WELCOME TO ST. PETER CATHOLIC CHURCH
A Ministry of the Dominican Friars
Summer 2009
Greetings!
Summer is a time for travel, vacation, taking it easy, and trying to stay cool.
After a very busy and eventful Easter season, we’re glad to be settling in to summer here at St. Peter’s.
I am pleased to announce two new additions to our staff: Deacon Eddie Ramsey and Jenna Molinski. Deacon Eddie has ministered for nine years as a deacon at neighboring St. Patrick Parish. This spring, Bishop Steib asked Deacon Eddie to move over to St. Peter’s. He joined us in April. We’re very happy to have him. Deacon Eddie will be serving in liturgical ministries, in addition to working with RCIA and ministry to the sick.
In June, Jenna Molinski began as youth director. Jenna recently returned to her native Memphis after earning her degree from LSU and working in Teach America. Jenna is very excited to be working with our young people, and has several events already planned, including a trip to the Redbirds game on June 16. Welcome to St. Peter’s!
Even during the summer, we have educational opportunities for our parishioners. Sister Cathy Galaskiewicz, O.P., presents a summer adult lecture series on the Moral Teachings of the Catholic Church from 9:45-10:45 AM on Sundays, through June 28, in the Crystal Room.
In August, we celebrate the feast of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominican Order. This year we will celebrate his feast with a special vespers service on Sunday, August 9, at 5:00 PM. All are invited.
Don’t forget the needy during the summer! I think the longest continuous ministry at St. Peter’s is the sandwich ministry, providing for the hungry. If you’d like to help with this ministry, see our weekly bulletin, or contact the church office. We are also collecting children’s books for the library at nearby Holy Names School (Grades 1-8) this summer. Their library was flooded with the heavy spring rain. You may drop off your book at church on Sunday or at the church office by July 12.
Have a great summer! See you at church!
Fr. Tom Condon, O.P.
Pastor
Please note: Our website is regularly updated with additional information and photos.
OUR HISTORY:
St.
Peter Catholic Church, located on the corner of Third Street and Adams
in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, traces its origins to the fall of 1840
when Bishop Richard Miles, O.P., the first Bishop of Nashville,
appointed Father Michael McAleer as the first pastor of St. Peter. Just
one year after the first Catholic mass was celebrated in the parlor of
the adjacent Magevny House, the parish opened its doors. The oldest Roman Catholic parish in the region; the present
structure is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Memphis.
On
October 29, 1841, John S. Claybrook, trustee of Judge John Overton's
estate, conveyed block 409 of the original plan of Memphis to Bishop
Miles. As a partial donation, the price was made a nominal $500.00,
which was generously subscribed by a number of Protestant Memphians as
a gift to the Catholic community. In the summer of 1842 a brick church,
30 by 70 feet, was begun. It was completed the following year,
reportedly at a cost of $5000.00. Rev. Joseph Sadoc Alemany, O.P. was
named the new pastor in 1846 and later became the first Provincial of
United States Dominicans, then the first Bishop of Monterey,
California, and, finally, was appointed as the first archbishop of San
Francisco. The Dominican Order has served continuously at St. Peter
since 1846.
Construction of the present church began in 1852 around the
intact older original sanctuary and was completed in 1855. Once built, parts of the original church were
dismantled and carried out the doors, piece by piece. The new church was dedicated by Bishop Miles in 1858.
With
its vaulted ceilings, Gothic characteristics and upward thrusting
arches, St. Peter Church is a historical masterpiece and is listed on
the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by Patrick Charles
Keely, an eminent architect, the church's beautiful, stained glass
windows narrate the events in the life of Christ and several saints.
The beauty of the church is magnified by the Casavant Organ located in
the choir loft.
The
church has had multiple expansions throughout its many years beginning with
the construction of the present rectory in 1873, followed by the
addition of the Crystal Room and former chapel in 1891. In 2001, a new
3-story building added six classrooms, parish hall with kitchen, choir
room and other meeting facilities, all handicapped accessible.
A new
chapel houses the national Shrine of St. Martin de Porres, a
sixteenth-century Dominican and the patron saint of social justice. The
Shrine is open daily for prayer and also sponsors various events
throughout the year.
TODAY: St. Peter Church is a living monument to the Catholic faith, and stands
in tribute to the brave Dominicans who, through their compassion and
unwavering faith, willingly sacrificed their lives to nurse the victims
of epidemics that besieged Memphis in the mid and late 1800's. St.
Peter Church has a proud history thanks to the Dominicans and families
who have helped to make our parish one of the outstanding historical
milestones in Memphis.
St. Peter has grown from a handful of
Catholics in its beginning years into a thriving, vibrant congregation
of over 400 families. It is our hope that while celebrating the rich
history of our parish, that we promote the promise of the future
through an increased sense of family, fellowship, and faith.