About Our Lady of the Snows · Elizabethtown, North Carolina
Our Lady of the Snows is a Catholic mission parish in Elizabethtown, North Carolina, belonging to the Diocese of Raleigh. Built in 1941 by parishioners under the direction of Father Frank J. Howard (then pastor of Sacred Heart in Whiteville), it serves the Elizabethtown area with bilingual ministry in English and Spanish. Today the mission is staffed by a pastor (Rev. G. Fernando Meléndez) and Pastoral Administrator Marie Worytko, and operates from 701 W. Broad Street with Saturday vigil Masses in both languages.
- Established
- 1941
- Patron
- Our Lady of the Snows
- Rector
- Rev. G. Fernando Meléndez
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh
Why belong here
Our Lady of the Snows offers a small, bilingual Catholic community in Elizabethtown where English- and Spanish-speaking families worship side by side at Saturday vigil Mass. The mission is rooted in nearly a century of Catholic history in southeastern North Carolina, and its faith-formation team (led by Pastoral Administrator Marie Worytko) personally walks parishioners through the sacraments — including adult Confirmation, as Bishop Luis Zarama celebrated there in 2024. If you live in or are passing through Bladen County, you'll find a welcoming, family-sized parish where the priest and staff know the people by name.
Mass times at Our Lady of the Snows
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday — when a priest is available (per Diocese of Raleigh parish page)
Parish Identity & History
Our Lady of the Snows is a Catholic mission parish at 701 W. Broad Street in Elizabethtown, NC, within the Diocese of Raleigh. Founded in 1941 by Father Frank J. Howard and his parishioners, it remains a Mission of Sacred Heart Church in Whiteville. The parish is named for the ancient Marian title of Our Lady of the Snows, and the parish's feast is kept on August 5.
- Founded: 1941
- Founder: Father Frank J. Howard, pastor of Sacred Heart, Whiteville
- Patron: Our Lady of the Snows (feast August 5)
- Status: Mission parish of Sacred Heart, Whiteville
Clergy & Staff
The mission is currently served by Rev. G. Fernando Meléndez as pastor and Marie Worytko as Pastoral Administrator. Marie Worytko leads faith formation at the mission and has served as a sponsor for adult Confirmation candidates. Listed historic visiting priests during the early 1960s include Fr. Kendall (1961), Fr. Herman Bausch (1961–62), and Fr. Joseph Bumann (1962).
- Pastor: Rev. G. Fernando Meléndez
- Pastoral Administrator: Marie Worytko
- Faith-formation lead: Marie Worytko
Faith Formation & Confirmation
Faith formation at the mission is led by Pastoral Administrator Marie Worytko, who prepares children and adults for the sacraments of initiation. In March 2024 Bishop Luis Zarama joined the community for a bilingual Confirmation Mass at which 15 candidates were sealed with the Holy Spirit — among them Larry Stelfox, a military veteran whose Catholic faith journey had been delayed by service and deployment, with Marie Worytko serving as his sponsor.
- Faith Formation Director: Marie Worytko
- Bilingual Confirmation preparation (English/Spanish)
- Sponsor ministry for adult candidates and returning Catholics
Bilingual & Hispanic Ministry
Our Lady of the Snows has emerged as a bilingual parish with a robust Spanish-speaking presence, evidenced by the dual-language vigil Mass schedule and the diocese's bilingual Confirmation liturgy in 2024. The parish serves Spanish-speaking Catholics throughout Bladen County and surrounding areas, and the parish email and office hours are maintained to support both language communities.
- Saturday Vigil: 5:00 PM English; 6:30 PM Spanish
- Bilingual sacramental celebrations
- Office hours in English; ministry to Spanish-speaking families
Visiting, Contact & Hours
The mission office is open Monday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and on Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Visitors and parishioners can reach the parish by phone at (910) 862-4998 or by email at [email protected]. The parish website is https://ladyofsnowselizabethtown.org/. The physical address is 701 W. Broad Street, Elizabethtown, NC 28337, located west of US 701 Highway at the corner of W. Broad and Robeson Streets.
- Phone: (910) 862-4998
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: ladyofsnowselizabethtown.org
- Office hours: Mon 8:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; Thu 8:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.; Fri 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
- Address: 701 W. Broad Street, Elizabethtown, NC 28337
Regional Catholic Context
Our Lady of the Snows is one of a cluster of historic Catholic missions founded across southeastern North Carolina between 1929 and 1941 by Father Frank J. Howard — others include Sacred Heart in Southport (1941), St. Paul's in Maaco (long defunct), and earlier missions at Tabor City and Chadbourn that no longer exist. Our Lady of the Snows briefly supervised the Sacred Heart mission in Southport in 1954–1955, before Southport finally became a canonical parish in 1964. The mission remains part of that family of parishes in the Diocese of Raleigh.
- Diocese: Raleigh
- Sister parish: Sacred Heart, Whiteville
- Part of a network of southeastern NC missions founded by Fr. Frank J. Howard, 1929–1941
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Frank J. Howard1929–1939 (founding period, as pastor of Sacred Heart, Whiteville)
Diocesan missionary priest for Brunswick and Columbus counties who founded the Elizabethtown mission that built its church in 1941.
- Fr. Kendall1961
Listed on diocesan timeline as serving Our Lady of the Snows parish in 1961.
- Fr. Herman Bausch1961–1962
Listed on diocesan timeline as serving Our Lady of the Snows, 1961–62.
- Fr. Joseph Bumann1962
Listed on diocesan timeline as serving Our Lady of the Snows in 1962.
- Rev. G. Fernando Meléndezcurrent
Current pastor as listed on the Diocese of Raleigh parish page.