Our History
St. Thomas More Parish Stewardship In 1978, Bishop Harris of the Austin Diocese asked Fr. Ralph Brennan to establish a new parish in Northwest Austin. Fr. Ralph soon met a number of families who were then attending St. Louis, St. Theresa, and St. William Catholic churches in Austin and Round Rock, and who were themselves hoping to have a church community closer to their homes. They began meeting and planning for the establishment of a new church.

Fr. Ralph chose St. Thomas More as the name of the new parish (with the Bishop's approval) in part because the Saint was a layperson, not a priest, and Father believed in the value of the gifts that the laity bring to the Church. That spirit continues today in the active participation of the community in the mission of our parish.

Among the very first tasks of the young community was finding a place to celebrate Mass. After looking for an appropriate place, on April 2, 1978, the first Mass of St. Thomas More Catholic Church was held in the cafeteria at Forest North Elementary School, fondly remembered as "St. Forest North". Approximately 200 families made up the original community. (Today, St. Thomas More is home to approximately 3,650 families!) Daily Mass was celebrated at the homes of different parishioners in the various subdivisions from which the community drew, and CCD classes were also taught in members' homes. Parishioners made the wood altar, candle holder, and processional cross used in services. Just like today, St. Thomas More was a community in which the members shared freely of their time, treasure, and talent.

Some of the family names from 26 years ago include Antaya, Anzivino, Balli, Baumann, Biederman, Bishop, Bogaczyk, Boyles, Briggs, Bullock, Clark, Dassie, Dingley, Dupont, Edgar, Fitzpatrick, Forte, Gibney, Giles, Glass, Graceo, Hamel, Hopkins, Hughes, Kelly, Kalita, Kelly, Kercho, Kopecky, Lopez, Lowry, McNamara, McNemey, O'Neil, Nadon, Neisner, Peterson, Poleo, Reale, Rhinehart, Schmidt, Spaulding, Stokes, Weber, and Zamarrippa. Do you know them or others from "St. Forest North" today? Many are still our brothers and sisters here at St. Thomas More.

In 1979, after looking at land all over this part of Travis and Williamson Counties, the first 10 acres of the church campus on RR 620 were purchased. In March 1979, a groundbreaking was held for construction of the original church and family center. In the early 1980's, the 5 acres where the PAC and the rectory are located were purchased. In the mid '90's, the 5 acres where the Life Teen building were purchased, followed by the purchases of the Chelsea house and the Fisher house, each of which also included 5 acres. Today, the church campus consists of 30 acres.

Father Ralph Brennan was followed as pastor by Msgr. John Driscoll, and then Father Bobby Hajovsky. In the late '80's, the community was again blessed to get Father — now Msgr. — Elmer Holtman, who continues to be our pastor.

St. Thomas More has been a "live" church blessed with caring, forward thinking pastors and active parishioners for 26 years of growth and ministry. With the blessings of the Holy Spirit, we look forward to more years of happy anniversaries to come!

