About Our Lady of the Valley Parish · Reading, Ohio
Our Lady of the Valley Parish is a Roman Catholic parish in Reading, Ohio, in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. It was formed on July 1, 2021 by the merger of two historic Reading parishes — Sts. Peter and Paul (founded 1850) and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (founded 1874) — and today the community worships at the 1860 Sts. Peter and Paul church building at 1109 Church Street. In July 2022, Our Lady of the Valley joined the Queen of Apostles Family of Parishes under the Archdiocese's Beacons of Light initiative, sharing pastoral staff and ministries with St. James of the Valley, Our Lady of the Rosary and St. Matthias the Apostle. The parish is led by Father Alexander C. McCullough as pastor.
- Established
- 2021
- Patron
- Our Lady of the Valley (Blessed Virgin Mary)
- Rector
- Father Alexander C. McCullough
- Diocese
- Archdiocese of Cincinnati
Why belong here
Our Lady of the Valley welcomes parishioners and visitors into a vibrant Catholic community with deep roots in northern Hamilton County, serving Reading, Lockland, Evendale, Blue Ash and Amberly Village. As part of the Queen of Apostles Family, the parish offers weekday and Sunday Mass, Saturday confessions, monthly Eucharistic Adoration, a strong St. Vincent de Paul Society that walks with neighbors in material need, and active evangelization and communication committees — all under the pastoral leadership of Fr. Alex McCullough. It is a young parish (formed 2021) deliberately written as 'learning from our past, and looking with hopeful confidence to our future,' making it a good fit for anyone who wants to grow in faith alongside an engaged, multi-generational congregation.
Mass times at Our Lady of the Valley Parish
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00–3:45 PM (at Our Lady of the Valley)
- Monday and Tuesday — confessions follow the 8:15 AM Mass
Adoration times
- Wednesday 6:30 PM–8:00 PM — Third Wednesday of the month only (at Our Lady of the Valley)
History of Our Lady of the Valley Parish
Our Lady of the Valley was created on July 1, 2021 from the merger of two long-standing Reading parishes — Sts. Peter and Paul (1850) and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (1874) — and in July 2022 it joined the Queen of Apostles Family of Parishes under the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Beacons of Light initiative.
- 1850 — Bishop John Purcell inaugurates Sts. Peter and Paul for German immigrants
- 1858 — Original 'Church of the Fourteen Martyrs' destroyed by tornado
- 1860 — Present Sts. Peter and Paul church erected
- 1874 — Our Lady of the Sacred Heart established for English-speaking / Irish residents
- 1907 — Larger OLSH school built on Market Street
- 1956 — New OLSH church and school on Columbia Avenue
- 1959 — Current Sts. Peter and Paul school building completed
- 1962 — New OLSH church and school on Siebenthaler Avenue
- 1965 — Convent built for Sisters of Notre Dame (now Notre Dame Hall)
- 1998 — OLSH multipurpose building erected
- July 2021 — Merger creates Our Lady of the Valley Parish
- July 2022 — OLV joins the Queen of Apostles Family of Parishes
The German Heritage: Sts. Peter and Paul (1850–2021)
Sts. Peter and Paul was Reading's first Catholic parish, founded in 1850 by Bishop John Purcell for the town's largely German Catholic population. After the original Church of the Fourteen Martyrs was destroyed by a tornado in 1858, the present brick church was built in 1860 and remains the worship site of Our Lady of the Valley today. The parish built a school in 1863, a new school in 1906, an auditorium in 1926, the Rectory in 1939, the current school building in 1959, and a convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1965 (now the Pastoral Region Office, Notre Dame Hall).
The Irish Heritage: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (1874–2021)
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was established in 1874 to serve the English-speaking Catholic residents — mainly Irish immigrants — of Reading, Lockland, Wyoming and Sharonville, while Sts. Peter and Paul served as the German national parish. The parish grew steadily through the 20th century, building a one-room school, a larger school (1907), new buildings on Columbia Avenue (1956) and Siebenthaler Avenue (1962), a convent for the Sisters of Notre Dame (1968), and a multipurpose building (1998). After the 2021 merger the OLSH campus was closed as a worship site, with the parish planning to rent it to a charter school.
The 2021 Merger
In 2019 Father Matt Robben saw a Catholic Leadership Institute presentation called 'The Five Truths of the Church Today' that prompted him to look at his two parishes' demographics, giving and sacramental data. The numbers — fewer than 100 active families past age 55, a sharp drop-off in collections after multiple funerals — convinced the pastoral and finance councils that a merger was needed to secure a Catholic future in Reading. After a SWOT review of both campuses, the committee chose the Sts. Peter and Paul site (with its active St. Vincent de Paul Society and room for ministry) as the home of the new parish. The merger took effect July 1, 2021, and Father Robben launched evangelization and communication committees to help knit the two communities together.
Queen of Apostles Family of Parishes
Our Lady of the Valley is one of four parishes in the Queen of Apostles Family of Parishes, formed under the Archdiocese of Cincinnati's Beacons of Light initiative in July 2022. The family grew out of the Winton Wyoming Pastoral Region, established in 2014 with Fr. Chris Coleman as pastor, and now includes Our Lady of the Valley (Reading), St. James of the Valley (Wyoming), Our Lady of the Rosary (Greenhills) and St. Matthias the Apostle (Forest Park). Father Alexander C. McCullough, pastor since 2018, leads the entire family.
- Fr. Chris Coleman — first WWPR pastor (2014–2017)
- Fr. Mike Pucke — second WWPR pastor (2017–2018)
- Fr. Alex McCullough — WWPR pastor from 2018, now pastor of the Queen of Apostles Family
- Fr. Christian Cone-Lombarte — Parochial Vicar
- Fr. Roberto Becerra Reyes — Parochial Vicar
Parish Ministries and Outreach
Our Lady of the Valley continues the ministries of both founding parishes and adds new ones under Father Robben's post-merger leadership. The Sts. Peter and Paul campus retains a large and active St. Vincent de Paul Society that ministers to walk-ins seeking basic needs, and the parish carries forward Our Lady of the Sacred Heart's tradition of supporting outside organizations such as pregnancy centers. Father Robben also stood up new evangelization and communications committees in 2021 to help unify the merged community.
- St. Vincent de Paul Society (walk-in basic-needs assistance)
- Pregnancy center support
- Evangelization committee
- Communications committee
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Matt Robben2019–2021 (merger pastor)
Led the pastoral planning and discernment that produced the merger of Sts. Peter and Paul and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart into Our Lady of the Valley Parish on July 1, 2021.
- Father Chris Coleman2014–2017
Installed July 1, 2014 as the first pastor of the Winton Wyoming Pastoral Region (St. James of the Valley, St. Matthias the Apostle, Our Lady of the Rosary).
- Father Mike Pucke2017–2018
Second pastor of the Winton Wyoming Pastoral Region.
- Father Alexander C. McCullough2018–present
Third pastor of the Winton Wyoming Pastoral Region; continues as Pastor of the Queen of Apostles Family since the July 2022 Beacons of Light reorganization, which added Our Lady of the Valley.