St. Ambrose Church was established as the 31st parish in the Diocese of Rochester on November 12, 1921. It has been eighty years since the new parish was started to serve the needs of a growing population in the Northeast section of Rochester and Irondequoit. Bishop Thomas F. Hickey appointed Father Walter B. McCarthy as the first pastor of the new parish. Corpus Christi Church served the area until the time St. Ambrose Parish was established.

While it is not recorded, it seems that Right Reverend Dennis J. Curran, then pastor of Corpus Christi and Vicar General of the Diocese, was influential in choosing the location for the new parish.

The first parish family worshipped in a wood frame church erected at the corner of Culver Road and Empire Boulevard. According to records, the now-Empire Boulevard was then known as the extension of Clifford Avenue. The property upon which the church was built was purchased from Monika Vondran. Prior to purchase, the land was an apple orchard. The cost of the temporary church was $3,945.00. Bishop Thomas Hickey dedicated the first church on December 11, 1921. Construction of this building must have gone on night and day. Within one month of the incorporation of the parish, the first church building was completed.

Immediately after the construction of the church building, Father McCarthy and parishioners addressed the concern of providing Catholic education for their children. Again, a temporary building was erected so that the parish would begin its parochial school.

In September 1922, St. Ambrose School, conducted by the Sisters of St. Joseph, opened its doors to its first students. According the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph, St. Ambrose was at that time one of the most flourishing of city parishes.

Building and buying land continued to be a primary objective of Father McCarthy and his trustees. The original rectory (34 Empire Blvd.) was built in 1922. This was a banner year for construction, since the combination Church and school building was constructed. This building housed eight classrooms, a church that seated six hundred people, and a large hall used for parish activities. The memorabilia in the cornerstone of this building included newspapers (The Rochester Herald, dated, October 1, 1922), a 1922 silver dollar, a coin commemorating the Times Union building, and the original list of pew holders. In 1926, the Annex, which still stands, was constructed. This offered more classroom space and a small hall in the basement for meetings.

From the opening of the school, the Sisters lived at St. Agnes Institute located on East Main Street. Mr. Gilbert Costich provided taxi transportation for the Sisters. During these years, the Sisters endured great hardships. The parish was unable to give any support in the form of a salary for their services. In 1928, the Gilbert Costich home at the corner of Empire and Deerfield was purchased, and the Sisters moved into their home in the parish. It was a stately structure and graced the corner until 1949, when it was moved across the street and situated on Waldo Avenue. During the moving, the twenty-two Sisters lived, slept and ate in the basement of the Annex.

On August 2, 1936, after a long illness, Father McCarthy died. Father Burke served as administrator of the parish until June 1937, when Archbishop Edward J. Mooney appointed Father Frank W. Mason second pastor.

The parish continued to grow and a portable building was used to allow for more classrooms. Father Mason always said that he'd have to put a skyhook in the classrooms, because it was impossible to squeeze one more desk in a classroom. Class sizes in the forties reached into the sixties. This was a challenge for any teacher. However, students at St. Ambrose excelled in academics.

It was during the late 1940's that was necessary to convert the parish hall into a place of worship on Sundays. Nine Masses were celebrated each Sunday during these years to accommodate the parishioners.

From the beginning, parish activities were a part of St. Ambrose Parish. In the early days, the Holy Name Society, Rosary Society and the Sodality were the avenue men, women and youth had of building community in a spiritual and social atmosphere. A yearly event in the 1940's and early 50's, that created great spirit, was the Penny Bazaar. It was held during school hours and everyone left with some small prize. Father Mason was a faithful pastor who cared for his flock with compassion. The imparting of the church's teaching was foremost to his ministry at St. Ambrose. He was a person of strong convictions and deep faith. The celebration of the Eucharist was central to his life and one of his dreams was to have a church that would be large enough to serve his parishioners. In 1957, a fund drive was conducted so that this longtime dream could be a reality. On October 2, 1960, Bishop James E. Kearney dedicated the new St. Ambrose Church. This beautiful edifice that we worship in is the result of the courage and dedication of Father Mason and his parishioners.

