About St. Francis of Assisi Mission · Elfrida, Arizona
St. Francis of Assisi Mission is a small rural Catholic mission church serving the ranching community of Elfrida in the high Sulphur Springs Valley of southeastern Arizona. It is a mission of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Pearce and part of the Diocese of Tucson, bringing regular sacramental life — including Sunday and Wednesday Mass — to a remote corner of Cochise County. For decades the mission was also served by Franciscan friars of the Province of St. Barbara (the 'Ite Nuntiate' fraternity), who lived locally, prayed morning prayer in the church, and walked alongside the migrant population of the borderlands before the friars' ministry there was returned to diocesan control in 2018.
- Patron
- St. Francis of Assisi
- Diocese
- Diocese of Tucson
Why belong here
St. Francis of Assisi Mission offers Catholics in the rural Sulphur Springs Valley a true spiritual home — a place where Sunday Mass at 10:30 a.m. and a Wednesday evening Mass bring the Eucharist within reach of families who would otherwise drive long distances across ranch country. As a mission of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Pearce, it keeps the small-church warmth of a tight-knit ranching community while sharing in the wider sacramental and pastoral life of the Diocese of Tucson. Visitors and parishioners alike are drawn by the devotion of long-time caretaker Angie Valdez and the simple, prayerful rhythm of life that has welcomed the faithful — and visiting Franciscan friars — for decades.
Mass times at St. Francis of Assisi Mission
Weekly Mass schedule
Overview & Identity
St. Francis of Assisi Mission is a small rural Catholic mission church serving Elfrida, Arizona, in the high Sulphur Springs Valley of southeastern Arizona (Cochise County). It is a mission of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Pearce and falls under the Diocese of Tucson, whose bishop as of late 2025 is Bishop James Misko. The mission provides Sunday and Wednesday Mass to a community of ranching families for whom travel to a parish church would be a real hardship — the very situation the diocese cites when describing the role of its mission churches.
- Type: Mission (of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, Pearce)
- Diocese: Tucson
- Location: Elfrida, AZ (Cochise County)
- GCatholic Church ID: 56219
Mass & Worship Schedule
Public Mass is offered twice a week at St. Francis of Assisi Mission, making regular sacramental life possible in this remote corner of the Sulphur Springs Valley. The Sunday morning Mass and a Wednesday evening Mass are the heart of the mission's worship life, with visitors and parishioners welcome to join.
- Sunday Mass — 10:30 a.m. (English)
- Wednesday Mass — 6:00 p.m. (English)
- Mission of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish (970 N Hwy. 191, Mile Post 51, Pearce, AZ 85625) — phone (520) 826-3869
History
St. Francis of Assisi Mission grew up as an outreach of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Pearce, providing Mass and sacraments to Catholic families in the Elfrida area of the Sulphur Springs Valley. The parent parish is dated by GCatholic to 1969. In 2003, pastor Father Bob Brazaskas and parishioners from both St. Jude and St. Francis published a joint family directory, noted proudly in the August 2003 issue of the diocesan newspaper.
- Mission of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, Pearce (parent parish dated 1969)
- 2003 — Parish/mission family directory published under Father Bob Brazaskas
- Documented in diocesan coverage as a beloved mission church serving a community for whom travel to a parish would be a 'real hardship'
Franciscan Era in Elfrida
For many years the mission was shepherded by Franciscan friars of the Province of St. Barbara, who lived in Elfrida at a house they called the 'Ite Nuntiate' fraternity. The friars made the mission church a regular place of prayer, walking with the local ranching and migrant communities of the borderlands and engaging with immigrant-detention ministry through organizations like the Florence Project. In June 2018 they hosted the relics and icon of St. Junípero Serra at the mission. That same month, however, the province formally relinquished pastoral care of St. Francis of Assisi Mission (along with St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Los Angeles) back to the Diocese of Tucson, citing a lack of friars available to continue the work.
- Served by Franciscan Friars of the Province of St. Barbara ('Ite Nuntiate' fraternity)
- June 18–26, 2018 — hosted the relics and icon of St. Junípero Serra
- June 24, 2018 — pastoral care returned to the Diocese of Tucson
- Friar Sam Nasada and other friars documented in the Province of St. Barbara newsletter
Parish Staff & Pastoral Care
Because St. Francis of Assisi is a mission church (not a resident parish), it is cared for pastorally from St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Pearce. Parishioners and visiting friars have long shared in its day-to-day life — including Angie Valdez, a faithful parishioner and church caretaker who was noted in the Franciscans' 2018 newsletter for regularly joining the friars for morning prayer in the church.
- Angie Valdez — parishioner and church caretaker
- Father Bob Brazaskas — pastor as of August 2003
- Pastoral care now provided through St. Jude Thaddeus Parish, Pearce
Community & Outreach
Even as a small mission, St. Francis of Assisi has been a point of connection for the wider Sulphur Springs Valley community. During the Franciscan era the friars from the Ite Nuntiate house in Elfrida were actively involved with the migrant population of the area, supporting the Florence Project and visiting migrants detained in Eloy. The mission has also been a place of pilgrimage and prayer for visiting religious communities passing through southeastern Arizona.
- Long-time presence in the Sulphur Springs Valley ranching community
- Connection to migrant outreach and the Florence Project during the Franciscan years
- Host site for the 2018 St. Junípero Serra relics and icon
Visiting & Location
The mission is located on Jefferson Road in Elfrida, Arizona, in the heart of the Sulphur Springs Valley between the Chiricahua and Dragoon mountains. Because it is a mission of St. Jude Thaddeus Parish in Pearce, visitors seeking confession, marriage preparation, or other pastoral services are typically directed to Pearce, about 20 miles to the north along US Highway 191.
- Address: 4110 W Jefferson Road, Elfrida, AZ 85610
- Parent parish: St. Jude Thaddeus, 970 N Hwy. 191 (Mile Post 51), Pearce, AZ 85625
- Parent parish phone: (520) 826-3869
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Bob Brazaskasat least 2003
Listed in the August 2003 Diocese of Tucson column as pastor of St. Jude Parish, Pearce, with St. Francis of Assisi Mission, Elfrida, under his care at the time the parish directory was published.