Chronological History of St. Thomas More Parish
2/10/1978 Bishop Vincent Harris establishes a new parish to serve Northwest Austin within Travis and Williamson counties. Father Ralph Brennan was assigned as Pastor of this new parish and he chose the name St. Thomas More. A temporary church office was opened on Research Boulevard and Father Ralph moved into St. Louis Church rectory to be closer to his parish community.
2/26/1978 First meeting of STM at the home of Tom Hopkins in Forest North. Attending were: Father Ralph, Ginny Antaya, Jack Kelly, Bill Neisner, Don Weber, Bill Fitzpatrick, Tom Hopkins, Dave and Sheila Biedermann. Father Ralph made arrangements with the Round Rock School Board for our use of the cafetorium in Forest North Elementary School on Sunday mornings for Mass. During the next four weeks parishioners offered their time and talents to perform all the necessary tasks for the preparation of our first Mass. Moe Antaya built the altar, Ginny Antaya sewed the altar cloth, Dave Biedermann wove the collection baskets Adam Bukofski made a staff and stand for Father Ralph's personal cross. Joe Kalita built the candle stand and Ray Lopez planned the first liturgy.
4/2/1978 The Sacred Heart Parish of Austin folk choir led the singing at the 9AM Mass. It was so crowded Father asked all the children to sit on the floor around the altar. 190 families filled out registration cards. There also was an 11AM Mass with Traditional Hymns. Total collection for both Masses was $1548.
4/9/1978 Weekday Masses are held in parishioners homes. A Land Committee was formed to locate sites. Committee members were Ginny Antaya, Dave and Sheila Biedermann, Bill Fitzpatrick, Tom Hopkins, Jack Kelly, Tex Kercho, Ray Lopez, Bill Meiser, Ed Rinehart, and Don Weber.
4/16/1978 R Gill and Associates chosen as architect and Casey construction as contractor.
4/16/1978 To start building a loan of $750,000 was needed. The Bank of the Hills loaned us $250,000 and the remaining funds were secured by visiting many smaller banks across Central Texas. The prevailing interest rate in 1978 was approximately 13%. The KJZT, a Czechoslovakian Woman's Catholic Organization then lent the parish the funds to pay off our loans at the then unheard of rate of 7%.
5/14/1978 Selection of Building Committee: Tex Kercho, Father Ralph Brennan, Joe Edgar, Dave Biedermann, Sheila Biedermann, Rose Beran, Ed Rinehart and Lynne Weber.
5/28/1978 Saturday 6PM Mass added May 27. Contract signed for 10 acres on RR620. Purchase price was $60,000.
6/11/1978 Call for well digger or diggers for new property.
6/25/1978 Parish Picnic 5PM to dark. Mass at 6PM Bring sack lunch. Refreshments and beer on STM
7/9/1978 Request for donations of furniture or other household item for the Rectory.
8/6/1978 Moved parish office to a house in Shenandoah which will be Father Brennan's residence and parish office.
8/19/1978 Parish Garage Sale — in Giles garage — with proceeds to purchase items for the rectory.
12/21/1978 Plans for an asphalt plant across from the Church are announced. Local churches united and handouts were distributed. Neighborhood groups and lawmakers joined the protesters and plans were withdrawn 1/5/1979.
2/1/1979 "We the Parish" — small neighborhood groups forming to come together in four sessions in an atmosphere of love and concern to share our hopes and dreams for us as a parish family.
2/4/1979 Memorial Fund Drive (Building Fund) started with goal of $250,000. Those who pledge will complete a memorial card to indicate names to be included in Memorial Book. As of 2/4/1978 $89,000 was collected.
3/4/1979 Groundbreaking — Come join the celebration and bring your own chair!
4/28/1979 STM First Birthday Dance held at St. Theresa's. Music by Matt Langendoff.
6/24/1979 Mass and Pot luck picnic on the building site. Enjoy the parish grounds and see the progress on the buildings.
6/10/1979 New printed STM Parish Bulletin. 24 advertisers completely cover costs.
7/22/1979 Stewardship sheets completed by 619 parish members (420 families).
2/16/1980 Parishioners start helping with cleanup and landscaping on Saturday mornings — ongoing to 5/17/1980.
3/22/1980 Blood Drive to set up blood fund for STM parishioners at Central Texas Regional Blood Center.
4/20/1980 Memorial Fund at $204,768.
5/18/1980 Dedication Mass in new church 4:30PM.
6/1/1980 Parish Office now open on church grounds.