Another dream was to remodel the former Church into classrooms. This was shattered on April 29, 1962, when the church-school building was destroyed by fire. Father Mason, aging and in poor health, delegated responsibility for the new drive and construction of the new school to Father Joseph Dailey. During this period, eight classrooms were housed in the annex and eight teachers and four hundred students were bussed each day to St. Rita's, Annunciation, and Corpus Christi, three of the nearby parishes who generously offered help. The following school year of 1962-1963, four hundred students and teachers traveled to Immaculate Conception for classroom facilities.

The present School stands on the same site as the building destroyed by the fire. Construction of the new school began in March 1963 and opened for classes on September 4, 1963. The cornerstone was placed on September 5, 1963.

In recognition of his dedication to his parish, Father Mason, on June 5, 1959 was given the honor of Right Reverend Monsignor by Bishop Kearney. After twenty-six years of faithful service, Monsignor Mason died on March 4, 1964.

In 1964, Monsignor Arthur Ratigan was named Pastor of St. Ambrose Parish. These years called for greater involvement of the laity in parish affairs. In 1965, Monsignor Ratigan, taking the lead in Rochester, appointed a fifteen member School Board to set policy. In a newspaper article, Monsignor stated that it was not "just a window dressing." Following upon the heels of the School Board was the inception of the Parish Council - an elected body of parishioners who were to be visionary in their challenging the growth of the Parish Community. There were also the years of implementing the directives of the Second Vatican Council.

Another first for the parish was the starting of the annual Festival. From its beginning year in 1965, it has been a great success not only in its financial revenue, but equally important, in the spirit it engenders among workers and parishioners.

Monsignor Ratigan resigned on October 6, 1971. Bishop Hogan appointed Father James J. Marvin as Pastor. The beginning of his pastorate ushered in the planning of the 50th Anniversary of the parish. In his letter to the parishioners on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary, he wrote "Let us rededicate ourselves to the goals of the Christian commitment.Let us continue to build our community -- together."

Fr. Marvin would remain pastor of St. Ambrose for 24 years. These 24 years saw many wonderful changes in the St. Ambrose faith community. Many of the new implementations of Vatican II were put into place during these years. The sign of peace was introduced at Mass. People were called forth from the community to serve as Ministers of Communion, Lectors, parish visitors and sacristans. We were one of the first parishes to invite girls to serve at the altar, one of the first to introduce communal penance services to the community.

But perhaps one of the greatest changes that came about under the pastorate of Fr. Marvin was the blossoming of Lay ministers on the staff. In 1971 the staff consisted of Fr. Marvin and three assistant priests. Today in the year 2001 the staff consists of one priest, a parochial vicar, a pastoral associate, a director of faith formation, a religious education administrator, a music director, a youth minister, a business manager, and an office manager. Within this staff we have two ordained priests and one woman religious. The remainder of the staff is lay people called into church ministry.

Of course, this only tells part of the story because what truly makes a parish into a faith community is the people. The people here at St. Ambrose have always been a faith-filled, active group of people. From parish festivals, to "Habitat for Humanity", to serving lunch at St. Martin's Soup Kitchen, St. Ambrose parishioners have always been there, reaching out, pitching in, going above and beyond merely attending Mass on the weekend and our pride shows.

Fr. Marvin's retirement in 1995 proved to be a time of challenge and growth for our community. After 24 years with the same style of leadership any kind of change would be difficult. Bishop Clark appointed Rev. Melvin Walczak to be our new pastor. Fr. Mel, full of enthusiasm and energy, saw a number of areas within our community that needed change. However, many people found it difficult to accept the immediacy with which Fr. Mel implemented new directives. This led to a period of difficulty for people who felt that their Church was changing in ways they were not ready to accept. The struggles he felt both as a priest and as a pastor caused Fr. Mel to announce his resignation from St. Ambrose and the priesthood on Sept. 22, 1996.

