St. Ann Catholic Church (Bartlett, Tennessee)

St. Ann Catholic Church in Bartlett, Tennessee is one of the largest Roman Catholic parishes in the area with nearly 2000 registered families. The church is located at the corner of Stage Road and Charles Bryan Road.

There is currently a smaller chapel on the front corner of the property with the church directly behind it. Connected to both the chapel and church is the elementary school associated with the parish. With the additions onto the church there are now several well kept meeting places, reception rooms, and a gymnasium for the parishioners to schedule and use.

History

Father Francis P. Pack celebrated the first Mass in Bartlett in a storefront church in what was “downtown” Bartlett in 1949. The new mission of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish was unofficially named St. Edward. On Christmas Eve of that same year, John Maher buried a statue of the Infant Jesus of Prague at the corner of Stage and Charles Bryan Roads hoping that a church would be built on the site. Within one year the site was purchased for $5000. Bishop William O’Brien of the Catholic Church Extension Society, offered a $10,000 grant if the church was named for his deceased sister, Anna. Bishop William Adrian of Nashville agreed to change the name of the new parish to St. Ann. The first Catholic church building in Bartlett was dedicated on its present site on October 19, 1952.

In 1954 St. Ann, became a “mission” of St. Theresa the Little Flower Parish and the associate pastor of St. Theresa, Father Leonard Ogelsby, began to regularly celebrate Mass at the mission on weekends. By the end of the year, Father Ogelsby was appointed the first pastor of the new St. Ann Parish. During his 26 years as pastor, a school was opened in the early sixties and later expanded with additional classrooms, a cafeteria, and gym. A new church was completed in 1969 to accommodate the parish’s growth and the original church was converted into classrooms and later used for storage.

In 1980, Father Victor Ciaramitaro succeeded Father Ogelsby as pastor and oversaw the completion of church renovations including new carpeting, lighting and stained glass windows. In 1991 Father Ciaramitaro completed the Family Life Center, lower grade wing and new library in the school.

Father Bruce Cinquegrani became the third pastor of St. Ann in 1992 and began a strategic planning process leading to the development of a Master Architectural Plan. In 1999 the First steps of the Plan were completed with the Parents Day Out Program established in the old rectory and a home was purchased and renovated for a new rectory. Two years later the St. Ann Jubilee Capital Campaign was launched and design work began on the remainder of the Master Plan. By 2002 the Jubilee Campaign topped $3.2 million and the parish celebrated the 50th anniversary of the construction of the original church building and which was renamed the St. Joachim Chapel and renovation began to return the building to use for church services. The reception area in the basement was named Father McGivney Hall in honor of the founder of the Knights of Columbus. The refurbished Chapel opened in June of 2003. Construction then began on renovation of the main worship space; new classrooms/meeting rooms and reception area, and a new youth building and gymnasium. Construction was completed in April of 2004 with a Mass of dedication celebrated on April 3. In August of 2004the new fine arts wing, youth building and gym was dedicated.

In July of 2006, Father Richard Coy was appointed the fourth Pastor of the St. Ann Parish community.