6/22/1980 First Parish Pot Luck Dinner at new church Family Center for the feast of STM. CCD catechists and families are the honored guests.
9/28/1980 Father Kirby Garner joins STM as new associate pastor.
5/2/1982 New STM sign on RR620 entrance to church grounds is built.
5/23/1982 Dedication of the Statue of the Blessed Mother. Our architect designed the shrine. An anonymous donor ordered the statue of Our Lady of Grace from Italy. A professional stone mason donated his talent to build the shrine. Parishioners did the landscaping.
6/6/1982 Purchase of additional five acres, purchase price $48,000. Total Church property is now 15 acres.
10/10/1982 Celebration of Father Ralph Brennan's 25 years of service in the Priesthood.
7/10/1983 Start Building Pledge Drive for construction of Rectory, Parish Activity Center (PAC) and remodeling of the old Family Center into a CCD office, parish library and youth office.
7/17/1983 Father Kirby Garner is transferred to Cristo Rey Church.
12/4/1983 Father Jerauld Vessels will be helping Fr Ralph weekends until mid-February.
4/2/1984 Dedication of Meditation Trail and Outdoor Stations of the Cross by Bishop Harris. This project was started in May 1983 by the Men's Club. The large wooden cross at the beginning of the stations was made and installed by Jim Brinkman. The Blessed hand prints of Christ having fallen are the hand prints of Fr. Brennan, Fr. Vessels and Bishop Harris.
8/15/1984 New Parish Activity Center and remodeled Family Center completed.
10/14/1984 Open house at the new rectory.
12/2/1984 Father Bernard Goertz assigned as the new administrator until April 1985.
4/21/1985 Monsignor John Driscoll is assigned as the new Pastor of STM.
7/14/1985 Father Larry Covington assigned as the new Associate Pastor.
7/21/1985 The parish family of STM hosts a farewell reception for Father Ralph Brennan.
11/24/1985 Dedication of the "Good Shepherd" statue in front of the Parish Activity Center. This statue was erected in honor of our youth along with the start of a Youth Memorial Seminary Fund that is still in place today.
5/25/1987 Monsignor John Driscoll celebrates 30 years of service in the Priesthood.
8/30/1987 Father Larry introduces the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). He offers to walk the journey with anyone who wishes to join our faith community.
9/13/1987 400 parishioners (200 families) left STM at 5:30AM to attend the Papal Celebration of the Mass by Pope John Paul II in San Antonio.
9/20/1987 Dedication of the Children's' Playground, built by Brent Parker, John Osman and others and a gift from Mothers' Day Out. The playground was next to the Old Family Center and a casualty of the New Family Center.
1/17/1988 Monsignor Driscoll is transferred to St. Mary's Parish in Waco, Texas.
1/17/1988 Father Bobby Hajovsky is assigned as our new Pastor.
2/7/1988 Farewell reception for Msgr. Driscoll.
8/1/1988 Fr. Dean Wilhelm, newly ordained priest joins us as Associate Pastor.
2/26/1989 Opening of STM Library — over 300 books with more arriving every week.
6/3/1989 Farewell picnic for Father Bobby Hajovsky and Father Jerry Smith.
6/18/1989 Father Elmer Holtman is assigned as the new pastor of STM.
6/24/1990 Celebration of Father Jerry Smith's 25 years of service in the Priesthood.
10/21/1990 Monsignor John Driscoll, former Pastor of STM, is diagnosed with lung cancer. He died the week of 12/23/1990.
10/5/1991 Religious Education statistics: there are 965 enrolled students 3-year-olds to grade 12 and 74 teachers in our Religious Education Program.
8/9/1992 Father Dean Wilhelm is transferred to St. Mary's at College Station.
8/16/1992 STM welcomes Father Roger Bower as our new associate pastor.
1/24/1993 Seminarian Steve Kana starts working with the STM staff and parish as a student intern for the next 8 months.
1/16/1994 Neighboring Parish St. Margaret Mary has moved from Leander into their new facility in Cedar Park.
2/20/1994 Farewell reception for Father Roger. He is moving to Montana to explore various ministry opportunities.
5/29/1994 Fr. Steve Ryan, who joined us in February, is now officially assigned as Associate Pastor.
2/5/1995 Father Ryan introduces a new ministry – Landings. In Landings a group of 6 to 8 active Catholics join together to welcome two or three returning Catholics. The group provides a landing space, a safe spot to touch down, for those returning to Catholicism.
6/1/1995 Our new neighboring parish will be called St. Vincent De Paul. Its founding pastor is Father Danny Garcia.
