Fonds - St. Teresa's Parish (St. John's, Newfoundland) fonds

St. Teresa's Parish was established in 1930 in response to a rapidly growing Catholic population on the western margin of the city of St. John's. Previous to this date, residents in this area had fallen within the broad boundaries of the Cathedral Parish and later, St. Patrick's Parish. Beginning in 1924, Rev. W. H. Kitchen, pastor of St. Patrick's, appointed one of his assistant priests, Rev. H. A. Summers, to attend to the growing Catholic community surrounding Mundy Pond by conducting weekly visits to the area. Later, in 1928, Archbishop Edward P. Roche directed Summers to take a census of the Catholic population of the Mundy Pond, Freshwater Road and Thorburn Road areas, the results of which suggested the viability of an independent parish. Two years later, Summers was appointed St. Teresa's first parish priest.

During Summers' early visits to Mundy Pond, services were held in a small schoolhouse at the corner of Pearce and Campbell avenues. After he was appointed pastor of St. Teresa's, Summers oversaw the construction of a three-room school that also served as a temporary chapel. The first mass was celebrated there on Christmas Eve 1930. The building functioned as the parish church until a concrete-basement church was constructed on Mundy Pond Road during 1937 and 1938, (blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Roche 12 June 1938). Despite the fact that this building was designed to be altered and extended to accommodate future growth, construction on a new church and monastery, adjacent to the concrete-basement church, was begun in 1962. Finished in 1964, the first mass was celebrated in the new St. Teresa's 25 October and was later blessed and dedicated by Archbishop Patrick J. Skinner 13 December. The former church was then converted into a parish hall.

Schools formed an integral part of St. Teresa's parochial organization. As early as 1899, a Catholic school was opened at Mundy Pond in a private home. Circa 1906, Archbishop Michael F. Howley built the school, at the corner of Pearce and Campbell avenues, that was visited by Summers in his early ministrations to the area. This building was replaced by the three-room school built by Summers in 1930. Summers also built a one-room school in the Freshwater area in 1930, and an all-grades school in the Freshwater and Thorburn roads section of the parish in 1936. In 1944, the Sisters of Mercy took over the administration of the school at Mundy Pond. The three-room school built by Summers was replaced by a new eight-room school between 1948 and 1949, adjoining the Sisters' Convent. In the 1960s, the two schools on Freshwater and Thorburn roads closed and were amalgamated with St. Teresa's Parish School (several times reconstructed and enlarged) on Mundy Pond Road.

In 1956, due to a shortage of priests in the Archdiocese of St. John's, Archbishop Skinner invited members of the Redemptorist Order to assume responsibility for the direction and administration of St. Teresa's Parish. The Redemptorist congregation was officially associated with the Archdiocese of St. John's 21 October 1956 when Archbishop Skinner installed Patrick Mann, a Redemptorist priest, as the Pastor of St. Teresa's (Redemptorists at St. Teresa's were incorporated as the Newfoundland Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in 1959). Although the parish remains in the control of a religious congregation, it is administered in the same manner as all other secular parishes within the Archdiocese of St. John's. However, a monastery is attached to St. Teresa's in which the Redemptorists live in community, and their activities can be divided into those associated with the functions of their order and the functions of the parish. When the Redemptorists are engaged in mission work and other devotional activities within the Archdiocese, they are responsible to the Superior of the Toronto Province of the Most Holy Redeemer, the eastern chapter of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer of Canada. However, as parochial administrators, they are responsible to the Archbishop of St. John's.

In October 1978, Rev. James Glavine held a week-long retreat for parishioners of St. Teresa's which initiated the establishment of the St. Teresa's Parish Council. In 1980, the Council was comprised of a Steering Committee and six open committees: the Liturgical Committee, the Education Committee, the Committee for Spiritual Renewal, the Funding Committee, the Social Committee, and the Apostolic Committee. Numerous other committees and societies have been established at St. Teresa's to share in the administration of the parish, including the Men's Committee, the Ladies' Society, the Finance Committee, the Property Committee, the Knights of Columbus, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Mission Club, and the Youth Group (this list is not exhaustive).

Although the parish boundaries have been altered over time, they still include the Mundy Pond, Thorburn and Freshwater Road areas.

Pastors who have served St. Teresa's Parish since its establishment include: Harold A. Summers (1930-1952); Randall J. Greene (1952-1956); Patrick Mann (1956-1959); John Maddigan (1959-1967); John O'Deady (1967-1969); William Wylie (1969-1975); James V. Glavine (1975-1978); Eugene O'Reilly (1978-1983); Thomas Kelly (1983-1984); Raymond Corriveau (1984-1990); Dermot Fitzpatrick (1990); Raymond Earle (1991-1993); Douglas Stamp (1993-1996); and Raymond McNally (1996- ).