A History of Holy Ghost Parish
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August 5, 2022On June 23, 1946, Fr. John Bauer became the superior of the newly established Holy Ghost Parish in Houston – a parish without land or church. Fr. Bauer initiated the planning for the new parish alone, boarding in a private home, and holding weekday Masses at St. Anne’s Parish and Sunday Masses at the Bellaire City Hall Council Chamber, while he searched for land to purchase. By the end of July, Fr. Bauer had located and purchased land in Houston adjacent to the suburb of Bellaire for both the church and the Redemptorist rectory.
By November of 1946, Fr. Bauer had been joined by Fr. Arthur Patton and Fr. John Zimmer. Weekday Masses moved temporarily to the house chapel and beginning on December 25, 1946, Sunday Masses were held in the chapel of the nearby Sisters of the Incarnate Word. The Redemptorist community was officially erected on January 29, 1947. Only two months later, the first parish fair was held to begin raising funds to pay down debt and build a church. The Altar Society and the Holy Name Society were initiated early and took part in fundraising efforts.
In April of 1948, Fr. Bauer purchased three old army barracks to be salvaged and reused for a church, school and parish hall on the parish grounds. Unfortunately, Fr. Bauer died on September 8, 1948 and Fr. Patton, who had recently transferred away, returned as local superior and pastor. He oversaw the opening of the new school less than a month later, on October 1, 1948. The Sisters of the Holy Ghost supervised the school as well as the catechism classes for public school children.
As Houston and Bellaire expanded, more affluent families moved into the area, bringing the financial support needed to hold a building program for the parish in the 1950s and early 1960s. The first permanent structure on the parish grounds was a wing of the school constructed in 1951. By 1956, the final wing of the school was completed, and construction began on the convent for the sisters and a rectory for the fathers. At the start of 1957, the parish began a fundraising campaign to build a permanent church.
From the initial Mass in 1946 with 65 parishioners, the parish grew to include 1050 families in 1956. By 1962, the parish had grown so large that the decision was made to split it in half and create a new parish. That same year the Redemptorists gave up ministering at St. Anne mission station in Tomball, TX, which had been under their care since 1952. Despite the decrease in church and school attendance that resulted from the division of the parish, Holy Ghost Parish continued its plans to build a permanent church. Parishioner numbers began to increase again, and the new church was dedicated on June 19, 1963.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the Redemptorists initiated several new ministries, including ministry to the deaf, and incorporated more lay participation in liturgies. Despite increasing parish numbers, school enrollment declined. A new community center was constructed and opened in May of 1971, coinciding with the silver anniversary celebration of the founding of the parish.
Starting in the 1970s and into the 1980s, an apartment building program in the area shifted the demographics of the neighborhood. The parish welcomed new Black and Hispanic members, which led to the addition of Spanish language Masses and ministry focused on the Spanish-speaking community.
(Photos submitted by Fr. Greg May & Archivist Jennifer Vess.)
