A Catholic Anchor in West Tennessee Since the 1860s
St. Mary's Catholic Church sits on the Highway 45 Bypass just south of Interstate 40 in Jackson, Tennessee, where it has served Madison County and the wider west Tennessee region since the 1860s. The parish moved to its current campus in 1991, and today it is home to roughly 1,100 households drawn from six continents and many countries - one of the most internationally diverse Catholic congregations in the area. Its motto, one repeated across its ministries and bulletin, is "Celebrating, Proclaiming, and Living the Joy of the Gospel."
The parish is part of the Catholic Diocese of Memphis and is served by three priests and four permanent deacons, alongside a small lay staff. Just down the road, the parish school has been in operation for more than 125 years, staffed continuously by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, known locally as the Nashville Dominicans.
Mass Every Day, in English and Spanish
Mass at St. Mary's follows a generous weekly rhythm. Saturday evening brings the Sunday Vigil at 4:00pm. Sunday Masses are celebrated at 8:00am and 10:30am in English, with one of the Sunday Masses live-streamed on the parish's YouTube channel, and at 1:00pm entirely in Spanish. Weekday Masses are offered Monday through Saturday: 7:00am on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday; 7:00am and a bilingual 6:15pm Mass on Tuesday; 7:00am, an 8:10am school Mass, and a 12:00pm midday Mass on Wednesday; and 7:00am and an 8:10am school Mass on Friday. The Wednesday and Friday 8:10am Masses are celebrated with the children of St. Mary's School.
Confession Six Days a Week, Including in Spanish
The sacrament of Reconciliation is offered almost every day at St. Mary's. The Sunday confessional hours run from 7:20 to 7:55am, 9:45 to 10:25am, and 12:15 to 12:55pm, fitting neatly between the English and Spanish Masses. Tuesdays add a 5:30 to 6:15pm window; Wednesdays offer 11:30 to 11:55am; and on Saturdays the confessional is open from 3:15 to 3:55pm at the parish and from 5:30 to 5:55pm in Spanish at the Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in nearby Bells, Tennessee. Confessions are heard in the Church confessionals, and appointments with a priest can be arranged through the parish office for any other time. Advent and Lent bring additional parish Penance Services.
The Seven Sacraments, Prepared With Care
The parish celebrates all seven sacraments of the Catholic Church and devotes significant formation to each one. Parents of infants and children under seven must have been registered at St. Mary's for at least four months before requesting Baptism and must attend a monthly preparation session held from 6:15 to 7:30pm on the second Monday of each month in the Our Lady of Medjugorje Room. Children over seven work with the Director of Religious Education to chart their own path to the font. Adults typically enter the Church through the Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, culminating at the Easter Vigil.
First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion are ordinarily received in second grade, after two years of formation, and Confirmation is ordinarily conferred in eighth grade in the Diocese of Memphis, also after two years of preparation. Adults who have not yet been confirmed can join the OCIA process, and teens and adults who missed the usual year for any of these sacraments are always welcome to begin preparation.
Couples are asked to contact the parish office six months to a year before a planned wedding. Marriage preparation at St. Mary's includes at least two meetings with the pastor, gatherings with a mentor couple, the video series "Beloved: Finding Happiness in Marriage," a communication inventory and discussion with a deacon, a one-day retreat, and instruction in human life and sexuality that includes specific information about Natural Family Planning. The Anointing of the Sick is available to any Catholic in good standing who is seriously ill, preparing for surgery, or near death, and the parish also maintains a Hospital Ministry to the Sick that visits patients at Jackson-Madison General Hospital when a name and room number are shared with the office.
St. Mary's School: 125 Years of the Nashville Dominicans
St. Mary's Catholic School, founded in 1878, is one of the oldest institutions in the parish. It serves children from age two through eighth grade and is staffed by a team of lay teachers alongside the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. The school's mission is to educate children intellectually, spiritually, emotionally, physically, and socially in the teachings and traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. The preschool program welcomes children eleven months and up, with enrichment classes in art, physical education, music, and library for two-year-olds and older. The school maintains its own admissions line at 731-668-2525 and a separate campus presence online.
Family Faith Formation and the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
For families whose children attend public school or are homeschooled, the Family Faith Formation program is the parish's main engine of catechesis. Its mission is simple: to help the whole family grow as disciples. Parents in their first year of formation are required to attend formation of their own - some at a kerygmatic retreat, others in a weekly Scripture study or an ongoing adult formation group.
Children ages three to twelve learn in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium, a Montessori-based style of catechesis that fills a dedicated space on the parish campus with hands-on materials. Atrium artwork created by the children - a star shining on the world at the Nativity, the stable full of light, the Good Shepherd caring for His sheep - lines the walls as a record of formation in the sacred. Sacramental preparation for First Reconciliation and First Communion happens partly in the atrium and partly at home, with a family retreat before First Holy Communion each Easter season. Confirmation preparation follows a small-group discipleship format in seventh and eighth grade, with a retreat in the second year.
