Saint Thomas, Clarksville

Parish History

St. Thomas was established on March 19, 1947.  The history of the parish goes further back, however.  Before St. Thomas Church was built, local Catholics traveled to St. Michael, Fredericktown to attend Mass.  Beginning on December 6, 1929, priests from St. Michael celebrated Sunday Mass in various commercial halls in the area.  In 1935, work was begun on a church in Clarksville.  The cornerstone was laid on September 15, 1935; the date it was dedicated is not recorded.

From 1935 until 1947, the church was a mission of St. Michael.  In March of 1947, the parish became independent with the appointment of a resident pastor.  In 1952, St. Marcellus in Jefferson was made a mission of St. Thomas. 

The church was renovated in 1979, including the addition of the stained glass windows.  Two years later, a new organ was purchased for the church.

In 1992, St. Marcellus was merged with St. Thomas.  Both churches remained open and continued to serve the parish.

With the turn of the century, trends in the Diocese of Pittsburgh began to reveal a decline in Mass attendance and sacramental participation.  At the same time, the number of priests available for parish ministry also began to decline.

To address these challenges, Bishop David Zubik announced on April 12, 2015 a new diocesan initiative, On Mission for The Church Alive!, a consultative strategic planning process designed to foster viable, sustainable and vibrant parishes.  As part of this process, the Bishop, in consultation with the faithful, began to consider new models of parish life based on pastoral needs, financial and temporal resources and available clergy.

In 2018, following the period of consultation, parishes were grouped together and served by a single clergy team to eventually form one new parish.

During this transition period, St. Thomas Parish remained an independent parish while sharing clergy and staff and eventually publishing a joint bulletin with the other parishes.   This ended on July 1, 2019 when St. Thomas Parish merged with St. Ann Parish, Waynesburg; St. Hugh Parish, Carmichaels; St. Ignatius Parish, Bobstown and Our Lady of Consolation Parish, Nemacolin to form the new St. Matthias Parish.  As part of the merger, St. Thomas Church was closed on July 14, 2019 due to the area's declining population and the rising costs of maintaining the all the new parish's churches.  St. Marcellus Church remained open to serve the new parish.