Historic black parish serves African immigrant families, longtime communities

A Sunday Mass procession in the church hall for the Cameroon Mass at St. Nicholas Parish in Houston begins with women dressed in blue and white skirts adorned with the Virgin Mary singing and dancing as they sweep the floor with straw brooms. (Photo by Jo Ann Zuñiga)
HOUSTON — St. Nicholas Catholic Church, more than 100 years old near downtown Houston, is surrounded by newly built townhomes and lofts as parishioners, led by St. Nicholas pastor Father Eliseus Ogbonna Ibeh, MSP, strive to raise funds to renovate their aging campus.

The repairs of the 1924 brick church started in September, so the historic building at 2508 Clay St. in the Third Ward is boarded up now. But every Sunday, Masses remain spirit-filled in its church hall. Mass starts at 9 a.m. in English for its longtime African American community, while an 11 a.m. Mass also in English has its Cameroon community, adding music and dancing from Central Africa. 

Then at 1:15 p.m., a Swahili Mass is celebrated, welcoming the East African community, including those from Congo, in Houston’s first Catholic Church for black people freed from enslavement in the 1800s, a complete circle of life to freedom, church officials said. 

The parish once hosted Venerable Fulton Sheen in 1947, according to Archdiocesan records.

Mike Fonge, chairman of the Cameroon Catholic Men Association, and Esther Angafos Samosi, of the Catholic Women Association for St. Nicholas, said their church is the heartbeat of their communities, although they drive in from across Houston as far away as Tomball, Richmond, Pearland and Friendswood.

Fonge, who immigrated first to England from Cameroon in 1994 and then to the U.S. to work in engineering, said, “The cultural aspect of singing in our language and dancing as part of our worshipping God brings us all together.”

Samosi said, “Our children are also very involved in the church, bringing forth the gifts and learning in religious classes. It’s a calling from back home because we want them to remember our culture and grow in their faith.”

More than 89,000 Cameroonians live in the U.S., according to U.S. Census data, with more than 1,000 in the Houston area.

“We’re asking for those in the community to help us with renovations. We are raising $1 million, but we need more to demolish one of the buildings with asbestos and build new classrooms,” Fonge said.

The Mass procession in the church hall for the 11 a.m. Cameroon Mass begins with women dressed in blue and white skirts adorned with the Virgin Mary singing and dancing as they sweep the floor with straw brooms. “We are cleaning the way for the Word of God,” they say. 
Keyboard and bongo drums blend with the choir singing as the procession arrives at the altar.

Visiting priest Father Brian Okono celebrated the 11 a.m. Mass while pastor, Father Ibeh, was visiting Nigeria.

In Father Okono’s homily on the importance of Baptism, Father Brian tells the congregation, “You need to be active in your Baptism. We anoint that baby to arm them with the spirit of God and keep the devil away. But if you dance with the devil, you lose your eternity with God.”

As the children bring up their offerings and then the adults follow, the choir sings, “Yamba, Yamba eh mabonza, (Receive our gifts and sacrifices). They add in English, “He was born of the Holy Spirit. Do you believe? Yes, I believe.”

Among the Cameroon traditional dress and modern suits, a new visitor wearing jeans, a brown leather jacket, and cowboy boots offers his gift. After he and others were welcomed at the end of the Mass, he was asked how he liked the differences in the universal Mass. 

Salvador Hernandez said he usually attends Blessed Sacrament church, but needed to find a new time for Mass that day. Through the internet, he found the 11 a.m. Mass at St. Nicholas.
“I think this was a beautiful Mass. Very uplifting music and mostly in English, but also the bilingual song sheet allowed me to follow along in the singing,” he said.

Anita Sendze, St. Nicholas parishioner, volunteer and sacristan, said the historic church is looking forward to continue into the future. Although a world traveler, leaving Cameroon to live in Italy as she attended medical school, she remembers ongoing conflict.

“In Africa, we had warriors to stand by to protect the Word of God to prevent attack,” she said. “There are still martyrs being made in Africa.”

In November 2025, Pope Leo XIV called for prayers and support for Christians in Africa, noting Nigeria where he said “many Christians have died.” He lamented the kidnapping of priests, Catholics and students in Nigeria and Cameroon, where two priests were kidnapped on Nov. 15, 2025, according to Agenzia Fides, a Vatican news agency. Four other priests were also kidnapped, reports said.

Still, in Houston, Sendze said they continued forward in hope.

“But here we have 300 families registered, and we are working all week and then come together to give thanks,” she said. “We are looking forward to expanding, especially classrooms for our young.” In 2025, nearly 50 youth and leaders attended the annual Archdiocesan Youth Conference.

To learn more about St. Nicholas Parish, visit stnicholashouston.org.