Humble Beginnings

St. Alphonsus Parish traces its humble origins to the late 1940s, founded by a dedicated group of visionary women who sought to establish a Catholic presence in Cumberland County. Initially, masses were celebrated intermittently by visiting priests from Harriman, held in the home of Mrs. Marge Hall.

In 1954, the community reached a significant milestone when Father James Murphy began offering weekly mass in an upper room of the old Crossville Play Center within the City Hall Building. Throughout these formative years, various priests, primarily from Harriman and Cookeville, ministered to the spiritual needs of the fledgling parish.

The original St. Alphonsus Church was erected in 1961 at a cost of about $35,000. To accommodate the parish’s first resident pastor, Fr. John Schroder, S.J., a rectory was initially rented in 1974 and then purchased in 1975, located directly across from the church. This rectory also served as a venue for Sunday religious education (C.C.D.) classes and parish social gatherings.

By 1980, despite some parishioners transferring to the newly established St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Fairfield Glade, St. Alphonsus experienced continued growth, necessitating expanded facilities. Groundbreaking for a substantial building project, costing $330,000, took place on April 18, 1982. On July 31, 1983, the Most Reverend James D. Niedergeses, Bishop of Nashville—our diocesan affiliation at that time—dedicated the new church building. This expansion featured a larger social hall and repurposed the original space into parish offices and religious education classrooms, projected to meet parish needs through the year 2000.

By 1997, it became evident that the parish once again required additional space to accommodate its growing congregation. After several years of planning, ground was broken in March 2002 on a new facility located on a 27-acre site acquired in 1990. The resulting Parish Life Center, completed and fully furnished at a total cost of approximately $2.2 million, was blessed on May 27, 2003, by the Most Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D., Bishop of Knoxville.

From its modest beginnings with just 30 members in 1961, St. Alphonsus Parish has flourished, now serving over 400 families, continually welcoming new families into its vibrant community of faith.