About St. Thomas Aquinas · East Lansing, Michigan
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish is a Roman Catholic parish in East Lansing, Michigan, that serves both the surrounding residential community and the students of neighboring Michigan State University. It is part of the Diocese of Lansing and is paired with St. John the Evangelist Church & Student Center (327 MAC Avenue), which historically provides campus ministry to MSU Catholics. The parish motto and mission emphasizes being a Eucharistic people who nurture spiritual growth through worship, evangelization, stewardship, education, service, justice, outreach and hospitality. The parish operates St. Thomas Aquinas Parish School (preschool through 8th grade) at 915 Alton Road and today counts roughly 3,400 registered households.
- Established
- 1940
- Patron
- St. Thomas Aquinas (patron saint of students)
- Rector
- Fr. Gordon Reigle
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lansing
Why belong here
St. Thomas Aquinas is a Roman Catholic parish in a university community that welcomes students of all ages and people from all walks of life and corners of the world. As an explicitly Eucharistic people, the community nurtures spiritual growth through worship, evangelization, stewardship, education, service, justice, outreach and hospitality — lived out in a thriving parish school, lively campus ministry at neighboring MSU, a Knights of Columbus council, a Walking with Moms group, and adult faith formation including Becoming Catholic (RCIA).
Mass times at St. Thomas Aquinas
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM at St. Thomas Aquinas
Adoration times
- Friday 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM at St. Thomas Aquinas (when Parish School is in session)
Parish Identity & Mission
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish describes itself as a Roman Catholic parish in a university community — "joining students of all ages, joining people from all walks of life and from all corners of the world through Jesus Christ, our Lord." Its vision is to be "a Eucharistic people" nurturing spiritual growth through worship, evangelization, stewardship, education, service, justice, outreach and hospitality.
St. Thomas Aquinas History
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish was founded on October 1, 1940, when its first parishioners met in the Spartan Room of the Union Building at then-Michigan Agricultural College. Fr. Cecil Winters celebrated the first Mass in the State Theatre on Abbot Road. The parish grew rapidly under Fr. Jerome MacEachin ("Fr. Mac"), appointed in May 1943, who oversaw the purchase of Alton Road property in 1948, the opening of a school in September 1949 (95 students in 6 grades), a convent, school additions (gym used as temporary church), the rectory, and the present church dedicated in 1968 — at which time it contained the largest faceted glass window in North America. The Catholic Student Center and St. John Student Parish was erected in 1956–57 and separated from St. Thomas Aquinas in 1957; it formally opened in 1958 with Fr. Robert Kavanaugh as its first pastor. Parish families grew from 80 in 1940 to over 2,200 by 1983, while school enrollment grew from 96 (1949) to a peak of 800 (1964). In February 2011 a Capital Campaign was launched to update the school building and add classroom and functional space. The parish now has roughly 3,400 registered households.
St. John the Evangelist Church & Student Center
The companion church and student center grew out of a Catholic student organization at MAC in 1924 and the Newman Club founded in 1933 with Fr. Cecil Winters as chaplain. By 1950 the Newman Club was reportedly the largest in the nation. In 1954 Fr. Mac began raising funds for a separate student parish; ground was broken in 1956, and the Lansing Diocese formally opened St. John Student Parish in 1958 to serve the growing Catholic population at Michigan State University. The opening was attended by Fr. Theodore Hesburgh, President of Notre Dame, who presented the parish with an oil painting of Cardinal John Henry Newman.
Worship
Daily Mass is celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:30 AM, Tuesday and Thursday at 8:15 AM, and Saturday at 9:00 AM; the Saturday 4:30 PM Mass is the televised Outreach Mass. St. John adds Monday and Wednesday 5:30 PM, Friday 12:15 PM, and Sunday 8:00, 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM and 7:00 PM, plus Sunday 9:00 and 11:00 AM at St. Thomas.
Sacramental & Devotional Life
Confessions are heard Saturday 3:00–4:00 PM at St. Thomas Aquinas. Eucharistic Adoration takes place Friday 7:00 AM – 3:30 PM at St. Thomas Aquinas when the parish school is in session. The parish offers sacramental preparation through both its school and its Religious Education program, plus RCIA/Becoming Catholic for adults through the Adult Faith Formation office.
