St. Jude the Apostle, Lewes

Services continued there until 1915 when the Catholic population outgrew the available space.

At that time, a modest two story frame building was purchased and moved to Market & Orr Streets and was dedicated to Saint Michael, as a mission church of Saint John the Apostle. In 1905, when Saint Agnes by the Sea opened in Rehoboth, many Catholics from Lewes traveled to Rehoboth to attend Mass, and attendance dwindled at Saint Michael's. The fate of Saint Michael's is uncertain. It was either moved or demolished when the telephone company purchased the land.

During Monsignor Desmond's pastorate at St. Edmond, three missions were established: St. Ann's in Bethany Beach, St. Michael the Archangel in Georgetown, St. Jude the Apostle in Lewes and built the shrine of Saint Jude, a mission church to St. Edmond's. In the early 1960s the Church was open only on Weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day. That expanded in the early 1970s to offering Masses from May to October. By 1984, Saint Jude's was opened from the second Sunday of March until the Sunday after Thanksgiving. With the growth of the Catholic population in our area, Saint Jude the Apostle Church held a regular weekend Mass schedule by the late 1980s.

The Shrine of Saint Jude, mission Church of St. Edmond Church, became a separate parish in November 30, 2002. The Most Reverend Michael Saltarelli, eighth Bishop of Wilmington, celebrated the dedication ceremonies. In the summer of 2003, Bishop Saltarelli returned to dedicate the Parish rectory. At the same time, he dedicated the building that would temporarily house the parish offices, library and meeting rooms. The dream for this building was that it would become a Chapel for Daily Mass and Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at some time in the neat future. On September 22, 2007, Bishop Saltarelli again visited the Parish to dedicate two new buildings: The Parish Life Center and the Religious Education Center, which also houses the parish offices. On November 30, 2009, the parish's dream was realized when the new Eucharistic Chapel was blessed. In January of 2012, the work was done in the church which included new ceiling tiles, staining of woodworking including the crucifix and sanctuary furniture, paint in the sanctuary, carpet, a new sound system, music boards, refurbishing of the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph Statues, new lights on the altar, Venetian plaster added to the Shrine of Saint Jude, new side doors, and renovation of the bathrooms. The Church opened for the summer with a second phase of work continuing in the fall. This included installation of a Eucharistic wood carving from Italy, moving of the Saint Joseph statue to establish a unified Holy Family shrine, and addition of Venetian plaster and wood frames to the back wall. The Reconciliation Room also had a complete makeover.