By DIANE SCHLINDWEIN
      Managing Editor

DECATUR — On Sunday, July 20, Bishop Thomas John Paprocki will be with the people of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Decatur as they celebrate 100 years of parish history with a Mass and dinner. There they will be acknowledging that a century as a parish is a time to look back — and also to look forward.

It was very early in 1925 when Bishop James A. Griffin took note of the rapid growth that was happening in the city of Decatur, making it essential to establish another parish. Because he felt the northern part of the city would be expanding with Catholics, he established the parish in the 2100 Block of North Edward Street with boundaries north of Grand Avenue, east of Edward Street, and north of Packard Street.

On Jan. 25, 1925, Father Andrew Smith, who was born, educated, and ordained in Ireland, was assigned to pastor the parish. He relied on his history as a young assistant at St. Patrick Church in Decatur to guide his way.

In the beginning, about 800 parishioners made up the new parish, which was named after an apostle, at the urging of Bishop Griffin. Beginning on April 1, work began on a temporary building — a $7,000, 36 feet by 96 feet structure that was completed in just nine and a half days. Easter was on April 12 that year, with the first Mass celebrated there that morning, and the dedication taking place that afternoon.

It wasn’t long before plans were under way for a brick and stone Romanesque style church, with the cornerstone of the $90,000 building being laid in August 1925. More than 3,500 people were in attendance. The church was dedicated on a rainy Sept. 5, 1926, with a seating capacity of 600, and four classrooms. St. Thomas School opened Sept. 7, 1926, with four Ursuline sisters in charge of 185 students.

When Father Smith began celebrating the Novena to Our Sorrowful Mother in 1939, he found it necessary to have three novena services because of the crowds. Father Jason Stone, the current pastor, said he has heard another story about the novenas. “Later on, in Father Masterson’s day, I was told by a former altar boy that you wanted to serve the novena on Friday evening, because Bingo was right afterward, and Father Masterson would give the servers a quarter to get a Bingo card,” Father Stone said.

The church was redecorated in 1941 and in the early 1940s, the parish debt was completely paid off and a building fund was started for additional classrooms, a cafeteria, and a new rectory. On Nov. 5, 1950, the classrooms opened and later that month the entire $165,000 addition opened. It was in 1957 when records show the parish peaked with over 4,000 parishioners, and the school in 1958 with 600 students.

In 1976 work began on a new church building. That modern circular church with a geodesic dome seated 700 with a chapel seating 100. It was completed by July 1977, but it wasn’t until Nov. 6 that Bishop Joseph McNicholas formally dedicated the church.

As times changed, with the school building needing work and school enrollment down, St. Thomas School closed its doors at the end of the 1990-1991 school year. That’s when St. Thomas and St. James officially combined their schools.

Fewer than a dozen priests have led the parish over its 100 years.  Founding pastor, Father Smith served until his death of April 13, 1948. He was succeeded by Father Thomas Masterson — also from Ireland — who served until 1970, shortly before his death. Father Terrence Tracey became pastor of the parish at that time and served until 1985. Father Robert N. Porter was then pastor for four years, and in 1989 was succeeded by Father Dennis Kollross, who served until 2004. In 2004, Father (later Msgr.) James O’Shea was named pastor and served until 2008. From 2008 to 2020, Father Rick Weltin was pastor. Father Michael Friedel served as pastor from 2020 to 2024, but as he was also pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes, in 2022 and 2023 Father Ramesh Babu Matta and then Father Peter Chineke acted as parish administrators for St. Thomas. Current pastor Father Stone was first named administrator in 2023 and then pastor in 2024.

Pastor emeritus Father Weltin is available to help out at St. Thomas and other parishes in Decatur and the surrounding area. Records dating back over 75 years show about 23 priests have served as assistants there since 1948.

A good number of religious vocations — diocesan priests, religious order priests, religious sisters and brothers, and a deacon — have come from St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, including Father Philip Kraft (ordained 1962), and Father Chris Comerford (ordained 1996). Msgr. David Peters, who died recently, was also from the parish.

Today, St. Thomas the Apostle Parish is home to about 300 families. Father Stone said a committee has been meeting monthly to plan the July 20 celebration. T-shirts were made and in time for Christmas, 100^th anniversary ornaments will be available for people to add to their trees.

  “We sent out invitations to all the former priests from St. Thomas and all the vocations from the parish we are aware of,” Father Stone said. “For a few weeks we ran a parish trivia contests with questions about parish history in the bulletin and a prize for the winner each week. We have collected parishioner’s memories of the parish and are working on putting out a book with those memories, a historical sketch of the parish, and historic photographs.”

In 2000, a parish time capsule was sealed for the 75^th anniversary of the parish. That time capsule is set to be opened at the July 20 luncheon. The chalice used at the 100^th anniversary Mass will be the ordination chalice of Father John Moore, the first vocation to the diocesan priesthood from St. Thomas the Apostle Parish.

“The people of St. Thomas the Apostle are proud of their parish and are dedicated,” said Father Stone. “They are always ready to help with a parish workday to get trees trimmed and the flower beds in order. Many of them have been here a long time and have fond memories of their time here, and the former pastors and the old school.”

Finally, Father Stone is happy that Masses at St. Thomas are well-attended. “One of the things that have struck me from the beginning about the parish is the large size of the daily Mass attendance in proportion to the Sunday Mass,” he said. “The parishioners enjoy each other’s company, and we have a large and active hospitality committee.”