The history of  Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish begins in the 1940s.  The exact date is unknown.  The Catholic people in the Swartswood area traveled and sometimes even walked to Saint Joseph Church in Newton to attend Mass and bring their children for religious instruction.  It was under the pastorate of Msgr. Michael Donnelly of Saint Joseph's that an old schoolhouse on County Road 521 near Middleville was made available for Mass.  It was called Saint Michael's Chapel.  For a time, Mass was also offered at Louis' Lake House.  Under the pastorate of Fr. John Hewetson, Andrew and Louise Fontana offered the spacious second floor of their home located at the intersection of Rt. 521 and Sprout Hill Rd. as a permanent chapel. In return, because of their great devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, the chapel was renamed in Her honor and it was officially established as a Mission served by the priests of St. Joseph Parish.

The desire for their own church, under the guidance and inspiration of such priests as Fr. Hewetson, Daniel Vecchiollo, Roger Hebert, Bruno Bladek, William Connery and Joseph Gallo, preserved and the people of Swartswood continued to make progress toward their goal.

During the pastorate of Msgr. Joseph Gallo, the site of the future church was purchased.  Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Cionek generously sold to the church the land adjoining the Swartswood Volunteer Fire Department, which was being used as a summer chapel because of the large number of people at Mass.  Swartswood was a summer destination in those years and the population swelled considerably during the warmer months.

With the appointment of Fr. Anthony Franchino as pastor of Saint Joseph's, a Building Fund was established and within two years the sum of $40,000 was saved toward a church.  This enabled Fr. Franchino to hire Gerald Oakley as architect and plans were drawn up and approved by the Bishop of Paterson, James J. Navagh.  Before the final plans were complete, Bishop Navagh died and in August of 1966, with the approval of Bishop Lawrence B. Casey, ground was broken for the new church and the parishioners' dream began to become a reality.

On May 28, 1967, the first Mass was offered in the new mission church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  The church was constructed at a cost of $150,000 and a fifteen year mortgage for $90,000 was assumed by the mission.  On Sunday, July 2, 1967 the new church was formally dedicated by Bishop Casey, a tribute to the spirit and selfless generosity of the Catholic people of the Swartswood area.

In 1969, Fr. Thomas H. Murphy succeeded Fr. Franchino as pastor of Saint Joseph Parish and Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mission.  In the summer of 1969, Rev. Mr. John Quinlan, then a deacon and progressing toward priesthood ordination the following May, was assigned to Our Lady of Mount Carmel for the weekends of July and August.  This assignment was part of a newly established internship program in the diocese to provide transitional deacons with pastoral experience.  Following his ordination in May 1970, in later years Fr. Quinlan would be named as the second pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

With significant growth in the parish, Bishop Lawrence B. Casey made the decision to elevate the mission to a parish unto itself and on June 23, 1970, Fr. Louis W. Biesiada, associate pastor of Saint Joseph Parish, Mendham, was appointed the first resident pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Mission.  From June to October, he resided with Joseph and Mae Cionek while a two-room apartment was created from a section of the multi-purpose room at the rear of the church.

Our Lady of Mount Carmel was canonically raised from mission to parish status on December 7, 1970 with Fr. Biesiada as the founding pastor.  At the time there were only 170 families registered in the newly established parish.

Plans for a garage and storage building were drawn in February 1972 and the men of the parish erected the building at a cost of $4,000. On May 11, 1973, Bishop Casey gave his approval to build a rectory. Built at a cost of $37,000, work was begun in July of that year and Fr. Biesiada took up occupancy on November 25, 1973.  The parish borrowed $32,000 from the diocese payable over fifteen years.

In September 1974, newly ordained Deacon Edmund V. Galinski was assigned to assist Fr. Biesiada with the ever growing parish and became the first Permanent Deacon assigned to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church.

As the parish grew, it became increasingly difficult to hold parish events in the limited space available.  Every room in the church, multi-purpose room and the rectory was being used for religious education classes in the expanding parish, which had trown from 170 families in 1970 to 450 in 1979.

In March 1979, the final mortgage payment was made on the church and the decision was made to explore the possibility of building a community center at the back of the church to accommodate religious education classes and social events.  Edwin K. "Mike" Vaughn was appointed to chair a Building Committee and the architectural firm of J. Arthur Johnsen was hired to drawy up plans and sketches for an addition to the existing multi-purpose room.  Bishop Frank J. Rodimer gave his approval to the project and on Palm Sunday, March 30, 1980, ground was broken for a six thousand square foot addition.

