St. Thomas More Catholic Church

The Beginning

THE BEGINNING - 1958
     During Lent of 1958, a group of men carpooling to Our Lady of Mercy Church for a mission discussed the idea of establishing a mission church in Sherwood Forest. It proved to be an idea whose time had come.
     They held meetings around Kent Champagne's kitchen table and decided to discuss the idea with Msgr. Louis A. Marionneaux, pastor of Our Lady of Mercy. With his blessing and enthusiastic support, the group conducted a census and a survey of potential financial support. Next they presented their request to the head of the Baton Rouge deanery and to Archbishop Joseph F. Rummel of New Orleans, under whose jurisdiction Baton Rouge then belonged. After meeting with his consultors, the archbishop authorized not a mission church but a real parish.