About St. Thomas More Catholic Parish

We are a people of faith. Our existence in the past and our journey into the future is centered on the reality of God, ever-present and loving. Through Christ, we have received a radical and wonderful message of the Good News of the Kingdom: forgiveness, salvation, love, peace, and justice. It is about being community and about service to and for others. We, therefore, must take seriously our individual and cooperative role in being participants in Christ’s proclamation of the Kingdom.

In our openness to the Spirit, we are empowered and gifted to share in Christ’s own life and mission. This empowerment of the Spirit is not only for our own individual sake, but also for the sake of the community and the world. We do not live in isolation. The Christian community, the Church, and assembly of believers is vital to our fidelity to the message of Christ, in being challenged to conversion, and in celebrating the beauty and promise of God’s covenant with us in love. We are committed to be united as members of the church and to actively develop areas of parish life in order to spread the Good News of Christ through:

1. Worshipping God as a fully participating community in prayer and Sacrament and growing deeper in our lives of faith through prayer as individuals and in community.
2. Creating opportunities for faith formation and growth through education, small group sharing, and retreat experiences.
3. Being involved in the life of the greater community, serving the poor and those in need, and striving for and promoting justice.
4. Welcoming all into our parish family by creating an atmosphere of hospitality and developing a sense of belonging through ministering to each other in our spiritual, emotional and physical needs.
5. Providing an environment for the parish to come together to engage in and fulfill our many functions and activities.

Our Patron Saint: St. Thomas More

St. Thomas More (1478-1535) was a brilliant lawyer, author (wrote Utopia in 1516), and scholar who served as Lord Chancellor of England from 1529 to 1532.

St. Thomas More was a devoted husband and father. Known for his witty humor, this holy and faith-filled man insisted on family prayer time each day. Out of his genuine commitment to the Gospel, he often invited the poor to dinner.

Ultimately, his conscience came in conflict with his political office and his friendship with King Henry VIII. Since he accepted the validity of the King’s first marriage to Catherine of Aragon, St. Thomas More refused to recognize the King’s second marriage to Anne Boleyn and refused to recognize the King’s claim to title: “only supreme head of the Church of England.”

Thomas was accused of treason, imprisoned in the Tower of London, condemned to death, and beheaded in 1535. In the end, St. Thomas More loved God more than his king or his own life. It has often been said that he was “the King’s good servant - but God’s first.” He was canonized in 1935.