Capital Campaign

The parish of St. Francis de Sales is a perfect composite or example of the city of Houston and our neighborhood. It is a gathering place and home for people of many cultures and diverse backgrounds. On Sunday, July 15th in 1962 Fr. Albert Beck with approximately 800 families gathered at Sharpstown Country Club to celebrate their first Mass as the... parish family of St. Francis de Sales officially established on July 1st, 1962 by Very Reverend Wendelin J. Nold, Bishop of the Diocese of Galveston. St. Francis de Sales parish was planned to be situated in the very heart of Sharpstown and designated to serve the new and rapidly developing neighborhoods of Southwest Houston. The historian of the parish and founding parish member recalls that beyond the boundaries of the new parish were vast fields of farm and ranch land. Very soon under the leadership of the Pastor, Fr. Beck and enthusiastic parishioners, St. Francis de Sales quickly grew as a vibrant faith home to newly arrived Houstonians. Many young and mature families who were purchasing new homes in the newly developed neighborhoods comprised the parish roster. Fr. Beck immediately focused on the faith education of the children of the parish. The plans for the church complex included a day school which would also provide space for CCE classes already in full swing with a teeming enrollment. The Dominican Sisters, with Sr. Justin, O.P. as first principal, were invited to teach at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School. The Dominican Sisters and trained lay catechists began then the legacy of faith education for all children of the parish that continues even now. The very early years of St. Francis de Sales parish coincided with Vatican II and the realization in the universal church of the necessity for lay participation. Fr. Beck answered this realization and encouraged the faithful to take their newly recognized positions in the church seriously. Liturgy has always been the focus and inspiring tradition at St. Francis de Sales, therefore parishioners were ...Read More