Bishop Clark asked Pastoral Associate Nancy Giordano to serve as temporary Pastoral Administrator until a pastor could be assigned. Nancy served in this role from September 22, 1996 until Rev. Michael Schramel became pastor on December 1, 1996. The spirit of our faith community brought us through this transition time and made us stronger as a people of God.

The addition of Fr. Mike to the pastoral staff was welcome, yet vaguely familiar. He had been a deacon here in 1979 and was ordained by Bishop Clark on April 25, 1980 right in our very own church. Now he was back to stay.

Fr. Mike brought enthusiasm, energy and new ideas to our community. A major undertaking, begun before Fr. Mike became pastor, was the renovation of the Church. Serious updating both mechanically and liturgically needed to take place within our worship space.

Discussion of renovation began in 1996. A plan for renovation was proposed in 1998 with scale models and there were many opportunities for feedback. In the spring of 1999, a Renovation Committee was formed, question and answer boards were established and town meetings were held. People were encouraged to share their thoughts and ideas. The Renovation Committee made themselves available at every parish function to answer questions and ally fears. The commitment was made to preserve as much of the original materials from the existing church as possible.

Construction began in late August of 2000. We all moved into Dailey Hall for our weekend liturgies and an amazing thing began to happen - the renovationbecame a parish project. Everyone's interest was peaked. Father Mike began giving weekly tours of the "church in progress."Through it all the excitement grew. The enthusiasm was not only about the newly renewed space, but also about everyone being a part of it.

We returned to the completed worship space on December 7, 2000, the Feast of St. Ambrose. Bishop Matthew H. Clark presided at the Rededication Liturgy on February 18, 2001. It was then that we realized that we had become renewed as a faith community. It is this pride that will live on long after we are gone - pride not in brick and mortar but in ourselves - "living stones….built into a spiritual house." (1 Peter 2:5).

The story of St. James Parish actually began twenty years before the September 19, 1949 groundbreaking ever occurred. Thanks to the foresight of Bishop John O'Hern, who purchased a parcel of land just outside the city limits in 1929, the Diocese had only to engage an architect when a 1949 census showed the need for a parish in the fast growing eastern section of Rochester.

Founding Pastor, Father Francis Feeney, began his mission of overseeing the construction of a small church, school and hall in July of 1949. The thirteen room, two story school capable of caring for five hundred children, registered 220 youngsters in kindergarten through eighth grade in its opening in September 1950. From an August 1949 hearing to approve building, through to a May 30, 1950 dedication, the clergy and laity engaged in a wonderful, yet arduous process of creating a church - St. James Church of Rochester, New York.

Over the years, the church sanctuary has been renovated (1974) in compliance with post Vatican II directions and St. James School has closed (1990) due to Diocesan reorganization, but what is essentially St. James remains intact.

What appears to be a simple brick structure belies the unique blessing of the St. James faith community. Its people are deeply religious, gospel-filled, caring, talented and generous. Many of the founding parishioners and their families remain to espouse and strengthen our parish church and its beliefs. We celebrate our rich tradition, founded on the sacrifice and determination of committed and faithful people and enriched by zealous clergy and religious. It is this which makes St. James the home that we love and a Catholic heritage that we proudly claim as our own.

Early in 1914, the Most Reverend Thomas Hickey, the second Bishop of Rochester, decided that Brighton needed a new parish. The City limits were at Culver Road at that time. Reverend John Sullivan was assigned to organize, build, and be the first pastor of St. John the Evangelist Church. It was not until 1922 that large parts of the parish were incorporated within the City limits.

In July of 1914, Fr. Sullivan began taking a survey of the new parish. It included large parts of what are now Our Lady of Lourdes, St. Thomas More, and St. James parishes. St. John’s started with 68 families.

