For years there was no Catholic church in Alpine, so in order to attend Mass, Catholic families in Alpine had to make the nearly 30-mile round trip over mostly country roads to St. Mary’s (now Holy Trinity Catholic Church) or to Blessed Sacrament Parish in Descanso.

In 1946, through the courtesy of the Sheedy family, and with permission of the Most Reverend Charles F. Buddy, the first Bishop of San Diego, Mass was celebrated at the Sheedy’s ranch on Highway 80. A few years later, in 1950, the Catholic community in Alpine received its first pastor, Father Earl Ullman. Mass continued at the Sheedy ranch until the early spring of 1951, when a church building was made possible through a donation of land by John Vitalich. While no official records exist, it is believed that a groundbreaking ceremony was held soon after, in early 1951. With the help of the Extension Society, and with funding from the local Catholic community, Mass was celebrated at the new Queen of Angels Catholic Church, originally named St. Philomena, for the first time on Christmas Day 1951. The new parish was dedicated June 15, 1952, by Bishop Charles Buddy.

Catechism classes were originally held in the church, the choir loft, and also in the small kitchen. New classrooms were built by parishioners in 1966. In 1984, under the direction of Father Laurence McLaughlin, the church was enlarged to accommodate up to 225 families. A new kitchen and multi-purpose room, now the parish hall, was included in the project. In the early 1990s, Ms. Cleo Wallen, Ms. Carmen Lewis, and Ms. Anna Jerney were honored by Pope St. John Paul II for being the founding members of Queen of Angels Catholic Church. Later in August of 1999, the entire Queen of Angels community also honored these women for their many contributions over the years. By the late 1990s the Catholic community in Alpine was bursting at the seams, with Sunday Masses so packed that people were crowding around outside the doors and into the street during Mass. Father Matthew Spahr began the “Built of Living Stones” capital campaign in 2001, and after meeting many state and local requirements from the County of San Diego, the parish broke ground on a new building in January 2010, celebrating its first Mass in the new church building in May of 2011. Today, the “old” church has been reconfigured as St. Philomena’s Hall and is used for faith formation and fellowship, while the “new” church serves as the community’s place of worship.