About St. Thomas the Apostle · Lenoir City, Tennessee
St. Thomas the Apostle is a Roman Catholic parish in Lenoir City, Tennessee, serving Loudon County as part of the Diocese of Knoxville. The parish is bilingual, offering Masses in both English and Spanish every weekend, and it has a particularly active schedule with daily weekday Masses alongside its Sunday and vigil celebrations. According to the parish website, it describes itself as 'a community of faith and family,' and it supports a thriving music program, faith formation, and outreach including the Knights of Columbus council it sponsors. Located on a 50-acre campus at 1580 St. Thomas Way, the church is identified by Diocese of Knoxville and GCatholic records as one of the more active parishes in the region.
- Patron
- St. Thomas the Apostle
- Rector
- Fr. David Boettner
- Diocese
- Diocese of Knoxville
Why belong here
St. Thomas the Apostle is a bilingual parish that celebrates Mass in both English and Spanish every weekend, plus daily weekday Masses, making it unusually accessible for working families and the Hispanic Catholic community in Loudon County. The parish runs a notable music ministry (with separate English and Spanish choir programs), forms disciples through faith formation and Vacation Bible School, supports the Knights of Columbus Father John Savoca Council 12633, and reaches beyond its walls with prison ministry and other outreach reported by the East Tennessee Catholic. Its roomy, recently expanded 50-acre campus gives it room to grow and to host large gatherings of community and family.
Mass times at St. Thomas the Apostle
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Tuesday: 5:00 PM (some Tuesdays 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM)
- Saturday: 9:45 AM – 10:30 AM
- Or by appointment
Adoration times
- 1st Friday: 9:00 AM – 11:59 PM (after Morning Mass)
- 1st Saturday: 12:00 AM – 8:30 AM (concluding before Morning Mass)
About St. Thomas the Apostle Parish
St. Thomas the Apostle is a Roman Catholic parish of the Diocese of Knoxville, located at 1580 St. Thomas Way in Lenoir City, Tennessee. The parish presents itself as 'a community of faith and family,' serving both English-speaking and Spanish-speaking Catholics across Loudon County. It is identified by GCatholic as a Church within the Diocese of Knoxville and is listed among the parishes in the path of the 2017 solar eclipse totality — a small but distinctive geographic marker.
History & Campus
After outgrowing an earlier home, the parish relocated to a 50-acre site and adopted a master plan for a mission-style sanctuary that would roughly double the previous 500-seat worship space. Phase II of the master plan added a two-story multi-purpose parish center with educational classrooms, a full commercial kitchen, administrative offices, and meeting spaces; it broke ground in October 2005 and was completed in November 2006. The George W. Reagan Company was the general contractor (notable for site challenges including concrete retaining walls, a sewer pump station with roughly a half-mile of force main, and a railroad boring), while Johnson Architecture designed the campus in keeping with the existing mission style.
- 50-acre master-planned campus on St. Thomas Way
- Mission-style sanctuary replacing an earlier 500-seat facility
- Two-story parish center (~25,485 sq ft) completed November 2006
- Designed by Johnson Architecture; built by George W. Reagan Company
- Special Projects Fundraising continues for parish improvements
Parish Staff & Clergy
Fr. David Boettner is named as the pastor on parish project records, and the parish website also references Fr. Neil Blatchford and Fr. Julian Cardona alongside a wider staff and ministry team. Lupe Cortes serves as Assistant to the Pastor, and the staff page lists numerous ministry leaders and coordinators supporting the parish's programs.
- Fr. David Boettner — Pastor
- Fr. Neil Blatchford
- Fr. Julian Cardona
- Lupe Cortes — Assistant to the Pastor ([email protected])
- Marla Emerson — Music / Men's Choir ([email protected], ext. 117)
- Joel Studer, Maria Rios, Randy & Becky Tarpley, Joe Piscitello, Penny Fleming, Deb Reinhart, Mary Ann O'Donnell, Celeste DeVore, Adele Juárez
Ministries & Community Life
The parish runs an unusually broad slate of ministries for its size, anchored by bilingual liturgy (English and Spanish choirs) and outreach to both the local Hispanic community and the broader East Tennessee area. It sponsors a long-established Knights of Columbus council and has been recognized by the East Tennessee Catholic for prison ministry, bringing 'the love of Christ to inmates' in area facilities.
- Men's Choir (English) and Spanish Choir
- Faith Formation / Religious Education
- Vacation Bible School
- Knights of Columbus Father John Savoca Council 12633
- Prison ministry
- Hispanic / Spanish-language ministry and Apologética española
- Online Giving
- Saint Thomas Special Projects Fundraising
Knights of Columbus Council 12633
The parish hosts the Father John Savoca Council 12633 of the Knights of Columbus, which was chartered by the Supreme Council in January 2000 with 36 charter members. The council celebrated its 25th silver jubilee on September 7 with a gala at the Tellico Village Yacht Club, demonstrating the longevity and stability of Catholic fraternity at St. Thomas the Apostle.
- Chartered January 2000 with 36 founding members
- Silver Jubilee (25th anniversary) celebrated September 7 at Tellico Village Yacht Club
- Sponsored by St. Thomas the Apostle Parish
Sacraments & Pastoral Care
The website publishes a teaching article on the Sacrament of Confession, calling it 'a beautiful opportunity that allows all of us to renounce the sins we have committed and seek absolution.' It also maintains a weekly Sick List in the bulletin, with names rotated every two weeks upon permission from the individual or their immediate family; requests can be emailed to [email protected]. Daily Mass is celebrated Monday through Friday and Saturday mornings, in addition to the full weekend schedule.
- Confession / Reconciliation: Tuesday & Saturday, plus by appointment
- Daily Mass Monday–Saturday with extended Sunday schedule
- Sick List published weekly (requests to [email protected])
Parish Bulletin & Communications
The parish maintains a public bulletins page on its website and offers online giving plus a livestream of Mass. It directs prayer intentions, sick-list submissions, and parish communications through staff email addresses including [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].
- Online bulletin archive on sthomaslc.com/bulletins-1
- Online Giving available
- Livestream Mass available
Visit & Contact
Parishioners and visitors can reach the parish office at (865) 986-9885, with Lupe Cortes listed as a primary point of contact ([email protected]). The physical address is 1580 St. Thomas Way, Lenoir City, TN 37772, and the official website is http://sthomaslc.com/.
- Address: 1580 St. Thomas Way, Lenoir City, TN 37772
- Phone: (865) 986-9885
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://sthomaslc.com/