On May 11, 1935, Bishop Lucey,
later Archbishop of San Antonio, met with a group of
Lubbock Catholics to consider building a church in
the general area of Texas Technological College. St.
Elizabeth’s Church, the second Catholic Church
in Lubbock, was completed 1935. Built in the
Spanish Colonial Revival style, on Sunday, March 29,
1936 the ceremony of dedication took place. Bishop
Lucey presided at the dedication.
Built within walking distance to Texas Tech,
St. Elizabeth’s now serves as the University
Parish, ministering not only to the many permanent
parishioner families, but, also, the students of Texas
Tech through many organizations and ministries.
Saint Elizabeth’s Parish was the founding
parish for Christ the King Cathedral and St. John Neumann
parishes and the founding parish for Christ the King
School and the school formerly located at St John Neumann.
In June 1981 the Parish voted to erect a new
Catholic Student Center at the corner of Broadway and
Avenue X. The Center, paid in full by the generous
donations of the parishioners, was dedicated by Bishop
Michael J. Sheehan, Bishop of Lubbock, and later Archbishop
of Santa Fe, on October 9, 1983. The Catholic
Student Center, through the sole support of St. Elizabeth’s
Parish, continues to minister to a growing population
of university students now numbering close to 650 Catholic
individuals.
Over the years St. Elizabeth’s has expanded
to accommodate the growing needs of the parish. An
expansion of the parish hall in the early 1980’s
allowed the ever growing population of the parish to
conduct dual masses, with standing room only, for Sunday
masses. After planning and contributing to a
new church building fund for more than twenty years,
a new sanctuary, featuring beautiful faceted windows,
a Reservation Chapel and bell tower and seating for
900, was completed in November of 2002 and dedicated
on May 4, 2003 by Bishop Placido Rodriguez.
From humble beginnings, to the present, a span
of 70 years, St. Elizabeth’s University Parish
has seen tremendous growth and today is a viable parish
catering to the spiritual and social needs of a large
spectrum of the Catholic population of the Lubbock
and the South Plains area. |
