Our current church edifice is the former St. Mary's Church. St. Mary's Church in Rahway, NJ was founded in 1854 (as listed in the Archdiocese of Newark archives) but the red Gothic architecture edifice was not completed until 1888. It was designed by Jeremiah O' Rourke who is responsible for a couple of other church architectures within the state. It features a long nave lined with clerestory stained-glass windows on each side depicting significant events from the bible. The round entrance opening as well as the round windows are reminiscent of Romanesque influence on an otherwise Gothic structure. A parochial school was built next to the parish in 1867 which was ran by the Dominican sisters until it merged with St. Elizabeth of Hungary School in 2004. In 1954, the interior artwork of the church was commissioned to famous Italian painter Ilario Panzironi who was already in his 90's. New pews and the original Peragallo organ was installed 1982.

Prior to the current church being built, the parish has already been established by the diocese with Fr. Howell as it's first pastor from 1846 to 1849. He was followed by Fr. McCarthy and then Fr Thomas Quinn who was installed in 1853 as a pastor. He stayed as pastor for 20 years until Fr. Sebastian Smith took over in 1873 and was its pastor for eight years. He was followed by Fr. Edward McKosker in 1881 and Fr. Bernard Bogan in 1893. In 1905, Fr. George F. Brown became pastor followed by Fr. John O'Brian in 1910 and Fr. Patrick Maher in 1914. From 1917 to 1947, the pastor was Msgr. Cornelius CJ Kane. From 1947 to 1953, the pastor was Fr. Michael Magnier.  From 1954 to 1955, the pastor was Fr. John P. Sullivan. From 1956 to 1971, it was Fr. Joseph Murphy. From 1971 to 1977, it was Msgr. Anthony Connell. From 1978 to 1988, it was Fr. Joseph M. Quinlan. From 1989 to 2005, it was Fr. Michael J. Feketie followed by Fr. Peter Vo in 2006 and Fr. William Morris in 2008. In 2009, Fr. Dennis Kaelin was installed as pastor until its merger with nearby St. Mark's Church in 2010 to form the Divine Mercy Parish which he led until 2018.

Ther first pastor of the former St. Mark's Church is Fr. Albert Von Schligen in 1870 who at that time is also in charge of St. Michael in Elizabeth, NJ. He celebrated his first parish Mass at the home of George Andelfinger, one of the members of the lay committee that formed the parish to serve the German-American community of Rahway and its nearby towns.. The commitee purchased the property on which the church was built around 1871 -1872. He was followed by temporarily by Fr. Gregory Misdziol in 1873 who is travelled all the way from St. John the Baptist Church in New Brunswick, NJ to celebrate Mass for six months until the appointment of Fr. A. Bergmann in 1874. He was followed by Fr. Rhabanus Gutmann, OSB in 1876, Fr. Theodosius Goth, OSB, Fr. J.J. Schandel and Fr. Mauritius Kaider in 1877. The pastoral seat was vacant from 1879 to 1882 until Bishop Winand W. Wigger appointed Fr. Eugene Dikovich and became its pastor in 1883. He opened a parish school in 1883 that closed down in 1912. He was followed by Fr. Anthony Wirtner, OSB in 1884, then Fr. Hugo Paff, OSB in 1885. Fr.Leopold Hofschneider became its pastor in 1886. Fr. Hofschneider built the parish rectory and convent. He was followed by Fr. G.H. Muller in 1889. Fr. Henry Kruse was the pastor in 1892, followed by Fr. Philipp Hauke in 1893. Fr. John Baptiste Kayser became pastor in 1895 followed by Fr. Duckgeischel in 1903. Fr. Rhabanus Guttman came back as pastor in 1912 and stayed for ten years until his retirement at St. Vincent's Archabbey in Latrobe, PA. Fr. John B. Sheyer's became the next pastor with his appointment in 1922. He made significant parish improvments and saw the parish families increase from 65 to 130. In 1932, Fr. Louise P. Remmele became its pastor followed by Fr. Paul Dippold in 1938. Fr. Charles Buttner became pastor in October 23,1941 and stayed as its pastor until 1978. He was followed by Fr. Thaddeus F. Zuber who led the parish from 1979 to 1995. He was followed by Fr. Eugene Kasper in 1996 and Fr. William Morris from 2000 to 2008. He was followed by Fr. Dennis Kaelin who was installed as pastor of St. Mark's along with nearby St. Mary's Church until they were merged to become Divine Mercy Parish in 2010.

Adjacent to the current church is the Jack and Margaret Myers Senior Residence which used to be the former St. Mary's Convent. The former convent was demolished in April 2010. The demolition of the former St. Marks church started earlier halfway through 2018. A new administrator Fr. Alexander Cruz was installed in early 2018. He became its new pastor on March 23, 2019. On July 1, 2019, Fr. Jozef Krajnak was assigned to our parish as our new resident priest to assist Fr. Alex Cruz with hospital chaplaincy duties and to serve the needs of our Hispanic speaking community. Divine Mercy Parish continues to thrive in its diversity and grow in faith as it reaches out to the Catholic population of Rahway, NJ and its surrounding communities as well as those seeking for a place to learn more about our Catholic faith.

**The complete list of pastors was provided to us through the generous help of Brianna LoSardo, the archivist of the Archdiocese of Newark.