St. Thomas the Apostle Parish sits at 904 East Lake Avenue in Peoria Heights, Illinois, where it has served Catholics since Bishop Joseph Schlarman designated the Mission of St. Thomas in 1924. The parish grew out of a converted supper club and dance hall and today is known for daily Mass, a K-8 parochial school on Monroe Avenue, a food pantry for Peoria Heights, and a deep calendar of rosary and adoration devotions.
A Dance Hall Became a Church
In 1924, Father M. P. Sammon, pastor of St. Bernard Parish, was looking for a building to serve the Catholics living in Peoria Heights, which at the time fell within the northern territory of St. Bernard. On August 15, 1924, he purchased what had been known as Herbstrith's café on the corner of Lake and Monroe streets for $8,500. Anthony Herbstrith had built the café in 1915 as a popular supper club and dance hall with a reputation for fine food and wine, but Prohibition forced it to close. The conversion was literal: the bar became the sacristy, the dining room became a meeting room, and the dance hall became the church.
The mission was served by Father D. J. Williams and Father E. M. Farrell, assistants from St. Bernard, and then by Father Bernard Rank. In 1927 Father Sammon bought the vacant lot on the other corner of Lake and Monroe from Herbstrith, and that property would become the site of the parish church and school. In 1937 Bishop Schlarman elevated St. Thomas from a mission to a parish and appointed Father Rank to serve about 100 families.
Work on the permanent church began in 1940, and Bishop Schlarman dedicated it that December. The building was modern Romanesque in style, and its windows carry dense theological meaning. Round windows at the compass points bear the symbols of faith, hope and charity, along with one framing the crucifix. Beneath the window of faith, two windows symbolize incidents in the life of St. Thomas; beneath hope and charity, four more depict the cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Twelve windows line the nave, six on each side, representing the twelve points of the Apostle's Creed, and hand-carved wooden Stations of the Cross hung along the walls. Those stations were moved into the current church when it opened.
The school grew alongside the church. Father Rank opened it in 1942, converting the old mission church into four classrooms and buying the Herbstrith family home next door for a rectory, while the Dominican Sisters used the upper floor of the old mission as their convent. Four more classrooms and the original gym were added in 1945, ten classrooms of the present school were built in 1953 and dedicated by Bishop Cousins the following year, and five more arrived in 1957. In 1966 Father Rank bought a new altar and renovated the church along the directives of the Second Vatican Council.
Father James Campbell became co-pastor in 1976. Monsignor Rank retired in 1981 at age 81 and died in 1983, and Father William Watson was assigned as the second pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish. An addition completed in 1995 brought a library, more classrooms, a new gym and cafeteria under the theme "I make all things new." After years of preparation, Monsignor Watson added on to the existing church, tearing down the rectory to make room for the expansion; the new church was dedicated on October 6, 2002, and a new rectory went up nearby a few years later. He inaugurated the St. Thomas Benefit Auction in February 2003, which became the Winter Whimsy Dinner and Auction, and in 2006 an endowment was established in his name to support Catholic education. Monsignor Watson retired in 2015 after 34 years as pastor, and Monsignor Jason Gray became the third pastor. School security upgrades and a relocation of the food pantry followed in 2018.
Mass Times That Fill the Week
St. Thomas keeps one of the fuller schedules around, with Mass on every day of the week. The Saturday vigil Mass is celebrated at 5:00 pm, Sunday Masses are at 8:00 am, 10:00 am and 5:00 pm, and a Saturday morning Mass is celebrated at 8:00 am. Weekday Masses run at 7:00 am on Monday and Tuesday, at 7:00 and 8:00 am on Wednesday and Friday, and at 7:00 am on Thursday, when a school Mass is also celebrated according to the school schedule.
Confessions are offered on Saturday from 8:30 to 9:00 am and again from 4:00 to 4:45 pm, until the last confession is heard, with additional times during Advent and Lent. Guides to the sacrament for adults and for children are available to help people prepare.