The ensuing building fund campaign raised $121,000 in addition to the $40,000 already in savings for the project.  The general building contract was awarded to Anthony Amiano Costruction of Glen Gardner, NJ, for $203,000 and the new community center was used for the first time for a covered dish supper on October 25, 1980.  Formal dedication of the center and a celebration of the parish's Tenth Anniversary took place on December 14, 1980.

The 1980's brought further growth to the parish as its numbers grew and programs expanded.  The RENEW program became a part of the parish and the choir was established in 1980.  Other projects such as the Christmas Craft Bazaar, more recently known as Gifts of Our Hands and a parish blood bank emerged.  In November, 1988, the men of the parish formed Knights of Columbus Council 9920 and their spiritual and temporal service continues to inspire the parish

In 1991, Ellis Schweitzer was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate, Edward Muller and Robert Davis in 1995 and Anthony Barile in 2001.  The presence of our Permanent Diaconate has continued to enrich and energize our parish in the ensuing years.

On October 1, 1996, after twenty-six years of dedicated service as the founding pastor of our parish, Msgr. Louis Biesiada embarked on a well deserved reitrement to Florida.  His spiritual leadership, his untiring efforts and his dedication to the people of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish will be felt for many years to come.

In Msgr. Biesiada's place, on October 18, 1996 Bishop Rodimer named Fr. John Quinlan as the second pastor of the parish.  Fr. Quinlan was no stranger to the area, having spent the previous nineteen years at Saint Joseph Parish, Newton.  Under Father Quinlan's pastorate, a number of areas began to grow.  To further religious and spiritual growth, a weekend Parish Renewal Program, under the guidance of weekend assistant Fr. Angelus Croce, was offered over the course of several years to enable parish participants to come to a greater appreciation of their role as part of a parish community.  In celebration of the new millennium, RENEW 2000 was introduced, which gathered participants into small group communities to renew their faith and grow spiritually.  This was followed in 2009 with the Why Catholic? program, geared toward helping people to better understand their Catholic faith and share it with others.  The parish's elementary Religious Education Program underwent significant changes with the arrival of the parish's first Pastoral Associate, Debra Tripi, who directed the program and assisted with other general parish projects, programs and duties.

The parish prayer garden had its remote beginning when a group of parishioners purchased the statue of the Sacred Heart and placed it on the lawn behind the parking lot.  In recent years, the garden was completed and formally dedicated.  Three "new" prayer traditions were also added to parish life, including the Christmas Crib and Tree Blessing, our annual Healing Mass, and our participation in Ecumenical Prayer Services at Thanksgiving, Advent, and Lent.

Some much needed renovations took place in the parish buildings as well.  The antiquated electric heating system in the church and rectory were replaced with new forced air systems and the addition of air conditioning.  With the proceeds from the diocesan Prepare the Way campaign, the community center received some much needed renovations.  The partitions in the community center were replaced with modern, sound-deadening units, which enhanced not only the Religious Education Programs, but also enabled multiple small parish meetings to be conducted without interfering with one another.  A new ceiling, lighting and heating/air conditioning system were also installed.

On January 1, 2004, the parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church were saddened to learn of the sudden death of the parish's first pastor, Msgr. Biesiada.  in his honor, and as a tribute to his tireless efforts for over a quarter century, the community center, built during his pastorate, was named Biesiada Hall.

In January 2011, Fr. Quinlan passed away and Msgr. Bill Stober was assigned to the parish until Fr. Brian Ditullio was appointed administrator in May 2011.  Fr. Brian Ditullio became pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in July 2012 and stayed until June 2015.  Fr. Abuchi F. Nwosu was appointed administrator June 29, 2015.  

In March of 2016, the Sanctuary was renovated.  The brick was covered with sheetrock and wood trim, the carpet replaced with tile, and the steps at the altar were reconfigured.  The crucifix that had been funded by Fr. John was hung in place of the Risen Christ and a new sanctuary lamp was installed.  Additional sanctuary renovations took place in 2016, including a new altar, ambo, credence table and tabernacle stand.  Bishop Serratelli came to the parish in July, 2016 to dedicate the new altar and sanctuary renovations.  At that time the Bishop announced that Fr. Abuchi F. Nwosu was appointed as pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.