Ground broke Saturday, April 25, on a planned $30 million sanctuary for St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Irvine, with some parishioners calling the milestone “30 years in the making.”
St. Thomas More worshippers have spent years gathering in a parish hall for Masses, ministries and other services, but the new, 20,400-square-foot building will provide a dedicated worship space.
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Bishop Kevin Vann center, blesses the grounds of the new St. Thomas More Parish church sanctuary during a groundbreaking ceremony in Irvine on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
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Bishop Kevin Vann center, blesses the grounds of the new St. Thomas More Parish church sanctuary during a groundbreaking ceremony in Irvine on Saturday, April 25, 2026. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The sanctuary building is being raised with the support of at least $27 million in donations from the parish’s families.
“Just hundreds and hundreds of parishioners involved, over a thousand pledges over all these years. It’s been really good,” Capital Campaign Committee Chair Lisa VanDorpe said of the fundraising effort. “We just had to have patience.”
The new church sanctuary will be a cruciform, or shaped like a cross, and “a nod to a more beautifully refined design versus a simplistic design,” VanDorpe said.
Among its features, the new space will contain two confessional rooms, a working sacristy and a vesting room.
A double-sided tabernacle and altar will be the main focal point, with a large mosaic of Christ sitting on a throne located behind the altar and niches for devotion to St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary.
A large crucifix will be hung at one end of the transept instead of above the altar. On the ceiling, where the nave and transept intersect, there will be a depiction of the Holy Spirit as a dove with radiating light and flames.
“I’m just really grateful for all those who were there at the very beginning and believed in the community and believed in Christ enough to make that contribution,” said the Rev. Eugene Lee, who was assigned to St. Thomas More in 2021. He is celebrating 22 years since his ordination.
Lee said he’s witnessed a quickly growing Irvine and congregation, and to keep up, “we need to be prepared for the future and for future growth.”
“Our church currently is just so packed to the brim with activity and people as it is,” Lee said. “And so we badly need to create this church building so that the current building that is worshipped in right now can be freed up for more programs and more gatherings.”
Construction of the sanctuary is expected to take 18 months and be finished by the end of 2027.