Music is part of what a visitor hears. The traditional choir sings at the 9:00 am Sunday Mass and rehearses on Thursday evenings at 6:30 pm, while the contemporary choir sings at the 5:00 pm Mass and practices on selected Monday evenings. Each year the parish holds a Corpus Christi Eucharistic procession, in which the First Communicants sprinkle a path of rose petals and the Knights of Columbus escort Monsignor Gray and the Eucharist to altars set up along the route.
The parish's My Parish App for iPhone and Android puts daily Mass readings from the NAB, bulletins, upcoming events, confession times, a phone-silencing reminder for Mass, staff contacts and online giving on a phone. Archived Masses, RCIA classes and messages from Msgr. Gray are available on the parish's YouTube channel.
St. Thomas School on Monroe Avenue
Next door to the parish, at 4229 N Monroe Avenue, St. Thomas the Apostle School educates students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The parish calls the school one of its proudest works and says the cost of educating children in the K-8 program is subsidized by parish contributions. The school carries the Monsignor Watson Scholarship Fund and the Sponsor-a-Student collection, which provide direct tuition assistance to families with a demonstrated financial need; the distribution is anonymous, and families thank their donors. The largest part of parish revenue goes to the school and to support for Peoria Notre Dame High School.
Catholic and non-Catholic students are both welcome. A school Mass is celebrated alongside the parish's Thursday morning Mass, and the school gym opens on Sunday nights for parish and school men to play basketball. Families can also support the school without a separate donation: Comet Cash gift cards, digital gift cards through Shop with Scrip, Kroger Plus Card rewards and Box Tops for Education all send money back to the school and its tuition assistance.
Rosaries, Adoration and the Prayer Life
One of the distinguishing marks of St. Thomas is the density of its prayer life. The parish is devoted to the Five First Saturdays, a monthly personal retreat built around the Rosary, a good confession, a meditation of the mysteries and the reception of the Holy Eucharist, repeated on five consecutive First Saturdays as reparation. Doors open early, a Rosary is prayed at 7:35 am, Mass follows at 8:00 am, and confessions are heard afterward. Rosaries, rosary guides and prayer cards are set out free of charge on the tables by the narthex.
On weekday mornings the Rosary is prayed at 7:35 am before the early Masses. On Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am, the Rosary for Peace is prayed in the daily Mass chapel, led by Honey Jacob. Millions of Monicas, a group for women who pray for children who have left the faith, meets on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm in the chapel, and the St. Thomas Prayer Chain is open to anyone who wants to share prayer requests and pray for the needs of those who ask.
The Rosary Project began as a way to keep the rosary basket full and has grown into a repair and mission effort. Old, unused or broken rosaries are restored, rosary-making sessions and training are offered, students make their own, rosaries are given free to the homebound, in hospitals, in CCD and OCIA, and mission rosaries are made for African priests in the diocese to carry back to their hometowns.
First Friday Eucharistic Adoration runs through the day, beginning at 7:30 am after morning Mass and concluding with Benediction at 7:00 pm. Parishioners sign up for thirty-minute blocks so that someone is always praying with the Blessed Sacrament. A monthly Parish Holy Hour is held on Thursday from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, ordinarily on the third Thursday, and the Fulton Sheen Eucharistic League shares reminders of future holy hours and adoration. During Lent, Benediction takes place before the Stations of the Cross.
Wednesday Evenings of Formation
St. Thomas meets the religious education needs of children in the first through eighth grades through its CCD program, which meets throughout the school year on Wednesdays from 6:00 to 7:00 pm at St. Thomas the Apostle School. For adults and older children, the parish offers the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, or OCIA.
OCIA classes begin after Labor Day and run through the end of May, meeting on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 7:30 pm in the parish hall in the basement of the church, with the parking lot door used for entry. The program welcomes non-Catholics interested in learning about the Catholic Church, children over the age of 7 in a version adapted to their age, and Catholics who want to learn more. Those preparing to join the Church choose a Catholic sponsor or godparent, and sponsors are encouraged to attend classes. At the Easter Vigil, candidates who have not been baptized are baptized, while candidates who are already baptized Christians make a profession of faith.
