All Saints Catholic Church
620 North Cedar Bluff Road
Knoxville, TN 37923-2229
Parish History
On the 26th day of August, 1994, a decree canonically establishing the Cedar Bluff Catholic Community Parish was pronounced: Having consulted with the parishes from which it will be carved out, ...and in order to better serve the Catholic people in the growing West Knoxville area, I have decided to establish a new parish. Therefore, I, Anthony J. O'Connell, first bishop of Knoxville, hereby decree and publish that on September 3, 1994, The Cedar Bluff Catholic COmmunity will be erected as a parish...
Two months prior to this official announcement, Father Chris Michelson was appointed as founding pastor of this new parish by Bishop O'Connell and the ground work began immediately to turn a dream into a reality. Starting from nothing more than a mailing list, announcements were made, census forms, ministries forms and updates were sent out. A Steering Committee was named and Town Hall style planning meetings were held. A lease was signed on an office/warehouse temporary home and by the end of August 1994, this raw space had been transformed into a churche by many dedicated volunteers. Liturgical ministries were in place, the Religious Education program had begun organinzing and on September 3rd and 4th, 1994, Mass was celebrated for the first time for a new parish family, numbering 332 families and 926 individuals.
This remarkable and successful beginning was surely a portent of all that was to continue during the following two years. Parish Ministries took form beginning with the Council of Catholic Women in October 1994, a Seniors Group in 1995, Youth Ministry in July 1995 and the Men's Club in March, 1996. Parish Council was established from the original Steering Committee. At a parish picnic on May 28th, (after being allowed to participate in the choosing of a parish name) Bishop O'Connell announced that our permanent parish name would be All Saints Catholic Church. Our blessings were to continue with the arrival in June 1995 of Father Michael Cummins as Associate pastor.
In the fall of 1995, shortly after our first anniversary, site preparation and building began on Phase 1 of our parish development - the construction of a rectory and a multipurpose building that served as our church for awhile. Parishioners gathered on the site every Saturday morning to build a picnic pavilion, construct a walking trail, and to plant trees and shrubs. In December, the four bedroom rectory was complete. Our priests moved in just before Christmas.
Construction then began on the multi-purpose building which was completed in late April 1996. On May 18th, at 4pm, a dedication Mass was celebrated by Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell in the new building.
The parish continued to grow, now numbering 790 families and 2,260 individuals. The Holy Spirit and our new, highly visible presence on Cedar Bluff Road attracted members in large numbers. By the end of September 1996, our membership had grown to 915 families. The Mass schedule had to be changed to helpe alleviate weekly standing-room only situations.
Also in September, new committies, the Brick and Mortar committee, chaired by Mike Wills and the Art and Environment Committee, chaired by Kathy Walker, were formed to begin the task of designing our new church. At parish wide town meetings in January of 1997, architects presented drawings of our new church floor plan. In May town meetings, models of church furniture, sketches of the interior, and models of the new building itself were shown. Actual construction was scheduled to begin in March of 1998 with completion of the 750 seat church in May of 1999.
In February 1997, Bishop O'Connell formally announced that the new Knoxville Catholic High School would be built on property adjacent to All Saints Parish. The school is to open for its first classes in the fall of the year 2000. A mutually beneficial cost saving measure was devised in which All Saints Parish would build a new $2 million education building for use by the high school during the day and by the parish at night and on weekends. In the summer of 1997, a new education committee was formed, chaired by Mary Jane Pitts, to begin the task of designing the new building. Construction began in the summer of 1999.
Our numbers continue to grow. Currently we have over 1120 families and more than 3200 members total.