About St. Henry · Rogersville, Tennessee
St. Henry Catholic Church is a small Roman-Latin rite parish serving Rogersville and Hawkins County in upper East Tennessee, one of two Catholic parishes in this Appalachian community alongside St. James the Apostle in Sneedville. It belongs to the Diocese of Knoxville and gathers about 150 families for worship at its church on Highway 70 North. The parish is known for its warm ecumenical hospitality — its building is shared with a local Lutheran congregation that uses the church for Sunday afternoon services — and for ministry carried by a Knights of Columbus council (Council 8860) and a faithful lay staff.
- Established
- 1964
- Patron
- St. Henry (Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor, 973–1024)
- Rector
- Father Michael Cummins (interim administrator as of June 2024); Father Bartholomew Okere served as pastor from 2016 until leaving effective June 1, 2024.
- Diocese
- Diocese of Knoxville
Why belong here
St. Henry offers a tight-knit Catholic home in upper East Tennessee where every family is known by name. The parish combines daily and Sunday Mass, Eucharistic Adoration on Friday mornings, a sacramental Reconciliation schedule Wednesdays and Saturdays, and active parish life under the Knights of Columbus Council 8860 — all in a community that openly welcomes visitors of every background and shares its church building with a local Lutheran congregation. For Catholics moving into Hawkins County, it is the only Catholic parish in the area and a real pastoral anchor in the mountains.
Mass times at St. Henry
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Wednesday: 4:15 PM until Mass time
- Saturday: 4:00 PM – 4:50 PM
Adoration times
- Friday: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Parish History
Catholic life in Hawkins County reaches back to the early 1900s, when Father Emmanuel F. Callahan, based in Johnson City, served 34 mountain counties on horseback. The arrival of Pressmen's Home in 1910 brought regular Masses to Rogersville, and in 1954 Bishop William L. Adrian formed the Greeneville Missions, a nine-county field whose Rogersville mission would become St. Henry. Father Bernard Niedergeses secured two and a half acres donated by W.M. Wickham of Bloomfield, Kentucky, at the junction of Highway 70 and U.S. 11W, and on July 5, 1964 the completed church was blessed. In 1981 Bishop James D. Niedergeses formally elevated the mission to parish status with St. James the Apostle in Sneedville as a daughter mission. The 2013 church addition was paid off in 2019 at the same Mass celebrating the parish's 55th anniversary.
Sacraments
St. Henry prepares parishioners for the major sacraments of initiation and vocation. Baptisms require parental preparation and arrangements in advance; couples seeking Matrimony must contact the parish at least four months in advance and complete the diocese's marriage-preparation program; Reconciliation is available at the published times and by appointment. Anointing of the Sick and other pastoral needs are coordinated through the parish office.
- Baptism — parental preparation required
- Confirmation / First Communion — through parish faith formation
- Matrimony — four-month notice; marriage prep required
- Reconciliation — see schedule above
- Anointing of the Sick — by request through the parish office
Parish Mission and Community Life
The parish's own Mission Statement binds its members together as brothers and sisters in Christ serving God, the Catholic Church, each other, their guests, the wider community, and the world. Members offer time, talent, and treasure as good stewards, mindful of their accountability to God, and the parish explicitly welcomes people of all faiths to join in worship and study. The community is known for being ecumenical in practice — its building is shared with a local Lutheran congregation — and for its long history of accompanying the spiritual and corporal Works of Mercy.
Knights of Columbus Council 8860
Parish life is strengthened by Knights of Columbus Council 8860, an active fraternal organization of Catholic men. Under Father Bartholomew Okere, the pastor who also served as Tennessee State Chaplain of the Knights, the council supported parish fundraisers, the men's conference, mortgage-burning celebration, and other works of charity.
St. James the Apostle — Companion Mission
St. Henry and St. James the Apostle Church in Sneedville (PO Box 93, Sneedville, TN 37869) are canonically linked. St. James celebrates its own Sunday Mass at 11:00 AM and shares the same parish phone line, (423) 272-6897. In 1981, when the Greeneville mission became a parish, St. James was placed under St. Henry's pastoral care.
- Sunday Mass at St. James: 11:00 AM
- Shared parish phone: (423) 272-6897
- Linked since 1981
Where to Find Us
St. Henry is located at 112-114 Highway 70 North, Rogersville, TN 37857, on the south side of U.S. 11W at mile marker 18. The parish office can be reached at (423) 272-6897 or by email at [email protected]. The website at sainthenrychurch.org carries the bulletin, calendar of events, daily reflection, and links to the Knoxville diocesan parish page.
- Address: 112-114 Highway 70 N, Rogersville, TN 37857
- Phone: (423) 272-6897
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: sainthenrychurch.org
- Diocese: https://dioknox.org/st-henry-church/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Albert Siener1954–1956
Founding pastor of the Greeneville Missions, the nine-county field that included Rogersville.
- Father Bernard Niedergeses1956–
Succeeded as mission pastor; led search for Rogersville land and oversaw the building of St. Henry Church, dedicated July 5, 1964.
- Father Michael Jennings1997–2013
Longest-serving pastor of St. Henry; oversaw the 2013 church addition; presided from retirement in 2013.
- Father Bartholomew Okere2016–2024
Native of Nigeria; celebrated the 2019 mortgage-burning and 55th-anniversary Mass; served concurrently as pastor of St. James the Apostle in Sneedville; also served as Tennessee Knights of Columbus State Chaplain.
- Father Michael Cummins2024–
Pastor of St. Dominic Parish in Kingsport; serves the parish in an interim capacity following Father Okere's departure.