reflect that the building of St. Peter’s first church was initially overseen by the Jesuit pastor of Frederick, Fr. Maleve. When Fr. Maleve died in October 1822, his successor, Fr. John McElroy, S.J. stepped in to see the completion of Liberty’s Catholic church. St. Peter’s was consecrated on September 28, 1823, as recorded in the diaries of both Archbishop Maréchal and Fr. McElroy: “I set out for Liberty town and got out at Mr. Coales’s, an earnest and zealous man, and owner of all the land about the town. He built a fine stone chapel and intends to give land for a graveyard, and very likely, a presbytery, garden and pasture: great prospect for an ecclesiastical establishment." - Arch Bishop Maréchal diary entry September 26, 1823 [i] “On the 28th I blessed the church. A great crowd from the neighborhood, and singers from Frederick and a fortepiano. Mass with the deacon and sub-deacon. I spoke twice, first on dedication of the church and secondly on confirmat
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Dedication of the Third Church

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“Woo-hoo!” shouted an excited parishioner, breaking the hush a few seconds after Msgr. Dietzenbach opened the doors. Perhaps a bit more vocal than the consecration 200 years ago of our first church, but no doubt very similar in sentiment to the consecration of our first church. Countless hours, lots of energy and significant effort went into making sure this most recent dedication was as flawless as possible. It was no small undertaking to arrange for a dedication liturgy involving a Cardinal, an Archbishop, 2 Bishops, more than 40 priests and deacons and a congregation numbering 800. Of interest, the youngest parishioner in attendance was Ava Folger, who was only 13 days old on the 7th of September and our most senior parishioner to witness the Dedication was Anne Morrissey, 104 years of age at the time. Two hundred years ago, in 1823, Fr. McElroy’s diary contained the following specifics concerning the procession preceding the liturgy of the consecration of the first church: “… s
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