About Blessed Sacrament · Memphis, Tennessee
Blessed Sacrament is a historic Roman Catholic parish in midtown Memphis, Tennessee, established in 1912 and part of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis (Western deanery). Located at 2564 Hale Avenue on the corner of Hale Ave. and Bingham Street, the parish is today clustered with St. Theresa the Little Flower Church, sharing clergy and a single parish office at Little Flower (1644 Jackson Avenue). The parish is known for offering both a Saturday Vigil in English and a Traditional Latin Mass on Sundays, and has long served Memphis's Spanish-speaking Catholic community with a Sunday Spanish Mass.
- Established
- 1912
- Patron
- Blessed Sacrament (the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ)
- Rector
- Rev. Yoelvis Gonzalez
- Diocese
- Catholic Diocese of Memphis
Why belong here
Blessed Sacrament offers something increasingly rare in the Memphis area: a historic 1912 parish celebrated with a 100th Anniversary Mass in 2024, a Sunday Traditional Latin Mass, and an active Spanish-language Sunday Mass serving the midtown Hispanic community. As a clustered parish with St. Theresa the Little Flower, it benefits from shared clergy, RCIA and Parish Religious Education programs, and a dedicated Director of Sacred Music — a small but liturgically rich community that welcomes both longtime parishioners and newcomers.
Mass times at Blessed Sacrament
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday: 3:15 PM – 3:45 PM
- Sunday: 8:00 AM – 8:25 AM
Parish Identity & Heritage
Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church is a 1912-founded parish in midtown Memphis, Tennessee, within the Western deanery of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis. The church sits at 2564 Hale Avenue, on the corner of Hale Avenue and Bingham Street, in a residential pocket of midtown. For more than a century it has served Catholics in the area, and in 2024 the diocese formally marked the parish's 100th Anniversary with a celebration Mass on July 27, 2024.
- Established: 1912
- Deanery: Western deanery, Catholic Diocese of Memphis
- Centennial celebration: July 27, 2024
- Approximate parish population: ~177 parishioners from ~70 households (Diocese of Memphis 2023–2024 directory)
Clustered Parish Arrangement
Blessed Sacrament is operated in formal cluster with St. Theresa the Little Flower Church (founded 1930, 1644 Jackson Avenue, Memphis). The two parishes share clergy and a single parish office, which is physically located at St. Theresa the Little Flower. All mail, the official parish phone number, and the parish email are administered through the Little Flower office. This arrangement allows the small 1912 parish to sustain a full sacramental and formational life — including RCIA, religious education, and a Director of Sacred Music — that a parish of its size could not easily support on its own.
- Sister parish: St. Theresa the Little Flower Church, 1644 Jackson Avenue, Memphis, TN 38107
- Parish office, mailing address, phone, and email all route through St. Theresa the Little Flower
- Cluster first reflected in midtown Memphis parish directories from 2020 onward
Clergy & Parish Staff
Blessed Sacrament and its sister parish St. Theresa the Little Flower are served by a shared pastoral and administrative team, listed in the 2023 and 2024 editions of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis parish directory.
- Pastor: Rev. Yoelvis Gonzalez ([email protected])
- Deacon: Rev. Mr. Bill (William) Lifsey ([email protected])
- Office Manager / Bookkeeper: Beringaria Higginbotham ([email protected])
- Receptionist / Administrative Assistant: Brandy Oltremari ([email protected])
- Director of Religious Education (RCIA, PRE, etc.): Laurie Lewandowski ([email protected])
- Director of Sacred Music: Emma Nwobilor ([email protected])
Faith Formation: RCIA & Religious Education
Religious formation for both adults and children is coordinated at the cluster level under the Director of Religious Education, Laurie Lewandowski. Adult initiation through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and ongoing Parish Religious Education (PRE) for children are both run through the same parish office and share the same director — a common arrangement for small clustered parishes.
- RCIA (adult initiation): contact Laurie Lewandowski via the parish office
- PRE / Parish Religious Education (children): contact Laurie Lewandowski via the parish office
- Earlier directories (2020) credited Sister Mónica P. Darrichón, SSpS, with RCIA and PRE duties
Liturgical Music
The cluster retains a dedicated Director of Sacred Music, Emma Nwobilor, reflecting the parish's commitment to sung liturgy — particularly important given its Sunday Latin Mass and bilingual English/Spanish worship. The Director of Sacred Music serves both Blessed Sacrament and St. Theresa the Little Flower.
- Director of Sacred Music: Emma Nwobilor ([email protected])
Hispanic Ministry & Spanish-Language Mass
Blessed Sacrament has long been one of the principal Sunday Spanish-language Mass sites in midtown Memphis, reflecting the surrounding Hispanic Catholic community. The 2020 diocesan directory listed the Spanish Mass at 12:10 PM; the most recent directory places it at 1:45 PM. The cluster also maintains a Spanish-speaking secretary at St. Theresa the Little Flower on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays to better serve Spanish-speaking parishioners.
- Sunday Spanish Mass — historically 12:10 PM, currently listed at 1:45 PM
- Spanish-speaking receptionist available Mo/Tu/Th at the parish office (St. Theresa the Little Flower)
Traditional Latin Mass Community
For many years Blessed Sacrament was the home of a weekly Sunday Traditional Latin Mass at 8:30 AM, with the 1st Friday and 1st Saturday Latin Masses observed at various points. After recent liturgical changes in the diocese and beyond, the regular weekly Sunday Latin Mass at Blessed Sacrament has been reduced or relocated; the Latin Mass Directory reports that the TLM is now offered only on the 1st Sunday of the month at the sister parish, St. Theresa the Little Flower. Additional Masses are sometimes scheduled; romanmassmemphis.com is referenced as a supplemental resource.
- Sunday 8:30 AM Latin Mass historically at Blessed Sacrament
- TLM now reported on 1st Sunday of the month at St. Theresa the Little Flower
- Check memphismidtowncatholic.com and romanmassmemphis.com for current schedule