St. Thomas the Apostle Church, in the Diocese of Rochester, New York, is slated to be closed in the near future. Since we (many concerned parishioners) do not believe that this closure is the only option, we are proposing a solution which would ensure that a Roman Catholic presence be maintained in this locality.

Our proposal is that, in these days when so many new groups and communities are being formed in the Church, one of them would be invited into the Diocese in order to establish a mission or center of pastoral ministry here at the St. Thomas site.

Is there any interest "out there" in this apostolic venture???

It must be understood that any interested party will need to approach the Diocese of Rochester for admission, and will need to work out with it the details of the arrangement.

We are hoping and praying fervently - with all our hearts - that we can find a community which will share our vision, and that our Diocese will support such a project which could be beneficial to all.

For more information, continue reading below.

Church, Facilities, and Grounds of St. Thomas the Apostle

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More Information on St. Thomas the Apostle

St. Thomas the Apostle church is located in the quiet suburban town of Irondequoit, NY, which is a major suburb of the nearby city of Rochester. This spacious, multi-facility parish is expected to be placed on the real estate market in the very near future. A planning group is recommending the closure and sale of St. Thomas and one other nearby parish as part of a diocesan restructuring due to a shortage of priests.

St. Thomas’ campus is comprised of seven structures-the church, a former Catholic school, a former convent with a 3 car attached garage, a single family residence, and 2 large storage buildings. The church, dedicated in 1965, is a 23,000 sq. ft. building that is constructed of a reinforced concrete skeleton that is covered by brick veneer. The roof is a four dome structure that gives a Byzantine impression, technically known as “translational shell ceilings”. It has seating for approximately 1000 worshippers. The worship space induces a sense of the sacred, lending itself to solemn and dignified liturgical celebrations.

The former Catholic school building is approximately 25,000 sq. ft. and at its peak enrolled about 800 students. The building is currently leased to long time tenant, Stepping Stones Learning Center. Rental income from Stepping Stones is approximately $130,000/year.

The former convent, approximately 17,000 sq. ft., was originally built to house 22 nuns. It has a large kitchen, dining room, and living room along with multiple offices and bedrooms. Also, there is an attached chapel which currently features Eucharistic adoration from 9 am to 11 pm, Monday through Friday. Occasional Masses are offered in the chapel on special occasions.

Finally, there is the 2700 sq. ft. single family dwelling that sits on a separate parcel directly adjacent to the church property. This building is a traditional colonial style 4 bedroom brick home. It can either serve as an integral component of the parish campus or could be rented out for additional income.

Currently, St. Thomas has about 1800 registered Catholics with average weekend Mass attendance of about 500 worshippers. The sacramental averages since the year 2000 are: Baptisms-15/year; Weddings-6/year; Funerals-30/year; First Communion-16/year; Confirmation-17/year.

If the diocese closes St. Thomas and the other nearby church, there will be no Catholic church in a roughly 6 square mile area within the town of Irondequoit. This area is home to about 25,000 residents. Statistically, this means there are about 6,000 Catholics in this geographic region of the town.

St. Thomas has the potential to become a thriving regional Catholic community. Perhaps it could be something of a mission church. All the fundamentals are here-well catechized parishioners, evangelical zeal, Eucharistic piety, a large Catholic population, and financial stability. It will only take someone with a vision to build on this solid foundation.

Please note that this website is in no way affiliated with the Diocese of Rochester. Its intent is to convey information about the wonderful potential of this truly unique parish in the Rochester area. Please contact us at savestthomas@gmail.com for more information.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Introduction

More information will be posted soon, but I'll let you know the basics right now:

  • We are a group of lay people from the parish and beyond who would like to see the continued existence of a Catholic presence in this area of the Diocese of Rochester.
  • We would like to see St. Thomas the Apostle left open, even as a different entity, such as an oratory, monastery, etc . . .
  • We will be contacting various religious orders, bishops, priests, and apostolates to see if any of them would be willing to take over the parish, and make it a unique "canonical entity."
Please, until that time, feel free to email us at savestthomas@gmail.com. We have a calling as Catholics to defend Holy Mother Church. We are not launching this initiative out of selfishness, pain, anger, or frustration. Rather, we are doing this in the hopes that the area will continue to be a rich environment for the faith for years to come.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 7, 2010 at 12:17 PM

    Yesterday, there was a discussion over at Father Z's blog, "What Does This Prayer Really Say?" (http://wdtprs.com/blog/) about Communion rails. He is a well-known blogger with many followers.
    Could this be an opportunity to post? St. Thomas' beautiful Communion rail is being sacrificed--along with the rest of the Church.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 7, 2010 at 5:19 PM

    More posts please!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 8, 2010 at 10:53 AM

    This is a wonderful idea. Thank you so much on behalf of St. Thomas!
    May I make a suggestion? Perhaps it is my computer--but I find that the white writing (ex. the dates, the numbers under the Blog Archive) against the light blue background are hard to read. Would it be possible to change the color from white to a more contrasting color?
    Just a suggestion.
    Thank you!

    ReplyDelete

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