Celebrating 100 Years of Grace: A century of faith at St. Anne Parish in Houston

When membership at St. Anne had grown to 216 families by 1928, a proposal was made to purchase 9.5 acres on the corner of Shepherd and Westheimer streets, the present-day site of St. Anne Catholic Church in Houston. (Photo courtesy of St. Anne Catholic Church, Houston)HOUSTON — One of the oldest and largest churches in the Archdiocese, St. Anne Catholic Church in Houston, celebrates its 100th anniversary. 

Under the direction of the Basilian Fathers, it has been providing spiritual leadership and guidance to the Upper Kirby, River Oaks and Montrose areas within Houston since 1925.  
 

A journey rooted in faith

On Sept. 19, 1924, Bishop Christopher E. Byrne asked Father John J. O’Reilly to find a suitable location for a new church that would accommodate the city’s westward growth. The new parish would be named for St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin.

Father O’Reilly enlisted the help of Selma Rankin from Annunciation Church, and they started talking to people in the neighborhood about the proposed church. From those early endeavors, St. Anne Parish was formed by five founding families: those of Henry and Selma Rankin, Henry and Hila Wedelich, Charles and Beulah Lambert, J. Emmet and Ida Belle Nolen, and Jack and Quo Vadis Burke. In 1925, St. Anne Church began with modest gatherings in an old farmhouse in the intersection of two dirt roads, McDuffie Street and Westheimer Road, and quickly blossomed into a vibrant parish.

In May of 1928, Bishop Byrne asked the Basilian Fathers to take charge of the growing parish. The new St. Anne Parish was the first Basilian church in Texas, there being only seven in the world at the time. Father John J. Glavin, CSB, was named as the first Basilian pastor.

Membership at St. Anne had grown to 216 families by 1928, and leadership believed that the original location would not be suitable for a permanent church. A proposal was made to purchase 9.51 acres on the corner of Shepherd and Westheimer, the present-day site of St. Anne Parish. Plans included moving the first church (farmhouse) to the new location, the construction of a new temporary church, and a convent. The second, temporary church would be used as a church hall following the completion of a larger, third church.

At a cost of $21,000, the new St. Anne Hall (the second church) was completed in October 1929, just in time for the Wall Street crash. In 2008, Preservation Houston presented St. Anne with a Good Brick award for the restoration of the hall, which currently serves as St. Anne School’s administrative offices, choir room, and art studio.

A year after the construction of the new hall, the first section of the school building was completed. The school, comprising seven classrooms and a kitchen, was staffed by the Congregation of Divine Providence from Our Lady of the Lake Convent in San Antonio. The school opened on Sept. 8, 1930. There were 155 students enrolled from first through seventh grades in the first year. By 1940, there were 412 students and 13 teaching sisters.

Ground was broken for the third church on Nov. 22, 1938. Four months later, the cornerstone was laid down. Included in the cornerstone were: a Bible, copies of the encyclical of Pope Leo XIII on Capital and Labor, the Magna Carta, the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, a St. Anne Devotional, and a list of all the priests and nuns who had served at St. Anne. On Dec. 10, 1939, the new church was dedicated.

In honor of the first Franciscan mission in Texas, the architecture is of the colonial style used in the Spanish missions of the Southwest. The church commemorates the introduction of Christianity into Texas and the history of Catholicism throughout the ages. The original intent was to reproduce St. Anne de Beaupre in Canada and incorporate some characteristics of the chapel at the Villa de Matel in Houston, also designed by Maurice Sullivan.

A living, growing community

The 1975 parish census showed only a 12% Hispanic population. Nevertheless, in 1975, Father Richard Jeffrey began celebrating Mass in Spanish at 4 p.m. on Sunday. St. Anne was the first non-Spanish-speaking church in the city to have a Spanish Mass. By 1979, the community had Hispanic Eucharistic ministers, lectors and hospitality hosts. Every Friday evening, the families came together in the gymnasium to watch movies. 

Their first fundraising efforts began in 1979 through dances and dinners sponsored by Hispanic women. The budget for their activities depended on the revenue generated by these events. Hispanic community and ministries at St. Anne have continued to grow, enriching the parish with a loving appreciation for God’s gift of life and an authentic and enduring devotion to Mary, the Mother of God, through their celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Procesión de la Virgen Dolores, Pastorela, and Via Crucis.  

St. Anne Catholic School, recognized with the National Blue Ribbon Award in 2006 and 2022, continues to nurture students academically, spiritually, culturally, physically and interpersonally in a Catholic environment. The school continues educating students from Pre-K3 through eighth grade, with a current enrollment of 530 students from 56 different zip codes.

Today, St. Anne is a diverse and growing parish community. From Baptisms and weddings to OCIA classes, community outreach and celebration, the parish continues to be a place where faith is nurtured and lived out. The St. Anne Catholic Community has expanded its ministries to serve the needs of today’s world — embracing youth ministry, adult faith formation, community and outreach, all while maintaining a deep love for tradition and the Sacraments.