Notre Dame Church was founded in 1962 to accommodatethe growing Catholic population. However, Rev. John E. Murphy, the founding pastor, didn't have the land to build a new church, rectory and school and needed to raise the funds for the construction as well. Murphy began by purchasing a home that served as a rectory as well as a temporary site for the daily celebration of the Eucharist. The rectory basement provided space for 70 tightly packed people who attended weekday Eucharist. With no church available yet, Sunday masses were celebrated in the auditorium of West Essex High School.Over the course of the next two years, Murphy formed a building committee to make plans for a new church with attached school building for eight grades.On Sunday, March 22, 1964, a one-day fundraiser yielded $202,000. Just over a year later, the Notre Dame church with attached school was dedicated on May 25, 1965. In 2002, the old rectory building was sold and a new modular rectory was constructed. The vacated school building was renovated and became the Notre Dame Parish Center. The parish has grown from 450 families in 1962 to now nearly 1,700 families.