About St. Thomas · New Hartford, New York
St. Thomas (formally Church of St. Thomas the Apostle) is a Roman Catholic parish in the town of New Hartford, Oneida County, New York, in the Diocese of Syracuse. The parish was created in 1957 at Bishop Walter A. Foery's direction and its church on Clinton Road was dedicated on March 20, 1958, with Father Alfred Goulet as its first pastor. It grew out of the older neighboring St. John the Evangelist parish (New Hartford) and served the Catholic faithful on the western side of the community for more than six decades. In June 2025, Bishop Douglas J. Lucia issued a Decree of Modification and Relegation affecting the church, a sign of the broader diocesan restructuring happening across upstate New York.
- Established
- 1957
- Patron
- St. Thomas the Apostle
- Diocese
- Diocese of Syracuse
Why belong here
St. Thomas has long been a close-knit, mid-century parish serving Catholic families on the western side of New Hartford. Worship is offered in English with a regular interpreted Mass, and the parish shares a Catholic tradition with its neighbor St. John the Evangelist, the mother parish from which it was carved in 1957. For Catholics in the Clinton Road / Haverhill Drive area of New Hartford, St. Thomas offers Sunday and weekday Mass within walking distance and a parish identity rooted in decades of priestly ministry.
Mass times at St. Thomas
Weekly Mass schedule
Parish History
St. Thomas was canonically erected in 1957 out of the older St. John the Evangelist parish, which by the early 1950s had grown to 982 registered families. Bishop Walter A. Foery directed that a second New Hartford parish be established. In 1955 Father O'Brien of St. John's purchased land on Clinton Road for the new parish. The church was dedicated on March 20, 1958, with Father Alfred Goulet installed as founding pastor. The parish has served New Hartford Catholics on the western side of the community ever since.
- Parish erected: 1957
- Church dedicated: March 20, 1958
- Mother parish: St. John the Evangelist, New Hartford
- Founding pastor: Father Alfred Goulet
Patron: St. Thomas the Apostle
The parish is named for St. Thomas the Apostle, the disciple traditionally known as 'Doubting Thomas' for his initial skepticism of the Resurrection before encountering the risen Christ (John 20:24–29). His feast day in the Roman calendar is July 3.
- Patron: St. Thomas the Apostle
- Feast day: July 3
Diocese of Syracuse
St. Thomas is one of many parishes in the Diocese of Syracuse, which covers a large swath of central and northern New York State. The diocese is led by Bishop Douglas J. Lucia, the 11th Bishop of Syracuse. The parish appears in the diocese's official 'Find a Parish' directory and is identified with GCatholic Church ID 18067.
- Diocese: Syracuse
- Diocesan bishop: Most Rev. Douglas J. Lucia
- Diocese directory: syracusediocese.org/find-a-parish/display/108
Parish Staff and Clergy
The most recent pastor on the public record is Rev. G. David Sears, who served the parish for 21 years before retiring effective July 1, 2023, at the age set by diocesan norms. A 2023 diocesan announcement thanked him for 'twenty-one years as Pastor of St. Thomas Parish in New Hartford.' Father Sears is a Utica native, an alumnus of Holy Name College (Washington, D.C.) and St. Bernard's Seminary (Rochester), ordained May 18, 1963, and was honored as a jubilarian priest. The parish's current pastoral leadership after Father Sears's retirement is not confirmed in the sources reviewed; a 2025 pastoral-assignment list from Bishop Lucia names a pastor for the combined Church of the Annunciation (Clark Mills) and St. John the Evangelist (New Hartford), but does not name a successor pastor for St. Thomas itself.
- Rev. G. David Sears — Pastor 2002–2023 (retired)
- Father Edmund Castronovo — Pastor 2000–2002
- Father Alfred Goulet — Founding pastor (1958)
Recent Diocesan Action (2025)
On June 26, 2025, The Catholic Sun (the diocesan newspaper) reported that Bishop Douglas J. Lucia had written to parishioners and issued a Decree of Modification and Relegation affecting the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, New Hartford. The decree was signed by Bishop Lucia and Vice Chancellor Rev. Christopher Seibt. This action is part of a broader wave of pastoral reorganizations taking place across the Diocese of Syracuse as it responds to demographic shifts and clergy availability.
- June 2025 — Bishop Lucia's letter to parishioners published
- Decree of Modification and Relegation issued
- Vice Chancellor: Rev. Christopher Seibt
Parish Finances and Land (2011)
In 2011, parish administrator Rev. David Sears worked with the New Hartford Planning Board to subdivide and sell three surplus parcels of parish land — including frontage on Haverhill Drive and smaller lots abutting neighboring homes — in order to retire the parish's outstanding debt to the Diocese of Syracuse. Bishop Robert Cunningham had directed all diocesan parishes to clear such debts by 2013, and the diocese agreed to forgive $1 in debt for every $1 repaid. About $100,000 of debt had already been retired since Father Sears's arrival.
- Surplus parcels on Haverhill Drive subdivided for sale
- Diocese matched debt retirement dollar-for-dollar
- Parish phone for inquiries: (315) 735-8381
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Alfred Goulet1958–
Founding pastor when the new church was dedicated on March 20, 1958.
- Father Edmund Castronovo2000–2002
Previously at St. Malachy, Sherburne; later assigned to St. Joseph, Oneida, and Our Lady of Good Counsel, Verona.
- Rev. G. David Sears2002–2023
Native of Utica, ordained May 18, 1963; served at Blessed Sacrament (Syracuse) and several Utica/Rome-area parishes before becoming the 21-year pastor of St. Thomas; retired effective July 1, 2023.