Founding Pastor, Father Tom Donnelly was first “called” to the challenge of establishing a new Church community in 1984, during a visit with his family in Ireland. This life work brought him to Reno, Nevada to fulfill God’s mission and build the first new Catholic Church in the Diocese of Reno in 32 years. With the support of Reno Bishop Phillip F. Straling and the commitment of 60 families, in 1996 Father Donnelly founded St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church, named after the new world’s first canonized saint. In its early years, the parish partnered with the principals of Pleasant Valley and Brown Elementary Schools and later the Mountain View Montessori School to use their school facilities as a place of worship.
St. Rose rapidly increased in membership as the population of southwest Reno grew. By early 1997, over 130 families belonged to the parish; by 2001 there were over 500; by 2003 there were over 800. The various ministries and community outreach of Church members also substantially increased. Realizing the need for a home of its own, the St. Rose of Lima community assembled a task force to begin plans to build a Church and multi-purpose hall on land given to the parish by Bishop Phillip Straling, adjacent to the site of the upcoming Manogue High School. Gifts from two founding families and a Catholic parish within the Diocese provided $1.2 million. The generosity of parish families and others to the 1997 capital campaign and follow-up Homeward Bound and Securing the Future campaigns provided the needed additional funding.
The parish building committee worked diligently in concert with Architects Plus to develop the plans for the new Church. On the Feast Day of St. Rose of Lima, August 23, 2002, the long awaited permission to break ground and proceed with construction arrived from Bishop Straling and the Diocesan Finance Board. Construction began on the 100 Bishop Manogue Drive site on Monday, August 26, 2002, followed by the official groundbreaking ceremony by Bishop Straling on Sunday, September 22. TNT Construction, Inc. completed the work within a year, and on Saturday, August 2nd, 2003 at 4:00 P.M., Father Tom Donnelly celebrated the first Mass in the beautiful new Church.
In July 2007, Father Tom retired and the parish welcomed its second pastor, Father Larry Morrison. Father Morrison served as pastor from 2007-2018. During his time here at St. Rose, he envisioned an addition to the church building to allow for more classrooms.
In 2018, Father Joseph Abraham became our third pastor. Father Joseph started and continued on with creating the new addition building. On July 15, 2020, there was a Dedication and Blessing of the Flocchini Family Education Center. On October 24, 2020, there was an Open House of the Flocchini Family Education Center.
Ships and water dominate the imagery of the church building, blending with scriptural themes and the biblical numbers 12, 8, and 7. Founding pastor Tom Donnelly came from a family of fishermen, so ships and the sea were prominent in his life. The design of the church suggests a ship in full sail. At the time of the church’s groundbreaking, the acres surrounding the church were empty. The church rose as if at the beginning of a brand new world—just as Noah and his family experienced when they left the ark. The Ark held eight people to renew the earth: Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives. The idea of creating a new parish began in 1996 with eight people, also. The main door of the church, therefore, is reached with eight steps.
The church itself faces east, where life began in the Garden of Eden. We move through the Church from East to West, the traditional direction for a journey of renewal and salvation. The narthex, or nave, is where church members and visitors gather before entering the sanctuary, just as people gather before setting sail. The sanctuary is built in the round, signifying that this ship, our church, has no class divisions. All are equal, and the altar, or captain’s table, is easily visible to everyone. As on shipboard, all are invited to eat at the captain’s table.
The distance from the last pew to the base of the altar is 64 feet (a multiple of 8), reminding us again of Noah’s family and the eight beatitudes. The reference to the Sermon on the Mount is striking since a seven story mountain (a metaphor for our spiritual journey to salvation) towers over the altar. Designed by artist Elizabeth Deveraux, the window won an honorable mention award in the 2004 Visual Arts Awards: Art Glass. The wooden cross hanging above the altar was created by Joseph Lubek. Twelve arches, representing the twelve apostles, rim the church, and statues of the four evangelists stand above the entryway.
The sacrament of Baptism is the entry to our faith life, so the Font is dramatically placed at the entry of the sanctuary. The Font has four corners, representing the four corners of the earth and again remind us that the Church welcomes all people. The font, with its gently running water, represents a spiritual womb, the water constantly renewing us spiritually just as the water in the womb of the mother is renewed to support the unborn child. The six steps into the font represent our imperfection as we enter the world with original sin. We aim at the seventh step, perfection (2 Tim 4:6-8), represented by the seven story mountain depicted in glass behind the altar. Water flows from the mountain to the font and back again like the grace needed to maintain us throughout our miraculous journey on the River of Life. The gates of the baptismal font are in memory of Christopher Edward Colt. The font, altar, credence table and offertory gifts table were designed by Paul Walsh and crafted by Ken and Laura Dixon.
Three steps lead to the altar from the baptismal font level, representing the sacraments of Communion, Confirmation, and Matrimony or Priesthood. A time capsule buried within the altar holds notes and letters from parishioners, telling their faith-and love-filled stories of building the church.
The tabernacle, a mountain or rock, reminds us of Mt. Sinai where Moses received the ten commandments; the rock Moses struck to release water in the desert; Mt. Tabor, the site of Jesus’ transfiguration; the rock, Peter, upon which Christ built His church; the Sermon on the Mount; and Jesus’ frequent visits to mountains for renewal and rejuvenation. We receive the Eucharist at the bottom of the mountain, and that holy bread helps us to ascend the daily mountain of our psychological and spiritual journey.
West of the mountain window is Mary's Chapel, a little oasis, with altar and candlesticks by Joseph Lubek.
Saint Rose of Lima Church is meant to be beautiful but simple, elegant without ostentation. The green fabrics and floor symbolize life and hope and remind us of the earth which Jesus loved.
This is a place to loosen our load, to be quiet, to be renewed.
St. Rose of Lima (D. 1586)
Isabel de Santa Maria de Flores was born at Lima, Peru of Spanish parents, and took the name Rose at Confirmation. She became a Dominican tertiary, lived as a recluse in a shack in a garden she had worked to help her parents, and experienced mystical gifts and visions of such an extraordinary nature that a commission of priests and doctors were appointed to examine her.
Stories of her holiness spread, and her garden became the spiritual center of the city; when earthquakes struck nearby, her prayers were credited with sparing Lima. She was canonized in 1671 by Pope Clement X. The first saint of the New World, she is patroness of South America.
In the entrance, leading into the Narthex, look above the glass doors and see the beautiful stained glass window of St. Rose.