Parish History

The History of St. Therese Church of the Little Flower

Bishop Thomas K. Gorman established the parish of St. Therese Church of the Little Flower, in 1946, and installed Monsignor Thomas Collins as the first pastor. Until 1948 Mass was celebrated in the Tower Theater on Virginia Street. On March 3, 1948, a permit was issued to transport the military Chapel from Stead Air Force Base to a location on Vassar and Wells Avenue. In the basement that had been built in December 1947, the first Mass was celebrated on Easter Sunday 1948. Confessions were heard in the furnace room! The Altar Society formed in August 1947 furnished a new rectory.

With a seating capacity of 200, the Church was dedicated on October 17,1948. Besides the clergy, in attendance were U.S. Senator Patrick McCarran, U.S. Representative Walter Baring and the French Council Jean De Lagnade of San Francisco who together with Reno’s French community was instrumental in having the French Government donate a bronze statue of St. Therese of Lisieux. This marked the second time the French Government had presented a gift to the United States, the first being the Statue of Liberty. This statue now faces the corner of Kietzke and Plumb.

In 1960 a parcel of land at Kietzke and Plumb Lane was purchased to become the site of a school, which was opened in 1962 by the Sisters of Mercy from Longford, Ireland.

In 1974, with the growth of the Parish, Father Robert Bowling, then pastor, and Bishop Norman F. McFarland, began formulating plans for a church to be built on the property with the school and convent. The last Mass was celebrated in the old church July 1, 1978. The first Mass in the new church was celebrated on July 8. 1978. Dedication took place on the feast of the Little Flower, October 1, 1978.

Today the Parish serves the spiritual needs of approximately 4,000 families and is a culturally diverse parish, working together and having pride in our Catholic School!