Alcoa
Tennessee
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Our Lady Of Fatima Catholic Church
Parish History
Prior to September 1950, Catholics in Blount and Sevier Counties had to travel to Knoxville by car or bus over two-lane roads to attend Sunday Mass. On rare occasions a visiting priest would say Mass in a private home.
Following the establishment of the parish by Bishop William L. Adrian, the first Mass was said September 3, 1950, in McAmmon-Ammons funeral home chapel. Many of the 100 Catholics gathered had never met before, and the pastor, Father Clunan, was a stranger to most.
A house was leased from one of the parishioners on Ellis Avenue in Maryville and became the first Catholic church in Blount County. The first Mass was said on November 5, 1950. Bishop Adrian celebrated the dedication Mass on January 21, 1951.
Within two years our mission church had doubled. A larger facility was needed. On the corner of Hunt and Wright roads in Alcoa, 4.9 acres were purchased, and a small red brick church was built. By 1955 an elementary school was opened on the site. Two Sisters of Mercy from Sacred Heart in Knoxville as well as three lay teachers made up the teaching staff. The school closed at the end of the 1970 school year. The Sisters of Mercy continued to travel from Knoxville to teach CCD on Sundays. When the nuns could no longer staff the religious education program, lay ministers within the parish assumed this responsibility.
By 1995 the facilities, which seemed so spacious when they were built for the original 80 families in 1952, were inadequate to serve the needs of more than 500 registered families. On January 17, 1995, Our Lady of Fatima purchased the AT&T property located on 6.47 acres at the corner of US 129 and Louisville Road in Alcoa. The adjoining 1.8 acres and 3000 square foot house were purchased on January 31, 1995.
Shortly thereafter plans were drawn transforming the former AT&T building into the Fatima Center to serve as a temporary place of worship, fulfilling the needs of our religious education program and providing meeting rooms.
On Sunday, June 9, 1996, the parishioners bid an emotional farewell to the church building that had served the parish since late 1952. The church was sold to the Praise Temple Assembly of God Church. Until the renovations were completed, the parish celebrated the weekend Masses at the Fine Arts Center at Maryville College, and Daily Mass in the basement of the rectory at the new site.
Most Reverend Anthony J. O'Connell, D. D., Bishop of Knoxville, performed the Blessing of the Fatima Center on August 11, 1996.
Prior to September 1950, Catholics in Blount and Sevier Counties had to travel to Knoxville by car or bus over two-lane roads to attend Sunday Mass. On rare occasions a visiting priest would say Mass in a private home.
Following the establishment of the parish by Bishop William L. Adrian, the first Mass was said September 3, 1950, in McAmmon-Ammons funeral home chapel. Many of the 100 Catholics gathered had never met before, and the pastor, Father Clunan, was a stranger to most.
A house was leased from one of the parishioners on Ellis Avenue in Maryville and became the first Catholic church in Blount County. The first Mass was said on November 5, 1950. Bishop Adrian celebrated the dedication Mass on January 21, 1951.
Within two years our mission church had doubled. A larger facility was needed. On the corner of Hunt and Wright roads in Alcoa, 4.9 acres were purchased, and a small red brick church was built. By 1955 an elementary school was opened on the site. Two Sisters of Mercy from Sacred Heart in Knoxville as well as three lay teachers made up the teaching staff. The school closed at the end of the 1970 school year. The Sisters of Mercy continued to travel from Knoxville to teach CCD on Sundays. When the nuns could no longer staff the religious education program, lay ministers within the parish assumed this responsibility.
By 1995 the facilities, which seemed so spacious when they were built for the original 80 families in 1952, were inadequate to serve the needs of more than 500 registered families. On January 17, 1995, Our Lady of Fatima purchased the AT&T property located on 6.47 acres at the corner of US 129 and Louisville Road in Alcoa. The adjoining 1.8 acres and 3000 square foot house were purchased on January 31, 1995.
Shortly thereafter plans were drawn transforming the former AT&T building into the Fatima Center to serve as a temporary place of worship, fulfilling the needs of our religious education program and providing meeting rooms.
On Sunday, June 9, 1996, the parishioners bid an emotional farewell to the church building that had served the parish since late 1952. The church was sold to the Praise Temple Assembly of God Church. Until the renovations were completed, the parish celebrated the weekend Masses at the Fine Arts Center at Maryville College, and Daily Mass in the basement of the rectory at the new site.
Most Reverend Anthony J. O'Connell, D. D., Bishop of Knoxville, performed the Blessing of the Fatima Center on August 11, 1996.