St. Theresa's Parish was engendered as a mission of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Beach Haven in October of 1934. The reason for the new mission parish was that Catholics were traveling as far as thirty miles to worship at Beach Haven. The Franciscan Friars said Mass in Tuckerton on Sundays in a rented store on West Main Street and faithfully served the Catholics of Tuckerton and New Gretna areas until November 1947.

In 1944, The Steelman Home at Cedar and East Main Streets was purchased and used as the church. The first Mass was celebrated there on October 22, 1944. On November 14, 1944, Rev. Peter J. Teston became the first diocesan pastor of St. Mary's Church in Barnegat and St. Theresa was its mission. A new building was constructed in the same place as the old St. Theresa's and dedicated on April 12, 1953. St. Theresa's became formally established as a parish in September 1954. The Pastors of our parish since 1947 have been:

Rev. Peter J. Teston, 1947-1950
Rev. Alexander A. Burant, 1950-1954
Rev. Arthur J. St. Laurent, 1954-1958
Rev. James A. Thompson, 1958-1962
Rev. Joseph Remias, 1962-1965
Rev. Dominic Turtora, 1965-1969
Rev. Thomas Dennen, 1969-1972
Rev. George Deutsch (Temporary Administrator), 1972
Rev. Msgr. Maurice P. Griffin, 1972-1981
Rev. Harry E. Cenefeldt, 1981-1986
Rev. Monsignor James P. McManimon, 1986-1988
Rev. Terence McAlinden, 1988- 2007
Rev. Michael Lambeth, Permanent Administrator 2008 - 2011 Pastor 2011 - Present

To accommodate our increased summer and winter attendance, St. Michael's Mission was established in Mystic Island during 1974-75. An addition to St. Theresa's Church was added in 1985.

At present, St. Theresa's in Little Egg Harbor serve a large permanent congregation of over 2400 families and even a larger summer population.  We all pray that God will continue to bless us and enable us to increase our facilities as we eventually move to one central worship space so that we can better meet the present and future needs of the faithful in our area.

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