Office / Mailing Address: 269 W. 3rd St., Perris, Ca. 92570 (Tel. #: 951-6572380)
Church Address: 22190 Dunlap St., Perris, Ca. 92571
P.O. Box # 669 - Perris, Ca.
Leadership at St James the Less Catholic Church since 1941 up to the present (2022)
FR. ELISEO NAPIERE, MSPh - 2018 - to the present
PASTOR - The Church completed and dedicated by Bishop Gerald Barnes in May 25, 2019
FR. PEDRO AMEZCUA, CORC - 2014-2018
PASTOR - The Church building project started during his tenure as Pastor of St. James in 2017
FR. EDMUND GOMEZ - 2008-2014
PASTOR
MSGR. EDWARD NUNEZ - 2002-2008
PASTOR
FR. ANTHONY FERRERO - 1999-2003
PASTOR
FR. WILLIAM ERSTAD - 1996-1999
PASTOR
FR. THOMAS WALLACE - 1991-1996
PASTOR - He bought the 3-acre land in Dunlap for the future Church of St. James the Less and started the building fund campaign
FR. JESUS DOMINGUEZ - 1987-1991
PASTOR
FR. JOHN SLATTERY - 1982-1987
PASTOR
FR. JOHN RYAN - 1976-1982
PASTOR
FR. JEREMIAH O'SULLIVAN - 1972-1976
PASTOR
FR. LUCIAN LAUERMAN - 1966-1971
PASTOR
FR. JAMES MUNNELLY - 1963-1965
PASTOR
FR. CORNELIUS WALDO - 1952-1963
PASTOR - He started the Church building project on 3rd St. in 1956 and dedicated in 1957 by Bishop Charles Francis Buddy
FR. JEREMIAH MURPHY - 1950-1952
PASTOR
FR. PHILLIP WATTZ - 1949-1950
PASTOR
Fr. H. Pare from 1944-1949
Pastor
FR. MICHAEL SCANLON - 1941-1944
First Resident Pastor
In 1893, a small chapel was built on Perris Boulevard, four miles north of Perris, to serve the residents of the Perris Indian School. This school was forerunner of the Riverside Sherman Institute. Fr. P.J. Stockman, the pastor of St. Bernardine Church in San Bernardino, would travel to Perris for religious services and classes. The chapel and school were closed in 1902.
Over the next years, the small catholic community in Perris was called Mission San Ambrose and was ran by Fr. P.A. Quinn from Our Lady of the Lake Church in Lake Elsinore and San Jacinto and the priests after him until the first resident priest arrived in 1941.