About St. Ferdinands Mission · Arivaca, Arizona
St. Ferdinand's Mission is a small Roman Catholic mission church in the unincorporated high-desert community of Arivaca, Arizona, about 30 miles west of the parent parish in Tubac. It is one of three worship sites under the pastoral umbrella of St. Ann's Parish & Its Missions, alongside Assumption Chapel in Amado. The mission shares a Sunday Mass schedule, sacramental record-keeping, and priests with St. Ann's, which is supervised by the Diocese of Tucson. Its single Sunday Mass — celebrated in English — has long been a quiet but important touchstone for the Catholics scattered across Arivaca's townsite and the surrounding '40s' (forty-acre homesteads).
- Established
- 1970
- Patron
- St. Ferdinand (of Castile)
- Rector
- Rev. Joseph Esson
- Diocese
- Diocese of Tucson
Why belong here
St. Ferdinand's is a small mission church that brings the Sunday Eucharist to a far-flung ranching and homesteading community in the Sonoran desert, where most residents otherwise drive more than half an hour to the nearest Catholic parish. As part of St. Ann's Parish & Its Missions, it gives the Catholics of Arivaca and the surrounding '40s' a regular weekly Mass in their own town, plus full access — through the parent parish — to confession on Saturday afternoons, Eucharistic Adoration on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays, a two-year religious-education and sacramental-preparation program for children, and ministries such as the Knights of Columbus, a Men's Prayer Group, a Women's Prayer Group, lectors, cantors, and extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion to the homebound. The doors of the mission are open to anyone who wishes to enter.
Mass times at St. Ferdinands Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 4:30 PM Saturday at St. Ann's Parish, Tubac
- By appointment (contact parish office)
Adoration times
- 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month, 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM, at St. Ann's Parish, Tubac
St. Ferdinand's Mission, Arivaca
St. Ferdinand's Mission is the Catholic mission church serving the community of Arivaca, an unincorporated town in the rolling Sonoran-desert hills of southern Arizona, roughly between Tucson and the Mexican border. The mission shares its pastor, office, and sacramental records with the parent St. Ann's Parish in Tubac, about 30 miles to the east. A single Sunday Mass is celebrated at the mission each week, and the parish office and staffed ministries all operate out of the parent parish in Tubac.
- Address: 17140 W Arivaca Road, Arivaca, AZ 85645
- Sunday Mass: 1:00 PM
- Mailing: PO Box 2911, Tubac, AZ 85646
- Phone: (520) 398-2646
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: stannsparishtubacaz.org
- Diocese: Diocese of Tucson
History of the Mission
St. Ferdinand's Mission was built in 1970 by a local Arivaca resident, Tony Prevor. According to the community history compiled by Fred Noon, it was the first permanent church of any denomination in Arivaca; the First Baptist Church and the 'Blue Church' (Arivaca Christian Center) followed later. Arivaca itself has a much older Catholic past — Father Eusebio Kino's late-17th-century map of Pimeria Alta included the visita of San Martín de Aribac — but the modern townsite and its surrounding 'forties' only filled in with newcomers, ranchers, and retirees during the 1970s and 1980s, after the Boice family's Arivaca Ranch was subdivided. The mission is today supervised by St. Ann's Parish in Tubac, whose own church history on its site reaches back to the 1740s.
- Built 1970 by Tony Prevor — Arivaca's first permanent church
- Father Eusebio Kino mapped the visita of San Martín de Aribac in the 1690s
- Father Ed Carscallen is remembered for his years of service to St. Ferdinand's
- Parent parish, St. Ann's, dates its Tubac site to the 1740s
Mass & Liturgy
The mission's weekly liturgy is a single Sunday Mass celebrated in English at 1:00 PM. Because the mission is a satellite of St. Ann's Parish, parishioners at St. Ferdinand's also share in the liturgies of the parent church: a 5:00 PM Saturday vigil Mass, a 9:00 AM Sunday Mass, and weekday Mass Tuesday through Friday at 9:00 AM — all at St. Ann's in Tubac. Saturday-vigil and 9 AM Sunday Masses are also livestreamed on the parish's Facebook page.
- Sunday 1:00 PM at St. Ferdinand's (English)
- Saturday 5:00 PM vigil at St. Ann's, Tubac
- Sunday 9:00 AM at St. Ann's, Tubac (Facebook livestream)
- Tuesday–Friday 9:00 AM at St. Ann's, Tubac
Ministries & Parish Life
Parishioners of all ages across St. Ann's Parish and its missions — St. Ferdinand's and Assumption Chapel — serve the community through a range of lay ministries. These include prayer groups for men and women, liturgical ministries (lectors, cantors and music ministers, ushers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion), and the parish's pastoral-care outreach to the homebound. The Knights of Columbus is also active in the parish community.
