Our Beloved Parish

Transfiguration Catholic Church

Welcome to Transfiguration Catholic Church!

At Transfiguration, we are Catholic. We believe, celebrate, and proclaim the fullness of the Catholic Faith that has been given to the Church down through the centuries. If you want to become a stronger Catholic, if you want to raise your family to understand and follow the faith and morals of the Church, if you wish to know and love Jesus Christ through His Sacraments and His teaching, then you’ve come to the right Parish!

The original Transfiguration event is the guidepost for all we are and do as a Parish: Jesus Christ, shining atop Mount Tabor in His glory to Saints Peter, James, and John, gave them a vision that would strengthen their faith when they saw Him suffer on a different hilltop, the Mount of Calvary. God the Father spoke from heaven, “This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him.” There are many contrary voices in today’s world.  Whose voice are you listening to? At Transfiguration Catholic Church, we want our Lord Jesus Christ first to shine in us, so that He will then shine through us!

  • Minnesota Statutes require that each parish within the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis designates two lay members of the parish as Parish Trustees. The Trustees serve as the Secretary and Treasurer of the Parish Corporation and, along with the Archbishop, Vicar General, and Pastor, constitute the Officers of the Corporation.

    Our parish trustees:

    Lee Mann and Michele Spencer

  • The Parish Finance Council is charged with supporting the Pastor in his stewardship of the financial resources of the parish. The Parish Finance Council is a key element for promoting the financial health of Transfiguration and assuring accountability of parish resources. Parishioners with financial, legal and business backgrounds of all kinds are a good fit for Parish

    Matt Mulligan, Chair

    Tom Stella, Secretary

    George Scharber

    Jim Jansen

    Steve Meyer

    Chris DeMars

    Non-voting attendees:

    Lee Mann, Parish Trustee

    Michele Spencer, Parish Trustee

    Sue Berthiaume, School Principal

    Erin Ethier, Dir of Finance & Operations

  • 1939-1951 Father Cornelius Normoyle
    1951-1967 Father Brian Keany
    1967-1969 Father Richard Schmitzer
    1969-1976 Father James Holl
    1976-1981 Father Patrick Ryan
    1981-1994 Father Charles Brambilla
    1994-2002 Father James Smith
    2002-2010 Father Robert Hart
    2010-2018 Father William Baer
    2018 Father Al Backmann, Interim Parochial Administrator
    2018-2024 Father John Paul Erickson
    2024 - Present Father Nate Meyers

Meet our Pastor,
Fr. Nate Meyers

Fr. Meyers joined Transfiguration in Oakdale as our 11th pastor on July 1st, 2024.  Ordained in 2010, Fr. Meyers has served the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in a variety of parishes, including as pastor of St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo for ten years prior to arriving here at Transfiguration.  Growing up in St. Paul’s Midway neighborhood and later the northern suburbs, Fr. Meyers is the youngest of two children and enjoys reading, studying film, and spending time with his Brittany Spaniels.

As part of the parish, Fr. Meyers collaborates with its staff, trustees, and a wide variety of leaders among the parishioners to provide for the spiritual and material needs of Transfiguration so that each of its members can be a missionary disciple who brings Christ to family, friends, and neighbors in the East Metro and beyond.

Our History

  • 1939

    Transfiguration Catholic Church was established on August 6, 1939—the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord—when Archbishop John Gregory Murray appointed Father Cornelius Normoyle as our first Pastor. Father Normoyle offered the first Mass at Landy’s Café on Tanners Lake. Our first Church was built on the southwest corner of Harvester and Ferndale Avenues in Maplewood in 1940.

  • 1953

    In 1953, a new building was constructed on the same site that included a Church, Social Hall, Kitchen, eight Classrooms and Administrative Offices. The first Mass was celebrated in the new Church on Easter Sunday 1953. The new Church, located in the basement of the building, was considered a temporary solution at the time.

  • 1986

    Due to limited resources, the basement location served as our Church until 1986, when the first Church was built on our current campus in Oakdale. The School remained for several more years at the Maplewood location.

  • 1998

    In 1998, the Church in Oakdale was expanded to double the size of the worship space, add a large Gathering Space, eight Classrooms, a Gym, full Kitchen and School Offices. At this time, our Catholic School was expanding from one classroom at each grade level to two classrooms at each level, so the new building in Oakdale became home to the fifth-through-eighth grade students. Kindergarten-through-fourth grade remained at our original location in Maplewood and became known as the “Cub” campus.

  • 2005

    The Maplewood campus was sold in 2004 after the decision was made to consolidate all of our programs at our Oakdale campus. The final building project on our current Oakdale site was completed in 2005 to house our Kindergarten-through-fourth grade students and provide more classroom space for our Faith Formation programs.

  • 2016

    Transfiguration completed a major renovation of our sanctuary including new murals, stenciling, marbelizing of columns, and altar renovations. See more details of the renovation below.

  • Today

    Today, Transfiguration is home to more than 1,300 Catholic households. Our Parish mission has three principal dimensions: Sacraments, Youth, and Financial Stewardship. Through these, we seek to build a strong and vibrant Catholic parish for all of our members, to grow in their Catholic Faith.

Our Sanctuary

  • 2016 Renovation: A Legacy of Fr. Baer

    Father William Baer, Pastor of Transfiguration from 2010 until 2018, laid out a clear vision for the Sanctuary Renovations which were completed in 2016.

  • Rear High Altar

    The High Altar was commissioned with the same arches and marble work as our columns. It features depictions of St. John, St. Peter, and St. James who witnessed the Transfiguration.

  • The Altar of Sacrifice

    This Altar was consecrated twice: by Archbishop Roach in 1986, and by Archbishop Flynn in 1999, then by Bishop Andrew H. Cozzens in May, 2016 when the High Altar was added. The cross-shaped bronze plate that is now affixed to the front of our Altar is from our earlier Church on Harvester Avenue, across Century Avenue in Maplewood.

  • Sanctuary Mural: Moses & the Burning Bush

    In Exodus 3:1-22, the Lord speaks to Moses from a bush that is burning, yet not consumed. The Lord tells Moses, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” This declaration by the Voice of God is a great prefiguring of the Transfiguration, when God the Father declares from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.”

  • Sanctuary Mural: Elijah & the Fiery Sacrifice

    In 1 Kings 18: 16-40, the Prophet Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal atop Mount Carmel to demonstrate whether the Lord or Baal is the true God. The Lord sends down fire to consume the sacrifice and the altar prepared by Elijah, and the people respond, “The Lord – He is God!” This is a foreshadowing of the Transfiguration, when God the Father demonstrates from heaven that Jesus is His beloved and glorious Son.

  • The Words of God the Father

    On the underside of the left and right arches are the words spoken by the Father from the heavens at the Transfiguration: “This is My Son,” and “Listen to Him.”

  • The Descending Holy Spirit

    Directly above our Altar, on the underside of the central arch, is a depiction of the Holy Spirit as a dove. This follows a long-standing tradition in Catholic Church art, in which the Spirit is shown descending upon the bread and wine on the Altar at the portion of the Eucharistic Prayer termed the “Epiclesis” (Greek for “calling down from on high”), initiating the divine act of Transubstantiating the elements into the Body and Blood of Christ. (This Epiclesis is signaled by the first ringing of the bells.)