This hundred-year-old, vibrant Catholic community lies between the Comite and the Amite Rivers in the central area of East Baton Rouge Parish. The first church was dedicated on October 4, 1898 and named St. Francis of Assisi. In the beginning, the church was a mission of St. Joseph in Baton Rouge. After the turn of the century, the church was declared a mission of St. George Parish. Later it became a mission of St. Anthony of Padua and then of St. Gerard Majella. During the 1940s, Redemptorist priests arrived to staff the church and remained for over forty years.
On September 29, 1962, this mission church became one of the first parishes established in the new Diocese of Baton Rouge under Bishop Robert E. Tracy. The parish was given a new name after the founder of the Redemptorists, St. Alphonsus Liguori. Within one year the parish had opened a school, which was run by the School Sisters of Notre Dame until 1971.
In the 1970s, the Greenwell Springs area saw phenomenal growth. The need for a new church building was evident and, on May 20, 1978, a new church was dedicated. Growth has continued steadily since and to accommodate, St. Alphonsus has expanded. In 2003, construction was completed on a new facility that includes the parish office, meeting rooms, a bridal room, Adoration Chapel and a large gathering space. These, as well as the remodeled church, are all under one roof.
On October 4, 1998, St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish began its centennial celebration with the ringing of the original church bell, a bell which has called the faithful to worship in this parish for over one hundred years. Since this celebration, the parish continues to grow both in numbers of parishioners and ministries to God’s people within the parish and the greater community.