St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Parish dates back to 1867 when Bishop James Duggan, Bishop of Chicago, gave his permission for a church to be built in Winfield to serve the primarily German immigrant Catholics located in that area. The church was built by the parishioners from stone hauled from the Naperville quarry. In 1869 Fr. John Wiederhold, who was also a German immigrant, was appointed the first permanent pastor of the parish.  Ordained that year, he was sent directly to Winfield, and remained at St. John the Baptist Parish the rest of his life.

On August 17, 1906, lightening struck the wooden steeple of the church and a fire left only the outside stone walls standing.  Fortunately, the altars, communion railings, Stations of the Cross, and pews were saved.  On November 25, 1906 the cornerstone was laid for the rebuilt church and it was dedicated on August 18, 1907.  That church still stands, with the addition of a baptistery in 1963 and serves as the parish chapel. (The stone walls from the first church can be seen as the foundation of the “old” church.)

Catholic education at St. John the Baptist parish began in1882 when the School Sisters of Milwaukee came to teach the children.  A house constructed from the same stone as the original church still stands today and served as the school until the early 1940’s. The building was purchased in 1869 along with a one-acre parcel of land on Gary’s Mill Road, which became St. John’s Cemetery. Currently 230 students are enrolled in the school and 383 students in the religious education program.

St. John’s third church was dedicated on Oct. 1, 1983 and seats 800 people.  The parish began with 30 families in 1867; in 2010 the rolls list approximately 2,300 families.

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