Our Lady of Good Counsel, Secretary

Yet only 24 years earlier, no more than a handful of Catholics was present when priests from Easton offered the first Mass in Secretary. This Mass, celebrated at the Herman Institute on Sunday, March 7, 1886, was the beginning of what would become Our Lady of Good Counsel Church.

Services were held at the Institute for a short period, then Mr. and Mrs. John Phelan offered the use of a more convenient location, a room in their house on Main Street, where the general store now stands. By this time several Catholic families of Polish, Bohemian, and Czechoslovakian descent, and one German family, had arrived from Baltimore to work in the oyster houses and canneries of Secretary. With the arrival of more Catholic families, it was felt that a church was necessary. Plans were initiated to build the church on a lot on Main Street, bought by the Most Reverend Alfred A. Curtis, second Bishop of Wilmington, for $100.

Many men gave their time to assist in the construction. Each family contributed $25, but a donation of $150 came from Miss Abell, of the family that owned the Baltimore Sun. It was her idea that the church be named Our Lady of Good Counsel. Dedication ceremonies by Bishop Curtis took place on December 6, 1891. The following Easter, the first High Mass was sung, under the direction of Mrs. Bowman, who owned a nearby farm.

In 1907, an addition was constructed across the back of the church to make more room for the growing congregation. In 1910, several families from the church contributed a total of $400 to buy the present cemetery area. It was around that time those buried in the churchyard were transferred to the new cemetery grounds. In 1926, the parish bought My Lady Sewall's Manor House for $850. The house, built circa 1664, was almost in ruins, but the congregation repaired it and used it as a community house. The following year they also bought two additional waterfront acres to complete the tract the church owns today, about ten acres altogether. The church was completely repainted and redecorated in 1929.

But by 1938 a new church was needed. The old building was moved back and used in that temporary location while a new and much larger church was under construction. On September 8, 1940, the new church was dedicated with great solemnity by the Most Reverend Edmond J. Fitzmaurice, fourth Bishop of Wilmington. The construction of the new church was paid for by the Catholic Diocesan Foundation with the stipulation that the parishioners furnish the organ, pews, and other items.

In 1886, the nearest parish was Saints Peter and Paul in Easton, and priests came regularly from there to minister to the Catholics in Secretary. Later, when Cambridge became a parish with the construction of Saint Mary Refuge of Sinners in 1904, priests from there took charge of our congregation. It was not until May of 1964, almost 78 years after that first Mass at the Sherman Institute, that Our Lady of Good Counsel ceased being a mission and was made its own parish. In 2017, Cambridge and Secretary are once again linked as the two parishes are now served by one pastor.