About Us

The Mission of St. Philip
To Know, Love and Serve God, and our Neighbor.

Guided by the traditions of the past and with a clear focus on our future, St. Philip strives to retain the vision of those early families who struggled to bring the Catholic faith to Franklin by reaching out to the community. Today, St. Philip Catholic Church continues to do so as one of Franklin’s most dynamic Christian churches.

Our Priests

Office: 615-550-2832
FrGervan@StPhilipFranklin.com

Father Gervan Menezes, aka Fr. G, is the Diocesan Director of Campus Ministries and our Pastor. Fr Gervan is also the Chaplain for University Catholic at Tennesse Tech. He became Chaplain at University Catholic in 2019 and loves working with young adults. Students are drawn to his friendly, outgoing nature, which makes him easy to approach, and find that he’s a gentle confessor and a dynamic preacher.

A native of Brazil, Fr. G is fluent in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Before becoming a priest, he managed several restaurants and worked in the travel industry and remains a foodie and travel buff.

In addition to his full-time assignment as UCat Chaplain, Fr. Gervan also serves as the Episcopal Master of Ceremonies for Bishop Spalding. Since his ordination to the priesthood in July 2014, Fr. G has served the Diocese of Nashville as associate pastor of Cathedral of the Incarnation; associate pastor of St. Philip Church; chaplain for the Diocese Youth Office; and chaplain for Father Ryan High School.

Fr. G attended Assumption Seminary in San Antonio Texas. He has a Master in Divinity and a Master in Theology degree from Oblate School of Theology and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (STB) from St. Paul University in Ontario. Prior to being a priest he has a Bachelor degrees in Tourism and Philosophy from Brazil. Fr Gervan is working in his doctorate degree in New Evangelization at Catholic University of America.

Father Mark Nolte was born on February 16, 1960, and raised in a large Catholic family in Fort Smith, Arkansas, as one of ten children. Prior to receiving his call to the priesthood, Fr. Nolte worked as an optometrist in Nashville from 1986 to 1995. Through his involvement and life-changing experiences with the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, he eventually felt led to join the Diocese of Nashville in 1995 to begin his studies for the priesthood. Within a few years, however, he began to feel a strong calling to religious life, particularly to a more contemplative lifestyle. His search for community life eventually led him to Omaha, Nebraska, where he was a member of the Intercessors of the Lamb community from 1997 to 2010. Since his ordination on June 1, 2002, in the Archdiocese of Omaha, he has served as an associate pastor at several parishes. As a member of the Intercessors of the Lamb, and in addition to his parish duties, he has also directed public and private retreats, as well as parish missions throughout the United States and abroad. In January 2013, he returned to the Diocese of Nashville and was appointed associate pastor at St. Rose of Lima Parish in Murfreesboro. He also served as pastor of St. Edward in Nashville before returning to Omaha in 2016, where he has been pastor of St. Gerald Catholic Church. He now returns to Nashville to be close to family and serve as Senior Associate Pastor at St. Philip.

Father David Herrera has a beautiful journey toward the priesthood. Originally from Mexico, Herrera moved to Nashville with his family as a teenager and became deeply involved in his parish, Sagrado Corazón de Jesus Parish. While he earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Middle Tennessee State University and worked professionally at various organizations, he continually felt drawn toward a religious vocation through prayer, retreats, and service in the Church. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he finally embraced the call to the priesthood after experiencing a deep sense of peace while discerning God’s will. He continued his theological and pastoral studies at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, where he completed his formation in the fall of 2025. Herrera credits his faith and trust in God for guiding him through uncertainty and preparing him for the priesthood with hopes of serving the people of Nashville.

Deacons & Staff

Deacons

Deacon Paul Brancheau
DeaconPaul@StPhilipFranklin.com

Deacon C.J. Donarski
DeaconCJ@StPhilipFranklin.com

Deacon John Froning
DeaconJohn@StPhilipFranklin.com

Staff

Administration

Communication

Faith Formation

Finance

Maintenance & Facilities

Music

St. Philip Learning Center

Councils & Committees

Pastoral Council

Trip Guthrie, Chairperson
PastoralCouncil@StPhilipMinistries.com

Members
David Picataggio, Vice Chair
Tony Boquet
Stephanie Carroll
Ismael Fierro
David Hetzel
Katy Lane

Finance Council

Ed Scott, Chairperson
FinanceCouncil@StPhilipMinistries.com

Members

Roberto Dominguez
Irma Guzman
Joe St. Lawrence
Thomas Moore
Rebecca Obarski
Mike Ren

Annual Parish Financial Report

Discipleship Committee

George Tutaj, Chairperson
Discipleship@StPhilipMinistries.com

Members

Dave Bilger
Israel Cordero
Carol Guthrie
Edme Mendez
Dorothy Nichols
Pat Thompson
Ellen Marie Tutaj
Randy Valenti
Ana Zarraga

Discipleship Page

Ministry Council

Barb Weller, Chairperson
MinistryCouncil@StPhilipMinistries.com

Sanctus

Proverbs 29:18 says that “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or even courage, but simply because they have never organized their energies around a goal.
~Elbert Hubbard

During the Parish Pastoral Council Retreat in January of 2017, the desire was expressed to do a thorough review of our work as a parish, and earnestly seek where God is calling us to be in the next 5-10 years. Because of this, the Rev. Ashley Abarca-Mitchell was invited to share about her work using the Appreciative Inquiry model with healthy parishes as a new approach to Visioning and Strategic planning.

She proposed that that during our time together we would focus on a healthy parish model set forth in Acts 2:42-47 modeling fellowship, discipleship, worship, ministry and evangelism. Our process work would focus on:

a. Clarity of mission and vision- the why
b. Authentic community
c. Communication

This would require 3 months of high intensity work on behalf of a leadership team and the entire parish and 12-60 months of implementation.

Prayer is first and foremost. We must begin with prayer- for the leadership team and the entire parish. During the first 30 days, we met with Priests, staff, leadership teams and core groups to ask questions, build relationships and gain insight into the questions we needed ask during our visioning sessions.

Below is a full report of the process

Sanctus Report