Saint_Thomas

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Or to DONATE Please Call:
Father Clearance Sandavol
435-753-6724 or
Quinn Roosendaal
435-258-2456

Building A New Church In Northern Utah
How you can help us in Utah
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church

Because of the location and size of St. Jerome's Chapel in Cache Valley Utah it has become necessary to begin a new chapter in Utah's Church History, the building of a new and larger Catholic Church to serve it's Parishioners in Christ, to evangelize to her neighbors in Christ. The new St. Thomas Aquinas facilities will include the following features:

750-seat chapel

15,500-sq-ft education center
classrooms
office center
study center
16,300-square-foot community
and cultural center

The new church is in the shape of a cruciform, which speaks of a Catholic worship space. Natural lighting will be utilized as much as possible. In addition, natural materials in keeping with the agricultural setting make the design well suited for Cache Valley.

History In Cache Valley Utah
Catholic History In Utah

The history of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish is a "living history." Although Catholics were present in Cache Valley as early as 1872, the first Mass in Logan was celebrated on September 19, 1918, by Fr. Thomas N. Station

It wasn't until 1941 that Catholics in Cache Valley had a permanent home. On December 8, 1941 (the day after Pearl Harbor), Fr. Joseph Valine and Fr. Colin McEachen arrived to celebrate Mass in the nearly completed church at 45 East 500 North (now the dining room of the the Alta Manor Suites Bed and Breakfast). Both were Dominicans. Fr. Valine from the Azores and Fr. McEachen from Newfoundland.

The first regular Sunday Mass was celebrated a week later on December 14th but the new St. Thomas Aquinas church wasn't dedicated until May 17, 1942 with a solemn high Mass celebrated by Bishop Hunt. The new church was made possible by a generous grant from the Catholic Church Extension Society. At the time it served an area nearly the size of Massachusetts.

Five years later, in 1947, the parish keys were handed over to Fr. Jerome Stoffel. An avid Utah historian, Fr. Stoffel was aided briefly by a refugee priest from Czechoslovakia. Beloved by members of the parish Fr. Stoffel shepherded the parish until 1977—thirty years of devoted service to the Catholic Community.

By 1955, the original church at 45 East 500 North was overcrowded and the parish needed a new home. Fr. Stoffel guided the transition. In 1957, the diocese purchased the Sigma Nu fraternity house at 795 North 800 East, formerly a private residence built in 1928 and known as "Windsor Castle." In September Bishop Hunt dedicated it as the site for a Newman Center and new chapel.

The cornerstone of the new St. Jerome's Chapel was laid in March, 1960, by Bishop Federal. The first Mass was celebrated on St. Jerome's Feast day on September 30th. In 1958, to the joy of the parish, Fr. Stoffel became Monsignor Stoffel. Four years later, the dioceses closed the church which had been built in 1941. Today, both members of St. Thomas Aquinas parish and students from the attached Newman Center celebrate Mass in St. Jerome's Chapel.

We are a growing community with a real presence in northern Utah

We need your support
we need your prayers

A 180 - seat chapel, dedicated in 1960 now seats only 10% of the Parish congregation
of 1839 members. Mass is celebrated five times each week-end, and the overflow Easter Mass is held in a 2200 seat auditorium at Utah State University.

Space and facilities for social and cultural activities and community outreach are small, dated and even over-booked

Estimated Cost

Worship Space....$1.75 Million
Administration&

Education &.......$1.63 Million

Community &......$1.80 Million
Cultural Center

Rectory................$0.25 Million

Cost 5.43 Million