History

History of St. Thomas More Parish

St. Thomas More Parish, founded in 1940, started as a mission in 1922, first of Durham and later of the Catholic Orphanage near Raleigh. That fall, six or seven Catholics worshipped in a second-floor room on the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus. Before World War II, the number of Catholics grew slowly.  By 1934, there were 175 Catholic students at the University, at least one Catholic professor, and a handful of local people.  This small group worshipped for many years on the second floor of Graham Memorial. Beginning in 1940, Chapel Hill was designated a parish, and in 1942, the U.S. Navy Pre-flight School brought a large number of Catholic cadets to the campus. Mass was celebrated in the Hill Hall auditorium.
 
After the war, services were held in Gerrard Hall.  The Catholic community grew rapidly, and it became imperative that a church be built to accommodate it.  Spearheaded by Navy pre-flight officers and cadets, at the suggestion of Commanding Officer O.O. Kessing and by William D. Carmichael, Jr., Vice President and Finance Officer, who had been one of only three Catholic students as an undergraduate, a building fund was established.  
 
A Gothic Revival church was built on Gimghoul Road for 350 people on land donated by W.D. Carmichael, Sr. Designed by Andrews and McGready, the church was dedicated on March 31, 1957.  In 1964, St. Thomas More School was added to the parish on nearby land also donated by the Carmichaels, and it opened with 100 students.  Diocesan priests of the Diocese of Raleigh have pastored the parish since its inception. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania, served the school and church community for over 30 years. On Pentecost Sunday in 1997, ground was broken on our current site for a new and larger church adjacent to the school.  Simultaneously, more classrooms were added to the school, allowing it to expand to the eighth grade. The new church was dedicated on December 12, 1998.
 
During the past couple of decades, the Catholic Community of St. Thomas More has grown in membership, especially in our Hispanic population. Our Hispanic Ministry was formally established in 2000-01. In 1990, our total membership was 1400 households, and at the end of 2023 was 3100 households. The number of ministries and groups in the parish has flourished, and the number of staff has grown to better serve our community. Our Faith Development program also experienced much growth. In 2006-07, the Faith Development program integrated its program with our Hispanic community, established bilingual family retreats for sacramental preparation, began translating all letters and documents into Spanish, and established regular meetings with Hispanic parents to convey information and to hear their concerns.
 
With such growth came responsibility to provide facilities that would allow us to fulfill our mission to pray, serve, and spread the Gospel with joy. We began the New Building Project to meet those needs. The ONE Campaign, begun in 2006, raised $6.75 million in pledges to fund this extraordinary project. The new facilities, dedicated on October 23, 2010, included a new social hall, renovation of the church building, improved parking & driveway, an Art and Music Building for the School, a new gymnasium and athletic fields, and a columbarium.
 
In 2017, the community of the neighboring Aldersgate Methodist Church discerned that the time had come to relocate to a smaller space that would better meet the needs of their community. In mid-August of that year, we reached an agreement to purchase the property, which became our new South Campus and includes 3.2 acres of land and 11,000 square feet of space. A 3-month fundraising campaign took place, which raised $1.7 million for the South Campus Project. Phase I was completed in November 2019. The South Campus complex was renovated to serve as the St John Fisher Chapel, the Bishop F. Joseph Gossman Center and the St Thomas More Catholic Preschool. Our St Thomas More South Campus was dedicated by Bishop Luis Rafael on November 20, 2019.
 
In 2021 the Columbarium was expanded and the El Camino connector path between main and south campuses was built. A shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe was added to El Camino in early 2024 and the St. Joseph building for maintenance is expected to be completed in 2025.