- Men's Prayer Group
- Women's Prayer Group
- Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
- Eucharistic Ministers to the Homebound
- Lectors
- Cantors / Music Ministries
- Ushers
- Knights of Columbus
Sacraments
All seven sacraments are coordinated through the St. Ann's parish office for the missions. Parents requesting Baptism download a Request for Baptism form and Godparent Questions and submit them with a copy of the child's birth certificate; a baptism class follows. Older children (age 7+) needing Baptism, First Reconciliation, First Communion, or Confirmation are enrolled in the parish's two-year Religious Education program. Couples seeking marriage must contact the parish office at least six months before setting a date. Anointing of the Sick is available on request, and Quinceañera blessings are scheduled at least three months in advance.
- Baptism (infants and children)
- First Reconciliation (grades 3–7)
- First Holy Communion (2-year program)
- Confirmation (2-year program; age 14+)
- Marriage (6 months advance notice required)
- Anointing of the Sick
- Quinceañera (3 months advance notice)
- Funerals and Memorials
Religious Education & Youth Formation
The parish runs a Religious Education program that serves St. Ann's and its two mission sites, St. Ferdinand's and Assumption Chapel. Children in grades 3–7 who need the sacraments enter a two-year preparation program beginning with First Reconciliation and continuing to First Communion. Teens in grades 8–12 who need any of the sacraments — Baptism, First Reconciliation, First Communion, or Confirmation — register for a parallel two-year youth-sacrament program. Confirmation specifically requires that the candidate be at least 14 years of age. Registration forms for the 2023–2024 academic year are posted on the parish website.
- Two-year First Communion preparation (grades 3–7)
- Two-year youth-sacrament track (grades 8–12)
- Confirmation: minimum age 14
- Baptism for children age 7+ routed through Religious Education
Parish Office & Contact
The mission is administered from the St. Ann's Parish & Its Missions office at 2231 East Frontage Road in Tubac. Office hours are Monday and Tuesday 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Wednesday 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM, Thursday and Friday 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM, and the office is closed on weekends. Mail for St. Ann's and its missions — including St. Ferdinand's — should be addressed to PO Box 2911, Tubac, AZ 85646. Fax number is (520) 398-3036.
- Office: 2231 E Frontage Road, Tubac, AZ 85646
- Mailing: PO Box 2911, Tubac, AZ 85646
- Phone: (520) 398-2646
- Fax: (520) 398-3036
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri 9 AM–1 PM; Wed 10 AM–1 PM
Pastor & Staff
St. Ferdinand's Mission is pastored by Rev. Joseph Esson, who also serves as pastor of the parent St. Ann's Parish in Tubac and Assumption Chapel in Amado. Father Esson, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Lafia in Nigeria, was ordained in December 1994 and came to the Diocese of Tucson approximately five years before his Tubac assignment. He previously served as pastor of St. Bartholomew Parish in San Manuel for three years. He is currently studying for a Master of Divinity. A former priest remembered fondly by the Arivaca community, Father Ed Carscallen, also served St. Ferdinand's.
- Rev. Joseph Esson — current pastor (ordained December 1994, Diocese of Lafia, Nigeria)
- Father Ed Carscallen — former priest, remembered in Arivaca community history
Patron Saint: St. Ferdinand of Castile
The mission is named for St. Ferdinand III, King of Castile and León (1199–1252), who helped reunify Christian Spain, supported the great universities and the Order of Preachers, and is traditionally honored as a just and devout ruler. His feast day is celebrated on May 30. The mission's simple name, 'St. Ferdinand's,' connects the small Arivaca congregation to a centuries-old Spanish-Catholic tradition that runs through the Southwest — a fitting tie for a mission whose parent parish, St. Ann's in Tubac, traces its own site to Spanish colonial mission days of the 1740s.
- St. Ferdinand III of Castile and León (1199–1252)
- Feast day: May 30
- Helped reunify Castile and León, supported the Dominicans and the universities
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Ed Carscallen
Remembered in Arivaca community history (visitarivaca.com) for his years of service to St. Ferdinand's Mission.
- Rev. Joseph Esson
Current pastor of St. Ann's Parish & Its Missions (which includes St. Ferdinand's). Ordained December 1994, originally from the Catholic Diocese of Lafia, Nigeria; previously pastor of St. Bartholomew in San Manuel; studying for a Master of Divinity.