6/3/1995 Steve Kana is ordained and celebrates his first Mass at STM at 5PM.
2/24/1997 Purchase of adjacent 5 acre tract from Church of the Nazarene for $600,000.
6/21/1997 Father Keith Koehl assigned as Associate Pastor. Father Steve Ryan will be going into campus ministry at St. Mary's in College Station.
8/25/1997 First fundraiser for Holy Family Catholic School. Plans for an area Catholic school serving 6 parishes are moving ahead.
8/31/1997 Members of Life Teen will be cleaning up, painting and doing some expansion on the building on the new property. They have named this building "Life House". This space has been dedicated to the ever-growing youth program.
12/14/1997 Beginning of plans for a major expansion project. Plans include doubling square footage for classrooms and meeting rooms, an adoration chapel, and seating addition to the church building, administrative office space and site improvement – lighting and parking. No capital fund drive is planned but rather emphasis on stewardship and tithing.
7/14/1998 STM Web Site is up and running — STM goes Global!
1/10/1999 Update of Building Plans. There will be 230 more seats in church and 200 more parking spaces. To serve the 1500+ enrolled in Religious Education, 19 more classroom/meeting rooms are being added, including a 360-seat auditorium for general assemblies. Nursery, religious goods store and parish library will replace current office space. Administration offices will be relocated in a new facility closer to the parking lot. Plan is expected to cost $6 million+. A lot of money – but on a per-capita basis less a risk than parishioners had when the original church was built.
5/30/1999 Father Elmer celebrates his 35th Anniversary of Ordination and 10 years as our Pastor.
9/26/1999 Ground Breaking ceremony for our Parish Expansion.
10/2/1999 An exciting spiritual process is spreading all over the United States and has arrived at STM. Christ Renews His Parish (CRHP) is a renewal process designed to bring members of a parish together in Christ.
7/2/2000 Begin holding Mass in the PAC and new auditorium while the church building is being renovated.
8/13/2000 New Bishop: Bishop Gregory Aymond, the new Coadjutor Bishop for Diocese of Austin will take over from Bishop McCarthy when he retires.
4/11/2001 Holy Thursday - First Mass in new church.
2/11/2001 Closed on Chelsea House and Davidson tract. Price for both newly acquired properties was $716,000. Total Church grounds are now 30 acres.
2/18/2001 Farewell celebration for Bishop McCarthy.
5/13/2001 Father Elmer named as a "Chaplain to His Holiness" with the title of Msgr. Elmer Holtman.
6/3/2001 Inaugural event (potluck) of the newly formed "Ones" group.
6/24/2001 Farewell to Father Keith in the Family Center. He is off to Aggie land in July. He came to STM four years ago as a newly ordained priest.
7/1/2001 Bishop Gregory Aymond celebrates the re-dedication of our Renovated Church at the 10:15AM liturgy. Father Ralph (STM founding pastor) and Tex Kercho (first building committee chairman) participating.
7/22/2001 We welcome our new associate pastor Father Joe Geleney (ordained at College Station 6/16/2001).
6/16/2002 Mobile Loaves and Fishes now has a truck. Once a month we will drive the truck to designated locations and hand out sandwiches, soap, band-aids, rosaries, candy and other necessities. Most of all, we want to be present to people who need to talk about a bad day or just to listen with the heart.
6/18/2002 Father Elmer breaks into woodturning and being in harmony with wood.
9/11/2002 Special services, blessing and dedication of a new American flag for STM.
1/5/2003 The STM Bible is found and returned by an unnamed stranger after being lost for over 5 years. Inscription reads "Given to STM Religious Education 1978". The Bible was lost at Camp Champions in Marble Falls, a favorite retreat place for middle school youth.
3/30/2003 New life-size bronze statue of St. Thomas More put in place marking 25 years of great parish life since 4/2/1978. The island or traffic circle in front of the Family Center was part of the original landscaping.
6/1/2003 Newly ordained Father Juan Carlos Lopez celebrates his first Mass at STM.
6/22/2003 STM 25th Anniversary celebration after noon Mass.
6/22/2003 St. Thomas More is home to approximately 3650 families.
12/19/2005 St. Thomas More is home to approximately 3005 families.
Compiled by Rose Beran, Parish Historian, 2003