For years, six Catholic churches had been present in the Cambria City section of Johnstown. Five churches remained after the merger of St. Casimir and St. Emerich, following the closure of St. Emerich Parish. Early in 2008, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese officially announced that the parishes of Immaculate Conception, SS. Casimir & Emerich, St. Columba, St. Rochus and St. Stephen’s would merge into one parish during the summer of 2009. Throughout the year and a half before the merger, a Transitional Pastoral Council of two representatives from each parish worked diligently to ensure a smooth transition for the then unnamed new parish.

In late March 2009, the Diocese announced that the name of the merged parish would be Resurrection Roman Catholic Parish. Two months later, Bishop Joseph Adamec announced that the Rev. Alan E. Thomas would be the pastor of the new parish. A picnic Mass was held on Sunday, June 27 to allow parishioners to meet Father Alan prior to the merger.
 
The new parish celebrated its first Mass on Wednesday, July 22, and on Saturday, July 25, 2009, the first weekend Mass was held at Resurrection Parish. An Inaugural Mass with Bishop Joseph followed the first morning Mass on Sunday, July 26. Within weeks after opening, Resurrection Parish participated in Johnstown’s Ethnic Fest, surprising many, since the parish and its workers had such a brief time of preparation. Since that time, Resurrection Parish has continued to show the community that with faith, all things are possible.