About St. Thomas Aquinas · Mokelumne Hill, California
St. Thomas Aquinas is a Roman Catholic mission church in Mokelumne Hill, California, part of the Diocese of Stockton. It is served from St. Andrew's Parish in San Andreas, together with Our Lady of Fatima Mission in West Point. Sunday Mass is offered at 11:00 AM at 8398 Lafayette Street, the parish's historic c.1900 Gothic Revival building on the corner of Lafayette and Marlette Streets. The current building is the fourth Catholic church built on or near this site, with Catholic worship in Mokelumne Hill stretching all the way back to the Gold Rush era of 1851.
- Established
- 1851 (parish); c.1900 (present church building)
- Patron
- St. Thomas Aquinas
- Rector
- Very Rev. William (Fr. Bill) McDonald
- Diocese
- Diocese of Stockton
Why belong here
St. Thomas Aquinas offers a small, traditional Catholic community right in the heart of historic Mokelumne Hill. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 11:00 AM in a 120-year-old Gothic Revival church that is itself a piece of California Gold Rush history. Because the mission is served by the priests and deacon of St. Andrew's Parish in San Andreas, parishioners have access to a full sacramental and pastoral life — daily Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, confessions, religious education, and confirmation preparation — through the wider parish family.
Mass times at St. Thomas Aquinas
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- By appointment (call the parish office at 209-754-3815)
Adoration times
- Eucharistic Adoration is offered at St. Andrew's, San Andreas, on Fridays from 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
About St. Thomas Aquinas Mission
St. Thomas Aquinas is a Roman Catholic mission church serving Mokelumne Hill, a small Gold Rush town in Calaveras County in California's Mother Lode. The mission is part of the Diocese of Stockton and is dependent on St. Andrew's Parish in San Andreas, which provides the resident priest, deacon, sacramental programs, and pastoral staff. Sunday Mass is celebrated at 11:00 AM at the historic church on Lafayette Street.
- Type: Mission (dependent on St. Andrew's, San Andreas)
- Diocese: Stockton
- Rite: Roman-Latin
- Languages: English
History of the Parish
Catholic life in Mokelumne Hill began in 1851, only a year after gold was discovered at the Mokelumne River. Father John Bobard celebrated the first Masses in a canvas structure for the miners and pioneers of the new settlement. A first proper church was built at the top of Church Street in 1857, and after fires repeatedly destroyed earlier buildings, the parish moved through a series of rebuilds and relocations until the present Gothic Revival church was completed on Lafayette Street about 1900. The current building is the fourth Catholic church on or near this site and is one of Mokelumne Hill's officially designated historic structures.
- 1851 — Catholic Church founded by Father John Bobard; first Masses in a canvas structure.
- 1857 — First permanent church built at the top of Church Street.
- 1854, 1865, 1874 — Major fires of Mokelumne Hill; the Catholic church was destroyed and rebuilt multiple times.
- 1870s — Parish relocated to the Lafayette Street site after a fire.
- c.1900 — Present St. Thomas Aquinas church completed; simple Gothic Revival design.
- Today — A mission of St. Andrew's, San Andreas, within the Diocese of Stockton.
Clergy and Staff
St. Thomas Aquinas is served by the pastor and deacon of St. Andrew's Parish in San Andreas. Fr. Bill McDonald is a priest of the Diocese of Stockton, ordained in 1989, who also serves as Vicar General of the diocese. His priestly ministry has spanned parish life in the Stockton diocese, Hispanic ministry in Las Vegas, stewardship and LifeTeen programs, and eight years as a seminary formator at Immaculate Conception Seminary in New Jersey. Deacon Mark Caruso, a special-education teacher at Jenny Lind Elementary in Valley Springs, was ordained a permanent deacon on September 23, 2017, and assists with religious education and confirmation classes.
- Very Rev. William (Fr. Bill) McDonald — Pastor; also Vicar General, Diocese of Stockton
- Deacon Mark Caruso — Permanent Deacon, ordained September 23, 2017
Ministries and Faith Formation
Because St. Thomas Aquinas is a small mission, most parish ministries and faith-formation programs are organized through the parent parish of St. Andrew's. Religious education and Confirmation preparation are coordinated for all three parishes in the community, and parishioners participate in the Knights of Columbus and a number of parish committees alongside their fellow Catholics from San Andreas and West Point.
- Religious Education
- Confirmation Preparation
- Knights of Columbus
- Parish liturgical and pastoral committees (via St. Andrew's)
Sacraments
Sunday Mass and seasonal liturgies are celebrated at St. Thomas Aquinas. Baptisms, weddings, Anointing of the Sick, and other sacramental preparation are coordinated through the St. Andrew's Parish office in San Andreas. Confessions at St. Thomas Aquinas are by appointment.
- Sunday Eucharist (11:00 AM)
- Confession by appointment
- Baptism — through St. Andrew's
- Marriage — through St. Andrew's
- Anointing of the Sick — through St. Andrew's
Visit and Contact
St. Thomas Aquinas is located in downtown Mokelumne Hill on the corner of Lafayette and Marlette Streets. The parish office is staffed at St. Andrew's in San Andreas Monday through Friday (closed Wednesdays) from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. All phone calls and mail for the mission are handled through that office.
- Address: 8398 Lafayette Street, Mokelumne Hill, CA 95245
- Phone: (209) 754-3815
- Parish Office (St. Andrew's): 162 Church Hill Rd., San Andreas, CA 95249
- Mailing Address: P.O. Box 550, San Andreas, CA 95249
- Parish Office Hours: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri — 9 AM – 2 PM (Wed closed)