St. Thomas More, Baton Rouge

During Lent of 1958, a group of men carpooling to Our Lady of Mercy Church discussed the idea for a mission church in Sherwood Forest.  Eventually, Archbishop Rummel authorized not a mission church, but an independent parish.  On June 29, 1959, Father Andrew Frey was named pastor of the new parish, which was given the name of St. Thomas More, after the English lay saint of the sixteenth century.  The name was especially appropriate for a church in that it was originated and guided by lay men and women.

The first parish Mass was celebrated at Villa Del Rey Elementary School and later was celebrated in the chapel of the new rectory.  Parishioners helped to clear the wooded 11.9-acre plot, and plans were made for a temporary church, a classroom building and a cafeteria. On August 7, 1960, Archbishop Rummel dedicated the new church.  St. Thomas More school opened its doors to approximately 800 students on September 12, 1960.
A significant change in the dimensions of the parish took place in November 1966 when St. Thomas More was subdivided, and St. Louis King of France became the first daughter parish.  In the 1970’s, two more parishes were carved from St. Thomas More, St. Patrick Parish in 1974 and St.Jean Vianney in 1975.

In the 1980s, the dream of St. Thomas More’s founders, under the pastorship of Msgr. William Greene, was realized with the building of the church and the remodeling of the old church into a school gymnasium.  Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott dedicated the new church on February 15, 1987.  The second phase, the remodeling of the old church into a gymnasium, was completed in March 1988.

St Thomas More has grown in numbers and matured as a Christian community since its founding.  The future of the parish is bright because of the energy and dedication of its parishioners.  St. Thomas More seems destined to fulfil the promise of its founding: to continue to grow in the wisdom and grace of Our Lord Jesus Christ.