Waynesburg’s Saint James Parish is one of the diocese’s more recent parishes, established in 1926. Catholics were living in Stark County as early as 1816, but many of them travelled into Canton for worship. By the early 20th century, however, Waynesburg had grown enough to warrant a parish of its own. The first Mass in Waynesburg was celebrated on October 24, 1926, at the Donato Building.
On June 28, 1928, construction began on a permanent church, with St. James parishioners providing all the labor. A few months later on October 14, Cleveland Archbishop Joseph Schrembs celebrated Mass in the newly completed wooden church. The original church building served the parish for many years until the growth of the Waynesburg community necessitated a larger worship site. On May 21, 1962, a new brick church was completed adjacent to the original church building, which eventually became the site for the St. James Parish School, founded in 1964.
The parish and school gradually grew over the years, with a preschool program and a remodeled playground added in the late ’90s. The church building received upgrades and renovations in the early 2000s, with the addition of a new altar and confessionals. Since 2010, all of the schools religion classes have been taught by the Sisters of the Divine Spirit. The school teaches students from preschool to sixth grade and is now part of the Stark County Catholic Schools system.
The community has always taken pride in donating and volunteering to meet the needs of the parish, and they maintain several outreach ministries, including a Knights of Columbus Council (St. James Council 14491) and a nursing home visitation ministry. St. James the Greater was the first disciple to follow Jesus and the first to be martyred in the Christian faith. The parish takes inspiration from St. James’ example of missionary discipleship.
Description from The March of the Eucharist, 2nd edition (2025) published by The Catholic Echo
