About Good Shepherd · Marietta, Oklahoma
Church of the Good Shepherd is a Catholic mission parish serving the small community of Marietta in Love County, Oklahoma, in the southern part of the state near the Red River. It belongs to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City and operates as a mission of Church of the Holy Cross in Madill. Good Shepherd is celebrated locally as the first Catholic church ever built in Love County, and it serves a largely Hispanic congregation with bilingual (English/Spanish) Masses on Sundays and Thursdays. The parish's distinctive Spanish-mission-style church building is filled with stained-glass windows rescued from the demolished chapel of the historic Marland Mansion in Ponca City.
- Established
- 1993 (mission); church dedicated December 2, 2006
- Patron
- Good Shepherd (Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd)
- Rector
- Fr. Oby Zunmas (served Good Shepherd together with Holy Cross, Madill; per the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's 2024 pastoral assignments, reassigned effective January 2025 to Assumption Church, Duncan and Immaculate Conception Church, Marlow, after a sabbatical July–December 2024)
- Diocese
- Metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City (Mission of Church of the Holy Cross, Madill)
Why belong here
Good Shepherd offers the only Catholic parish church ever built in Love County, with bilingual (English/Spanish) Sunday Mass at 12:30 PM and a Thursday evening Mass at 6:00 PM. The mission draws on the heritage of Saint Mary's in Ardmore and the pastoral care shared with Holy Cross in Madill, and it is known locally for the rescued Marland Mansion stained-glass windows that fill the Spanish-mission-style church with light. It is a small, family-sized community that welcomes Catholics and visitors in a part of southern Oklahoma where, for many years, there was simply no Catholic presence at all.
Mass times at Good Shepherd
Weekly Mass schedule
History of Good Shepherd Parish
The mission was founded in 1993 by Father Ernest Flusche, a former pastor of Saint Mary's Church in Ardmore, who felt called to provide a Catholic presence in Marietta because 'there was nothing in Marietta for the Catholic people.' What began as an idea planted by Father Flusche grew through the labor of successive Saint Mary's pastors — Fathers Vrana, Lamb, and O'Toole — and especially through the bilingual, largely Hispanic congregation in Marietta, working alongside associate pastor Fr. Juan Manuel Guerrero, who raised much of the construction money locally.
- Mission founded in 1993 by Fr. Ernest Flusche
- Fathers Vrana, Lamb, and O'Toole of Saint Mary's, Ardmore, supported the effort
- Church dedicated December 2, 2006, by Archbishop Eusebius Beltran
- First Catholic church ever built in Love County, Oklahoma
The Church Building & Marland Mansion Windows
The Good Shepherd church is built in a Spanish-mission style, and its most celebrated feature is the collection of stained-glass windows rescued from the chapel of the Marland Mansion in Ponca City before that historic mansion was demolished. The largest of those windows, 'Jesus, the Resurrected Christ,' is positioned over the altar; fourteen smaller windows along the north and south walls depict the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, seven on each side. Father Flusche described their faceted glass as appearing 'more like mosaics than traditional stained-glass,' and Father Guerrero saw the windows' rescue and reuse as the answer to a prayer he had offered years earlier in the Marland Mansion chapel itself.
- Spanish-mission-style architecture
- Windows originally from the Marland Mansion chapel in Ponca City
- 'Jesus, the Resurrected Christ' above the altar
- 14 side windows depicting the corporal and spiritual works of mercy
The Blessed Virgin Window from Guadalajara
In addition to the Marland Mansion windows, a separate stained-glass window depicting the Blessed Virgin was created in Guadalajara, Mexico, by J. Francisco Guerrero, the brother of founding associate pastor Fr. Juan Manuel Guerrero. Francisco personally carried the window from Mexico to Marietta as a gift to the congregation, and he also produced the initial architectural plans for the church.