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish School
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish School is a parish-based Catholic school serving co-ed students from 3-year-old preschool through 8th grade at 915 Alton Road, in an East Lansing residential neighborhood near Michigan State University. The school is accredited by the Michigan Association of Non-Public Schools (MANS) and provides transportation by public-school bus for residents of the East Lansing School District. In addition to religion class, students pray morning and afternoon, attend a weekly student-led Mass, and are offered opportunities for reconciliation, Eucharistic adoration and Christian service projects, along with full sacramental preparation. With about 350 students, the school offers low student-to-teacher ratios and a range of academics plus extracurriculars (jazz band, choir, musicals, Healthy Kids Club, Green Club) and athletics through the Lansing Catholic Youth Activities Conference (CYAC) and Lansing Catholic Junior Cougars. Founded in 1945, the school currently has a capacity of about 400.
Faith Formation & Becoming Catholic
Faith formation at St. Thomas Aquinas spans children, youth, adults and inquiring adults. Debbie Lewis directs Religious Education for the pre-K through 7th-grade program, while Jen Brown directs Adult Faith Formation, Inquiry and Becoming Catholic (RCIA). The school itself handles sacramental preparation for its students, and families of all faiths and backgrounds are welcome.
Campus Ministry at MSU
Because of its location next to Michigan State University, campus ministry is central to the parish's identity. Anna Stankewitz directs Campus Ministry and Joshua Janda serves as Associate Campus Minister, both based out of St. John (327 MAC Avenue). About 12,000 of MSU's roughly 45,000 students are Catholic, and the student parish (opened in 1958) serves as their spiritual home for Mass, Reconciliation, fellowship and faith formation throughout the academic year.
Parish Leadership & Staff
Fr. Gordon Reigle is pastor. Fr. Riley O'Shea and Fr. Corey Bilodeau serve as parochial vicars; Deacons James Kasprzak and David Zygmontowicz assist. Judy Crabtree is Director of Finance; Sara Pettit is Director of Operations & Advancement; Mariann Niznak is Administrative Assistant and Sacramental Records Custodian; Jennifer Thelen is Database Administrator. Teresa DuSell is Director of Music and Patrick Paddock is Director of Liturgy; Denise Zakerski is Parish School Secretary.
Fr. Gordon Reigle, Pastor
Fr. Gordon Reigle grew up in Jackson, Michigan, studied industrial engineering at Western Michigan University, and worked six years in the IT industry before entering seminary at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. He was ordained for the Diocese of Lansing in 2005 and has served parishes around the diocese in Saline, Lansing, Flushing and Montrose; he also spent six years as Chaplain of Lansing Catholic High School. He is now pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish / St. John Church & Student Center in East Lansing.
Parish Organizations & Outreach
Among the parish's groups and outreach efforts, the Knights of Columbus Council #7816 (named "Fr. Mac East") invites men of the parish age 18 and older to join, with council contact Paul Lacroix at [email protected] and a website at kofc7816.org. Walking with Moms is a parish-based pro-life outreach (contact 517-582-0970 or [email protected]). Parishioners are encouraged to serve as ushers, choir members, Religious Education catechists or companions in the Becoming Catholic process.
Diocese & Wider Church
St. Thomas Aquinas Parish is part of the Diocese of Lansing and is listed on the diocesan directory as "St Thomas Aquinas (includes St John the Evangelist Church and Student Center, East Lansing)."
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Cecil WintersOctober 1940 – May 1943
Founding pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish; also earlier served as chaplain of the MAC Newman Club from 1933.
- Fr. Jerome MacEachin ("Fr. Mac")May 1943 –
Expanded the parish; oversaw purchase of Alton Road property, opening of the school (1949), a convent, school additions (gym used as temporary church), the present church (dedicated 1968) and rectory.
- Fr. Robert Kavanaugh1956/1957 –
First pastor of St. John Student Parish when the Catholic Student Center separated from St. Thomas Aquinas in 1957.