Youth Ministry: Middle School, High School, and a Yearlong Calendar
Faith MacDonald directs a Youth Ministry that splits its work between a Middle School Youth Group for seventh and eighth graders and a High School Youth Group for older teens. The goal in both is to form Catholic young people "rooted in Christ and ready to live out the Faith with fidelity, zeal, and joy," through prayer, the sacraments, real conversation, and service. The High School program draws its curriculum from "Echoing the Mystery" and the "Education in Virtue" series from Openlight Media, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the NRSV-CE Bible. The Middle School program uses "Word of Life: Jesus Christ and the Call to Discipleship" from the Augustine Institute, alongside the Catechism and the Bible. Registration is online, and the year is filled with retreats, service projects, movie nights, pool parties, bowling, an escape room outing, and an annual summer trip to the Steubenville youth conferences.
Young Adults: "God or Nothing"
St. Mary's Young Adult ministry accompanies men and women ages 18 to 29 under the banner "God or Nothing." Its vision names five pillars - sacramental life, formation, accompaniment, and a twofold witness lived both in the world and as a mission of belonging - and seeks to walk with college students and young professionals as they integrate faith into every part of life. Regular gatherings, catechesis, mentorship, and service opportunities are coordinated through the parish office and a dedicated Instagram and Facebook presence.
Adult Discipleship: Retreats, Theology on Tap, and the Well
Adult Discipleship at St. Mary's aims to form missionary disciples and offers a wide menu of formation. The parish runs regular retreats, including the Light of the World weekend, the San Juan retreat, and the San Andres / St. Andrew retreat. The Rescue Project, a powerful proclamation of the Gospel rooted in the kerygospel, has been a recurring offering. Small Church Discipleship communities, often formed from retreat-goers, meet in members' living rooms and parishes for shared formation and fellowship. The Knights of Columbus Council #1101 and its Spanish-language counterpart, Los Caballeros de Colón, organize parish life for the men of the parish and run an annual smoked pork sale that the broader community looks forward to each fall. The Well is the parish's women's ministry. Adult Sunday School and Bible studies round out the formation calendar, and Theology on Tap gathers at a local restaurant or bar once a month for a speaker, food, and conversation on a single topic of faith. Past speakers have included Deacon Jarrett McBride, Father Gabe Bouck, Sister Joanna, and the parish's own pastor, Father Dennis Schenkel.
Catholic 102 in English and Spanish
On Wednesday evenings from 5:30 to 7:00pm in the St. Mary's School Library, Catholic 102 offers a deeper look at Catholic belief for adults. The same hour is offered in Spanish on Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7:00pm at the school, and on Sundays from 11:50am to 12:50pm at the Knights of Columbus Hall. Both tracks are designed to help adults grow in their faith, ask hard questions, and explore the riches of the Catholic tradition.
Perpetual Adoration in the Divine Will and Mercy Chapel
The parish is one of the few in the region to house a chapel of perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. The Divine Will and Mercy Chapel is open every hour of the week, save Thursday afternoons from 2:00 to 3:00pm when it is cleaned. Adorers sign up online for a regular hour each week so that the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is never left alone, and the chapel sits just beside the columbarium and the new parish office completed as part of the Building Our Faith and Future campaign.
Joining the Church, or Coming Home
The Order of Christian Initiation for Adults is the normal path into the Catholic Church. Sessions meet on Tuesday evenings from 7:00 to 9:00pm and on Sunday mornings from 9:10 to 10:20am in the Ministry Center; many people choose the slot that fits their week. The year culminates in the Sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil, after which the parish helps new Catholics join small discipleship communities so the sacramental life goes on.
For Catholics returning to the practice of the faith, the parish keeps an open door. The first, best step is a good confession, either at one of the regular weekly times or by appointment with a priest. The parish staff emphasizes that anyone who has been away is welcome back, no matter how long or why.
Mount Calvary Cemetery and the Resting Place of Casey Jones
Mount Calvary Cemetery, operated by the parish and tended by the Friends of Mount Calvary, is the only Catholic cemetery in west Tennessee outside of Memphis. Among those laid to rest there is Jonathan "Casey" Jones, the internationally famous railroad engineer. A new columbarium and memorial garden, built between the Adoration chapel and the new parish office as part of the parish's Building Our Faith and Future campaign, now offers inurnment options alongside traditional burial plots.
Giving, the Capstone Campaign, and the New Parish Office
The parish accepts donations online through a secure giving portal, by automatic monthly drafts, by direct transfer of appreciated stock, by qualified charitable distributions from traditional IRAs, and through bequests. Gifts can be directed to the general offertory, the Capstone Campaign for the new parish office, St. Mary's Youth Ministry, St. Mary's School, or the parish's Haiti Mission. Every six months the parish publishes a fiscal narrative for its parishioners. Anyone who wishes to volunteer with children or vulnerable populations completes an application, background check, and VIRTUS safe-environment training before beginning service.
Visiting St. Mary's
St. Mary's sits at 1665 US Highway 45 Bypass in Jackson, Tennessee, just south of Interstate 40. The parish office can be reached at 731-668-2596. The most welcoming Sunday Masses for a first-time visitor are the 8:00am or 10:30am English Masses or the 1:00pm Spanish Mass; those wanting to see the parish school children in action will want to be present at the Wednesday or Friday 8:10am school Masses. Confessions are easy to fit into a Sunday visit between Masses, and the Divine Will and Mercy Chapel of perpetual adoration is open every hour of the week. The parish posts a podcast, "From the Fathers," online, sends regular Flocknote email and text updates, and is active on Facebook and Instagram.