In April 1874, the Church of the Atonement was opened in Cheltenham to serve the southern portion of the parish. Bishop Pinkney of Maryland consecrated the Church of the Atonement in 1875 during the rectorate of Samuel R. Gordon who has been the parish's longest serving rector to date. It is thought that Baltimore philanthropist Enoch Pratt donated the land and cost of building the church. The Church of the Atonement was built in the "Carpenter Gothic" style and in the late 1880s a bell tower was added to the building in memory of Rev. Gordon. In addition to ministering to the surrounding community, Atonement provided spiritual guidance to the boys at the nearby House of Reformation, later known as Boys Village. When the Chapel of the Incarnation was opened in 1916, the congregation at the Church of the Atonement declined and soon the church fell into disuse. In the late 1940's, the church was deconsecrated and demolished. Graves in the cemetery date from the mid-1870s to the present time. An active cemetery is maintained at the site.

In 1896, St. Simon's Mission was established in Croom as an African-American parochial mission by the Misses Susie, Kate and Elizabeth Willes as a Sunday school during the rectorate of their brother, Reverend Francis P. Willes. Seeing a tremendous need for general education, technical training and religious instruction among the African-American people of the area, many of whom were parishioners of Saint Thomas Parish, the Willes started a school at the rectory. The school became an enormous success. One aspect of this work, the religious instruction, so blossomed that a worshipping community developed at the school. The two Sunday School classrooms were moved across St. Thomas' Church road and the mission chapel was established on land purchased by Miss Susan Willes. The mission soon became too much work for one priest who was also serving two other churches. The people petitioned the Bishop of Washington to send an African-American priest to serve the mission. The Rev. August E. Jensen arrived in June 1902. It became an independent mission in 1902 under the auspices of the Diocese of Washington.

Although Rev. Jensen was greeted with phenomenal success, one sorrow marked his first year in Croom; his young daughter died from whooping cough. This raised the question whether the new mission should have its own cemetery. The decision was affirmative, so Eloise Constance Catherine Jensen became the first of scores of people whose bodies were buried at St. Simon's Cemetery. The parish records contain the names of more than a hundred, but there are others not recorded in the Church Register.

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