Men and Women Around the Parish
St. Thomas Men's Club gathers the men of the parish for fellowship, volunteering and fundraising. Meetings are generally held on the second Thursday of the month, and the main activities include a fish fry during Lent, a June golf outing and Septemberfest. Net proceeds from the golf outing go to the Sponsor a Student tuition assistance program, with the club's goal of funding 20 scholarships for St. Thomas families. That Man Is You, an interactive men's program that pairs research from science with Catholic teaching and the wisdom of the saints, meets Friday mornings from 6:00 to 7:30 am in the parish hall.
Women of the Word welcomes all women with the goal of helping each one grow in relationship with Jesus within a supportive community. The program blends prayer, Scripture study, small group discussion and video-based talks, and childcare is provided. It meets two Thursdays a month from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. The same group runs a Meal Train that provides home-cooked or carryout meals to St. Thomas families at times of need, such as the birth of a new baby or a miscarriage; volunteers are invited by email when a need arises and sign up for a day to bring a meal.
Thoms Moms gathers the moms and grandmothers of the St. Thomas community for a year of events that includes a Coffee Walk and Talk, Ladies Night Out, Momsgiving and Moms and Mimosas. Men and women who want to study the Word together can join the Ignatius Bible Study, which meets on Thursday evenings and works through the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, though any Catholic Bible will do.
The Pantry and the Neighbors It Serves
The St. Thomas Food Pantry provides food to residents of Peoria Heights in zip code 61616; people in other zip codes are served by other pantries in the area. It is generally open on Mondays and Thursdays from 9:00 to 11:00 am, and it closes on holidays and when the parish office is closed. Volunteers help dispense food and lift grocery bags, arriving by 8:45 am to prepare for distribution, and they pick up food for the pantry when needed. The pantry is funded by parish collections on the first Sunday of the month and by contributions to the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's St. Thomas Conference is a Catholic lay organization with more than 30 active members that goes to its neighbors, with home visits at the center of its work. Members assist people facing job loss or illness with rent, utilities, transportation, food, bus tickets, funeral expenses or other needs, working alongside other Peoria churches, government agencies and nonprofit organizations such as Goodwill and Habitat Restore. New members begin with informal conversations, then orientation and training, and always work in partnership with experienced members. Donations can be placed in the brown boxes held after Masses on the first weekend of the month, labeled "SVdP."
Other parish service projects reach further. The Martha Group prepares a buffet luncheon for families after a funeral upon request. The Backpack Giveaway serves families with children entering grades K through 6 in the weeks before the school year, providing a new backpack and a collection of school supplies, with games and haircuts for the children and brief educational presentations about community services for the parents. St. Thomas participates in the Salvation Army's Coats for Kids program, accepting new or gently used winter coats, hats, gloves, scarves and boots in sizes from infant to adult. The Jobs Partnership Program helps people who have been incarcerated reintegrate into society through gainful employment, and landscape volunteers maintain the grounds around the church and school.
Young People and Family Life
High schoolers have a place in parish life through Peoria Life Teen, a collaboration among the parishes of St. Ann, St. Thomas and St. Vincent. Life Teen aims to guide high school students toward a deeper relationship with Jesus, connect them with a Catholic community, nourish them with the sacraments and equip them to be lifelong disciples. Life nights are generally held on the first and third Sunday of each month from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, rotating among the three parishes. Totus Tuus, the parish summer program for youth entering grades 1 through 12, dedicates a full week to sharing the Gospel and promoting the Catholic faith.
Families have traditions that revolve around the Masses: Donut Sunday on the first Sunday of each month, when students read the readings, present the gifts and sing in the children's choir, followed by donuts, coffee and fruit in the parish hall courtesy of the Knights of Columbus; a pancake breakfast after the 8:00 and 10:00 am Masses on Palm Sunday; a Men's Club fish fry each Lenten season to raise money for the school or church; a fall Trunk or Treat for families; and an open house with refreshments after all Sunday Masses each Advent. The parish also marks the Feast Day of St. Thomas on July 3 with a vigil Mass and a gathering in the parish hall to sample international cuisine prepared by St. Thomas families.
