About St. Anne · Fayette, Mississippi
St. Anne is a small Roman Catholic parish serving the small southwest Mississippi town of Fayette, the county seat of Jefferson County. It is part of the Diocese of Jackson and is one of the historic African-American Catholic communities that grew out of the Holy Family Parish mission system based in Natchez. Today the parish offers Mass three times a week in English and is administered by a priest of the Society of St. Joseph (Josephites), the religious community that has long ministered to Black Catholics across the region.
- Patron
- St. Anne
- Rector
- Reverend Anthony Okwum, SSJ
- Diocese
- Diocese of Jackson
Why belong here
St. Anne is a welcoming, small-town Catholic community in the heart of Jefferson County with regular Sunday and weekday Mass and confession before each liturgy. It is one of southwest Mississippi's historic African-American Catholic parishes, served by Josephite priests and supported for years by the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth, and is a home for Catholics from Fayette and the surrounding rural communities who want a faithful sacramental life close to home.
Mass times at St. Anne
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Sunday: 10:30 AM – 10:45 AM
- Wednesday: 5:30 PM – 5:45 PM
- Thursday: 9:30 AM – 10:00 AM
Parish Identity & Diocese
St. Anne is a parish of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jackson. It is one of several historically African-American Catholic faith communities in the southwest corner of the diocese, linked to Holy Family Parish in Natchez and to the rural missions that grew out of Holy Family's early-20th-century outreach.
- Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi
- Roman-Latin Rite
- Historically part of the Black Catholic mission network of southwest Mississippi
Pastor & Staff
St. Anne is administered by Reverend Anthony Okwum, SSJ, a priest of the Josephite Fathers (Society of St. Joseph). He simultaneously serves Holy Family Parish in Natchez and St. John the Baptist Mission in Cranfield — the three linked Black-Catholic mission parishes of southwest Mississippi that trace back to Father Matthew Morrissey's early-1900s work.
- Administrator: Reverend Anthony Okwum, SSJ
History & Heritage
St. Anne's story in Fayette is inseparable from Holy Family Parish in Natchez, the first African-American Catholic parish in Mississippi (founded 1885/1890; current church dedicated 1894). After Father Matthew Morrissey, SSJ, was assigned to Holy Family in 1901, he began traveling the back roads of Adams, Jefferson and surrounding counties to find scattered Catholic families. Under his care Holy Family spawned four missions: Cranfield (St. John the Baptist, dedicated 1916), Harriston, Laurel Park and Springfield. St. Anne in Fayette is one of those mission descendants, and today it continues the rural-mission tradition of bringing the sacraments to small communities across southwest Mississippi.
- Descended from Holy Family Parish in Natchez, founded 1885/1890
- Roots in Father Matthew Morrissey, SSJ's missionary circuit begun in 1901
- Morrissey era saw mission churches built at Cranfield (1916), Harriston, Laurel Park and Springfield
- St. Anne is one of those southwest-Mississippi mission parishes
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at St. Anne
Alongside the Josephite priests, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN) have served St. Anne Parish in Fayette. The SCNs have ministered in Mississippi since 1868 and from 1976 partnered with Sacred Heart Southern Ministries to provide pastoral care and social services in rural, predominantly African-American communities. Their work at St. Anne has included pastoral ministry and outreach to the wider Fayette community.
- Sisters of Charity of Nazareth (SCN) presence at St. Anne
- SCN Mississippi ministry began 1868 in Holly Springs
- SCN–Sacred Heart Southern Ministries partnership from 1976 onward
Visit & Contact
Parishioners and visitors can reach St. Anne at its Harriston Road location just east of Fayette, or by mail via P.O. Box 159. The parish office can be reached by phone or email for sacramental needs, and the official parish website remains the main source of bulletins and parish announcements.
- Address: 89 Harriston Road, Fayette, MS 39069
- Mailing: P.O. Box 159, Fayette, MS 39069-0159
- Phone: (601) 431-8059
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://stannefayette.com/