Father John Evans is headed for new assignment at St. Thomas More Parish

Friday, Jun. 27, 2014

RIVERTON — Father John Evans will depart Riverton’s Saint Andrew Parish to become the pastor at Saint Thomas More Parish in Sandy on Aug. 6.

“I wish Father [Marco Tulio] Lopez the very best as he comes to St. Andrew, although I am departing with a heavy heart in some ways,” Fr. Evans said. “I love the people here and I’ve loved my time here. I had planned on being here long term to build a new church.” 

At the same time, Fr. Evans is encouraged and enthusiastic about his new assignment at St. Thomas More Parish and working with the people there, he said. 

Fr. Evans arrived in Salt Lake City from Los Angeles in 2011 as a Dominican priest and assisted at Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Layton for three months. He is now incardinating to become a diocesan priest for the Diocese of Salt Lake City. “There is such a shortage of priests here,” he said.

Fr. Evans, who grew up in a military family, graduated from the University of Utah in 1991 and worked as a computer programmer and manager before entering the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in 1996. He was ordained a priest in 2004, and assigned as campus minister at Saint Thomas More University Parish in Eugene, Ore. In 2007, he was assigned to Saint Dominic Church and School in Los Angeles before returning to Utah.

Fr. Evans’ assignment as pastor of St. Andrew Parish has been very enjoyable, he said. “The food bank we have is one of our larger ministries; we have to make do with what resources we have available from the parish center and church. The food bank is located in the basement of the rectory and it’s amazing how many families we serve every week and the amount of volunteers that help out, not only from the parish, but from the wider community; people from other religions, people with no religion and people who just care about social service and the social justice aspect of the food pantry.” 

The history of St. Andrew begins with Father Francisco Pires, the founding priest, who started Mass in the basement of the rectory in Riverton with eight parishioners. As the parish grew, Mass was moved to Wasatch Lawn Mortuary, then to a theater, while Saint Andrew School was built. Mass is now celebrated in the school’s gymnasium.

“Without a church, we set up and tear down for Mass about three times a week; when school is in session, they need the gym,” Fr. Evans said. “My office also doubles as a place to store office supplies and supplies for special events.” 

The parish now has about 400 active families and continues to grow, he said; “a real testament to Fr. Pires’ hard work in those early years.”

Under Fr. Evans direction, and continuing Fr. Pires’ work, the parish has retired its debt and has continued to raise money for a church, he added. 

One of Fr. Evans’ goals at the parish was to build activities for youth, he said. “Today we have a sports league, the children’s play group, a high school youth group, Cub Scouts, Boy and Girl Scouts, and the middle school youth group,” he said. “We have youth groups for toddlers to high school. Our next goal is to move into adult catechesis and spiritual growth in both Spanish and English; Fr. Lopez will be very good at working with the parish council on that ministry. It’s important to catechize the whole family in faith and education. We also now have a pro-life group and an outreach ministry for the caregivers who care for the homebound.”