Construction of the first building began in late 1914. Families of the parish gathered at the end of the Park Avenue line on East Avenue on Sunday October 4, 1914 for the cornerstone ceremonies. Bishop Hickey rode down East Avenue in an automobile, which was very unusual at the time. Families joined him at Winton Road and processed together to Humboldt St and set the cornerstone. By 1916, a simple building with a basement auditorium and first-floor church was completed, and the Sisters of Mercy opened the elementary school in the four second-story classrooms that September.

In 1922, the parish purchased a house at 340 Winton Road North for use as a convent to house the nuns who taught at the school.

By 1926, it became clear that the parish needed a larger church, and a cornerstone was set for a church that would seat 750. Plans were scaled back to accommodate 500. The modified Gothic structure with beautiful stained glass windows, red tapestry brick, slate roof, and white limestone trim was soon completed. The parish continued to grow under Fr. Sullivan’s leadership.

In 1947, Fr. Sullivan was named Monsignor. A new rectory was constructed in 1952, which continues today as the rectory of Peace of Christ Parish. In 1953, the Tellers Company installed the pipe organ, which is still in use today. In 1955, a new convent was constructed in the southwest corner of the property, which is today called the “Sullivan Center.” In 1959, a new school building with 16 classrooms was completed. Monsignor Sullivan’s amazing work was complete, and he retired that same year after 45 years of dedicated service. He was succeeded by Monsignor Charles Boyle, who had been the superintendent of Catholic Schools. Monsignor Boyle served until 1973, when he moved on to St. Anne Parish on Mount Hope Avenue.

As the parish continued to grow, Monsignor Boyle was succeeded by Reverends James Boyle and John Mulligan. Fathers Boyle and Mulligan led the parish through the changes of the Second Vatican Council. During this time, a parish council was established, religious education programs were modified, and lay persons took on more responsibility for the life of the parish. As a sign of these changes, the interior of the Church was remodeled in 1976. The sanctuary and side chapels were removed to make room for a daily mass chapel, and the altar was placed forward in a more prominent place among the people. A new entrance was constructed and the parking lot was expanded.

In Spring 1981, Reverends Peter Clifford and Kevin Murphy were appointed co-pastors. Reverends Clifford and Murphy served until 1991, when Bishop Matthew Clark appointed Fr. Clifford to lead the Diocesan Office of Urban Ministry.  Fr. Murphy remained as “sole” pastor and served until 1996.

Fr. “E.Z.” Edward Zimmer moved in at St. John’s in 1992 and began his retirement masterpiece, the Peace Garden located on the south side of the Sullivan Center. Fr. E.Z. taught all the value of saying “Please," "Thank you," and "I love you.” Fr. Zimmer is remembered every year in the numerous summertime Masses held in the garden, and the garden remains a peaceful place for reflection and prayer today.

In 1994, the “parking lot” entrance was constructed, and a planted garden was added the following summer. In 1996, the entire church interior was repainted and the carpeting was replaced.

In 1996, Fr. William Spilly was appointed pastor. He served until 2004, when St. John the Evangelist formally became a part of the Winton-Culver Catholic Community under Fr. Robert Schrader. Sadly, St. John the Evangelist School closed in June, 2005, but the next fall St. John Neumann School opened at the former St. Ambrose School building. St. John Neumann School was to become a sign of the unity of St. Ambrose, St. James, and St. John’s communities. On May 18, 2007, Winton-Culver Catholic Community officially became one parish: Peace of Christ.

In 1997, the Pastoral Planning for the New Millennium Process started, where our three parishes started discussing combining ministries and services as a cluster. In July 2004, our three churches, St. John the Evangelist, St. James and St. Ambrose became Winton-Culver Catholic Community, and came together under the new pastor, Fr. Robert Schrader, and parochial vicar, Fr. Robert Werth.

In 2007 the parishioners of the three parishes in the cluster decided it was time to combine into a single canonical parish. In a vote by the parishioners, the name Peace of Christ Parish was the clear favorite for the name of this new parish.

In 2021, Fr. Peter Mottola was assigned the pastor of Peace of Christ Parish.