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The Birth of a Parish
Jackie Owen and Beth Beazley
 Knoxville's second Catholic parish came to life in the early 20th
Century, when Bishop Thomas Byrne commissioned Father James Lorigan,
assistant pastor at Immaculate Conception, to build a new church in the
north part of town. Named Holy Ghost, the announcement about the new church
and its location was made not coincidentally on the Feast of Pentecost,
1907, from the pulpit of Immaculate Conception Church.
Built in 1908, the original church
featured an altar of Tennessee marble. It served as the parish's church
until 1926, when the current building was dedicated. Father Lorigan was
named Holy Ghost's first pastor, celebrated its first Mass and baptized its
first infant, James Edward Harris. Holy Ghost School (now St.
Joseph's School) opened with 80 students in September, 1908, and was
managed by the Sisters of Mercy.
Holy Ghost's fourth pastor, Rev. L.J.
Kemphues, announced plans for construction of a new church. Cincinnati
architects Crowe and Schulte were retained, along with Knoxville contractor
J.M. Dunn and Son to design and build the current Indiana Bedford stone
Norman-Gothic structure, one of the most beautiful churches in Tennessee.
Ground breaking was held in 1925. A
year later, the new and current Holy Ghost Church was dedicated with a
20-piece band and a large mixed choir.
During the pastor ship of Father John
V. Cunningham, the church experienced its first crime. Three days after
Christmas, 1931, the tabernacle and Blessed Sacrament were chiseled from
the altar and stolen. They were found undisturbed three days later in a
vacant house downtown.
Rev. Joseph P. Follman served the
parish for 16 years until his death in 1954. He instituted many new
practices, including the elimination of pew rent, installation of automatic
kneelers, a new pipe organ and two side altars. He began the use of missals
and formed a CYO and an all-male choir, in line with Vatican directives. In
1943, he founded the Knoxville Ladies of Charity. This legacy of support
for the area's poor continues even today. In the mid-1940s, he purchased a
convent for the Sisters of Mercy, the white clapboard house at 114 Hinton
Avenue.
During the four-year pastor ship of
Father Leo Baldinger, the convent was remodeled and planning began for a
new elementary school. But St. Joseph School ultimately became a reality in
large part due to Father Baldinger's successor - the priest who set the
record for Holy Ghost pastor ship - Rev. Albert J. Henkel.
During Father Henkel's 38 years as
pastor of Holy Ghost, he managed the Trinity Society, a guild to raise
money for the school building fund. He established our current envelope
donation system, doubled CCD participation and formalized ushers. Most
importantly, he built the school to which he became so devoted. His support
and sponsorship of the Ladies of Charity exemplified his well-known
devotion to the poor.
One of Father Henkel's greatest
accomplishments was helping to make the church debt-free. On Pentecost
Sunday, 1976, the mortgage was burned to celebrate the achievement. In June
1990, Father Henkel hosted the first ordination to take place at Holy
Ghost. Rev. Vann Johnston, Jr., our current associate pastor, was ordained
by Bishop Anthony J. O'Connell. Father Albert Henkel died December 26,
1996.
Several months following Father
Henkel's death, one of his former associates, Monsignor Xavier Mankel, was
named Holy Ghost's tenth pastor. In his short time at Holy Ghost, he has
renovated the rectory, re-instituted the Parish Pastoral Council, begun
expansion at St. Joseph School and initiated several projects to affirm the
beauty and architectural significance of our church.
Holy Ghost is often described in one
word: Tradition. It is devotion to the traditions of the Church and to the
parish's long and prayerful history that keeps many members of our family
commuting each week from all over east Tennessee to worship and participate
in the life of Holy Ghost Church.
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