Sacraments and the Care Around Them
Parents preparing for a baptism at St. Thomas attend a baptism class before the baptism of their first child, and godparents are encouraged to attend. A child may have one godfather, one godmother or both, and at least one godparent must be a baptized, confirmed, adult practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church; godparents should be at least 16 years old. Baptisms are celebrated at Sunday Mass, with children baptized after the 10:00 am Mass, and families may also request a private baptism at a convenient time with one of the priests or deacons.
Couples preparing for marriage begin with an appointment with one of the parish priests, and a wedding date is set only after that first meeting. They complete the Diocese of Peoria's requirements for marriage preparation and observe the wedding policy of St. Thomas Parish. The clergy also meet with people who are divorced or remarried to discuss their situation, and tribunal notary and auditors help with the petition for an annulment.
Care for the sick and homebound is woven into parish life. Parishioners with limited mobility are invited to sit in the front pews, and Communion can be brought directly to them by an usher. For those who cannot come to Mass, the priests bring Communion monthly, often on the First Friday, while extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion bring it at other times during the month. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is offered to those who are sick or preparing for surgery; in an emergency the priests will come out, and in danger of death they offer anointing, absolution and the Apostolic Pardon. To reach a priest in an emergency, call the parish and press 9 for the priest on call.
For funerals, the clergy and staff offer a promise of prayers and their deepest sympathy, and families receive help planning the liturgy, with lists of Scripture readings and songs for the parish funeral choir, sample General Intercessions and a planning worksheet. Family and friends are welcome to serve as readers, and two or three may bring up the gifts of water, wine and bread at the Offertory. Under the Diocese of Peoria's eulogy policy, one person may speak, for a few minutes, with text written in advance and submitted to the pastor 24 hours before the funeral. The parish can provide a program for the funeral Mass and, depending on availability, a luncheon in the church basement.
Serving at the Altar
Anyone who wants to serve at St. Thomas can volunteer as a lector, an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, an altar server or an usher. Lectors read the Old and New Testament Readings and the Prayers of the Faithful at weekend Masses, and new lectors audition and receive training. Extraordinary ministers distribute the Eucharist at weekend Masses, complete an affidavit showing they are Catholics in good standing, train for the ministry and receive a mandate from the Bishop of Peoria, and they also carry Communion to the sick, homebound and shut-ins of the parish. Altar servers assist the priest with the Roman Missal, cross and candles and bring the sacred vessels to and from the altar, and children may begin serving in their fifth-grade year with training beforehand. Ushers distribute missalettes and bulletins, select gift bearers, take up the collection, direct traffic during Communion and make sure that handicapped members receive Communion. Volunteers can sign up through Ministry Scheduler Pro, which also has an app for Apple and Google devices.
How the Parish Is Supported
The Sunday offertory is the main source of parish income, covering ordinary operating costs, and the largest part of parish revenue is directed to St. Thomas School and the assessment for Peoria Notre Dame High School. Contributions also pay parish staff salaries and the maintenance of the physical plant. Beyond the Sunday collection, the parish holds the Msgr. Watson Scholarship Endowment, which uses only the interest it generates, the Sponsor a Student Tuition Assistance Fund for families with a demonstrated financial need, and an Annual Giving Building Fund for the physical needs of the facilities. Giving can be made in cash or check with weekly or monthly offertory envelopes, by automatic withdrawal from a checking or savings account on the 5th or 20th of the month, or by credit card through the parish's online giving portal. There is also a text-to-give option: text the word "Give" to the parish giving line at (309) 455-5425, then finish the gift through the link that appears, and the ConnectNow Giving app can save banking or card information for future gifts.
St. Thomas the Apostle Parish is a working parish in the ordinary sense, with Masses morning and evening, a school in full session, a pantry that opens twice a week, rosaries prayed before nearly every weekday Mass and ministries that welcome people at every stage of life. Msgr. Jason Gray leads the parish alongside Fr. Patrick DeMeulemeester, with Deacons John Nelson, Ed Mallow and Mark Kelsch, Kate Crim directing faith formation, Liz Plaskon coordinating CCD and Nathalie Corbett leading the music. The parish office at 904 East Lake Avenue is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm, and (309) 688-3446 reaches the parish staff.