About Us
Our parish community began as a mission in 1913...
Our parish community began as a mission in 1913, with a small group of families in East Fort Bend County, under the patronage of St. Patrick. The original church, at the corner of Fifth and Orchard Streets in Missouri City (our current footprint), was partially destroyed by a hurricane in 1915. In 1928, Bishop Christopher E. Byrne visited the mission church and declared it not worthy to house the Blessed Sacrament, and St. Patrick’s was closed.
A movie theater/dance hall in Stafford, was donated in 1932, to become our new place of worship; the building was moved to Highway 90-A between Avenues C and D, in Stafford, Texas. Land adjoining the church in Stafford was donated in 1948, and a new larger church was built to accommodate an every growing population. In 1955, the Basilian Fathers took over the supervision of the church and we became a mission church of St. Theresa’s Church in Sugar Land, Texas. In 1969, Bishop John L. Morkovsky, formally designated our mission church as a parish.
As our parish continued to grow and flourish...
As our parish continued to grow and flourish, in 1972, the parish council identified the need forHoly Family Church - Prior to 2013 Remodel a larger church and more parking. The Stafford church, with a capacity of 220 persons, was too small for the more than 1,000 registered families. Since there was not enough land available at the Stafford site to accommodate such a large expansion, the original site of the St. Patrick Chapel was purchased from the Diocese for a nominal sum. In 1974, the parish hall and education classrooms were dedicated by Bishop Morkovsky. For the next four years, the parish hall served a dual purpose as our church. On the Feast of the Holy Family, December 30, 1979, our new church was dedicated by Bishop Morkovsky. By 1996, we had outgrown our office and meeting space; and the parish hall was remodeled into office and meeting spaces, and a new parish hall was built.
After 55 years of continuous spiritual care, in 2007, the Basilian Fathers reluctantly returned care of Holy Family parish to the Archdiocese. Immediately thereafter, the Oblates of the Sacred Heart were appointed to minister to the faithful of Holy Family parish.
In 2010, Fr. Sunny Joseph, O.S.H, our pastor, initiated a Lenten project to raise funds for a crucifix for our worship space. The program was an enormous success – the new crucifix was installed on December 24, 2010.
On April 1, 2013, the worship space was once again moved to the parish hall to allow for a complete remodel of the 1979 church building. Our courtyard was renovated to include a Centennial Paver Garden, and a life-size statue of the Holy Family was donated and installed in the center of the renovated courtyard. The classroom wing adjacent to Highway 90-A was remodeled to allow for a new entrance to our courtyard from that parking lot. On December 15, 2013, his Eminence, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo re-dedicated our remodeled church as we celebrated our Centennial Mass. The dedication of the new religious education/conference center was celebrated on March 2, 2014.
Holy Family is now one of the most culturally diverse parishes in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. This diversity has helped Holy Family parish maintain a vibrant community for over 100 years – we look forward, with faith, to the future.