- Stained-glass Blessed Virgin window from Guadalajara, Mexico
- Created and donated by J. Francisco Guerrero, brother of Fr. Juan Manuel Guerrero
- Francisco Guerrero also drew the initial plans for Good Shepherd
Dedication Day — December 2, 2006
Archbishop Eusebius Beltran served as principal celebrant of the dedication and altar-consecration Mass, joined in the sanctuary by Fathers Thomas O'Toole, Juan Manuel Guerrero, John Vrana, Louis Lamb, Stephen Bird, Donald Wolf, and Robert Wood. In his homily, Archbishop Beltran told the congregation that the new church would be 'a sign of faith for all people of this area' and exhorted them to invite neighbors and fallen-away Catholics to come inside. The late Archbishop Charles A. Salatka had earlier suggested a Marian dedication, since 'Marietta' means 'Little Mary' and the town lies in Love County; the community instead chose Good Shepherd.
- Dedication Mass: December 2, 2006
- Principal celebrant: Archbishop Eusebius Beltran
- Concelebrants included Fr. Thomas O'Toole, Fr. Juan Manuel Guerrero, Fr. John Vrana, Fr. Louis Lamb, Fr. Stephen Bird, Fr. Donald Wolf, Fr. Robert Wood
- Late Archbishop Charles A. Salatka had suggested a Marian patron for the town
Affiliation & Pastoral Care
Good Shepherd is a mission of Church of the Holy Cross in Madill within the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Oklahoma City. Pastoral care has been shared with Holy Cross; Fr. Oby Zunmas served as pastor of Holy Cross with Good Shepherd as his mission parish and was the parish's contact priest. He was awarded the 2019 Blessed Stanley Rother Faithful Shepherd Award by his brother priests. Under the Archdiocese's 2024 pastoral assignments, Fr. Zunmas was given a sabbatical from July through December 2024 and then reassigned effective January 2025 to Assumption Church, Duncan, and Immaculate Conception Church, Marlow.
- Mission of Church of the Holy Cross, Madill
- Archdiocese of Oklahoma City
- Fr. Oby Zunmas, pastor (Holy Cross/Good Shepherd)
- 2019 Blessed Stanley Rother Faithful Shepherd Award recipient
- 2024 reassignment: sabbatical July–December 2024, then Duncan/Marlow January 2025
Mass & Worship Schedule
Good Shepherd celebrates Mass bilingually in English and Spanish, in keeping with its largely Hispanic congregation. Sunday Mass is offered at 12:30 PM and a weekday Mass on Thursday at 6:00 PM. The parish falls under the pastoral care of Holy Cross, Madill.
- Sunday Mass — 12:30 PM (Bilingual)
- Thursday Mass — 6:00 PM (Bilingual)
- Pastoral care shared with Holy Cross, Madill
Visiting & Contact
Good Shepherd Parish is located at 200 NW 8th Avenue (also described as Broadway and N 8th) in Marietta, Oklahoma 73448, in Love County. The parish office can be reached at (580) 276-9604. The mission is listed by the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City's parish finder and on several Catholic Mass-times aggregators under the name Good Shepherd Parish or Church of the Good Shepherd.
- 200 NW 8th Ave., Marietta, OK 73448 (Broadway and N 8th)
- Phone: (580) 276-9604
- Listed in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City parish finder
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Ernest Fluschestarted mission 1993
Former pastor of Saint Mary's, Ardmore; planted the idea of a Catholic church in Marietta and wrote fundraising letters across the Archdiocese.
- Fr. Juan Manuel Guerreroassociate pastor of Saint Mary's, Ardmore, during mission years; present at Dec. 2, 2006 dedication
Associate pastor at Saint Mary's; worked with the largely Hispanic congregation in Marietta to raise funds; his brother Francisco drew the initial plans and donated the Blessed Virgin window from Guadalajara.
- Fr. Oby Zunmaspastor of Holy Cross, Madill, with Good Shepherd, Marietta, as a mission; received 2019 Blessed Stanley Rother Faithful Shepherd Award; reassigned January 2025
Contact person for Good Shepherd; awarded the 2019 Blessed Stanley Rother Faithful Shepherd Award by his fellow priests.