Church History
A telephone call from Mrs. Linda Carneal, a resident of Fayette County, to St. Ann Church in Bartlett was the beginning of the establishment of a parish community in Fayette County. Mrs. Carneal was concerned about the lack of opportunity for Mass in Fayette County. As a result of that call, on May 2, 1975, the Fayette County Catholic Mission was established.
The parish met in St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Somerville, Tennessee, from its foundation until the completion of the first church and parish facilities in Warren on September 20, 1981. Rent was paid to the Episcopal Diocese and the first Mass was said there on Sunday, May 4, 1975.
During the six years when the Mass was held in St. Thomas, parishioners were involved in planning and setting up the church every Sunday. Flowers were brought from homes to the church. Each Sunday, following the celebration of the liturgy, the portable altar was removed and stored, and devotional statues and banners were taken down.
In 1978, there were about seventy people attending the Sunday services. There were blacks, whites, Filipinos, and Vietnamese, all working together in establishing the mission. Early in 1980, Father Oglesby approached Bishop Carroll T. Dozier, then bishop of the Memphis Diocese, about the need of a building. In June of 1980, a fund drive was started in St. Ann Parish and among Catholic residents of the Somerville area as the first step in laying a financial foundation for the eventual erection of a church building in the area. In August of 1980, Father Victor Ciaramitaro became the new pastor of St. Ann and took on the responsibility of building a new church in Fayette County
On August 20, 1980, Bishop Dozier formally established St. Philip the Apostle Church to serve Catholic residents and said that construction would begin later in that month on a church to house the congregation in Warren, Tennessee.
Fayette County is very close to the center of Catholicism in Western Tennessee,” said Bishop Dozier in 1980. “Yet it never has had a witness to our faith in the form of a full-fledged parish and church.” Now we are to have our own permanent seat of witness in the county” said the bishop. “St. Philip, being one of the earliest of the apostles, is a great symbol for the Catholic presence in this area.”
Priests who have served as pastor of St. Philip Church are: Rev. Victor P. Ciaramitaro, Rev. John Scola, Rev. Bruce Cinquegrani, and Rev. Steven G. Baxter and Rev Cyril Wagner, O.F.M. served as sacramental minister until his death in June 2000.
The parish has also been served by the following sisters: Rose Sullivan, SCN; Alice Adams, SCM; Helen Goatley, SCN; Josephine Wathen, SCN; Eileen Cahalane, OSF; Bridget Lennon, 0SF; Mairead O’Reardon, OSF; Alice Pittz, OP; and Mary Della Quinn, OP. Sisters Eileen, Bridget, and Mairead were instrumental in establishing the roots of the community out-reach that has evolved into an ecumenical outreach institution named “Fayette Cares” which serves the entire Fayette County. Sister Jeanne Dion OP served as Pastoral Administrator from July 1, 1993 until June 15, 2001.
The present sacramental minister is Fr. John Atkinson. Deacon Bill Davis has served as Pastoral Administrator since June of 2001.