St. James

About St. James Catholic Parish

St. James (Santiago Apostol) is a Roman Catholic parish of the Diocese of Beaumont, located at 3617 Gulfway Drive (State Hwy. 87) in Port Arthur, Texas. Founded on October 12, 1929, by Fr. James M. Kirwin under Bishop Christopher E. Byrne of the (then) Diocese of Galveston, it was the fifth Catholic parish in Port Arthur and grew to more than 1,400 families at its peak. Today St. James is grouped with the two parishes it gave birth to — St. Joseph (1951) and St. Catherine of Siena (1954) — and shares its clergy and parish office with them at St. Joseph. The parish is bilingual (English / Spanish) and serves a strikingly diverse congregation of Black, Cajun, Irish and Italian American families alongside newcomers from Mexico, Central and South America, Vietnam, the Philippines and East India.

• Founded October 12, 1929
• Diocese of Beaumont
• Bilingual parish (English / Spanish)
• Pastoral grouping with St. Joseph and St. Catherine of Siena

Parish History

St. James traces its origin to Bishop Christopher E. Byrne's October 1929 appointment of Fr. James Kirwin to build a parish for the then-isolated northeast Port Arthur communities of Pear Ridge and Griffing Residential Park. Three and a half acres on Gulfway Drive were purchased for $6,000, and a 450-seat frame church was dedicated January 19, 1930. By 1938 the parish had outgrown the frame church; Fr. Kirwin toured the country, chose All Saints in St. Louis as his model, and Beaumont architect A. Babin adapted the plans. Ground was broken January 13, 1939; the cornerstone was laid April 16, 1939; and the present octagonal sanctuary was completed at a cost of $115,000 with an original seating capacity of 850.

• 1929 — parish founded by Fr. James Kirwin
• 1930 — first frame church dedicated Jan. 19
• 1939 — present octagonal sanctuary; cornerstone Apr. 16
• 1948 — Bishop Byrne High School formed (consolidating St. James and St. Mary's)
• 1951 — St. Joseph Parish created from St. James
• 1954 — St. Catherine of Siena Parish created from St. James
• 1960 — interior modernized and air-conditioned; Ministries Building built
• 1969 — new convent built
• 1977 — Kirwin Hall (parish hall) built, named for founding pastor
• 1985 — St. James and St. Joseph schools merge as Central Catholic School
• 1996 — renamed Sr. Thea Bowman Academy
• 2004 — Sr. Thea Bowman Academy closes
• 2023–2025 — three-parish pastoral grouping formed under St. Joseph

Architecture & Sanctuary

The sanctuary is a Grecian-Roman Neo-Classical church built in 1939 on the plan of a regular octagon — an unusual shape symbolizing the Eight Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount, which are depicted in the stained-glass windows. Five circular windows honor the five Marian mysteries of the Rosary (the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity of Christ, the Assumption, and the Crowning of Mary). Designed by Beaumont architect A. Babin and built by A.L. Hays of Port Arthur, the furnished church cost $115,000 and originally seated 850. The interior was modernized and air-conditioned in 1960; the Ministries Building (the original rectory) was added in 1960, the convent in 1969 and the Kirwin Hall parish hall in 1977.

Sacraments

The sacraments at St. James are coordinated through the shared parish office at St. Joseph. First Reconciliation and First Communion are typically received in second grade after two years of Faith Formation (September–May). Confirmation preparation is provided through the shared youth-ministry program. Couples preparing for marriage are asked to contact the parish office at least six months in advance. Anointing of the Sick is available on request.

• Baptism — preparation classes for parents and godparents
• First Reconciliation & First Communion — two years of Faith Formation, normally 2nd grade
• Confirmation — preparation through youth ministry
• Marriage — six-month notice; couple-preparation program
• Anointing of the Sick — on request through the parish office
• Reconciliation — Thursday 6–7 PM at St. Joseph; Saturday at St. Joseph (3:30–5:30) and St. Catherine (2:45–3:30); by appointment

Faith Formation, OCIA & Religious Education

Faith Formation (Parish School of Religion) for grade-school children runs September through May each year and is administered through the shared parish office at St. Joseph's. Children typically receive First Reconciliation and First Communion in second grade after two years of formation. Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA, formerly RCIA) prepares unbaptized adults and those seeking full communion with the Church for the sacraments of initiation, ordinarily received at the Easter Vigil. The bilingual program is offered in both English and Spanish.

Ministries & Prayer Groups

Parish life at St. James is marked by a long list of lay ministries — liturgical (lectors, Eucharistic ministers, altar servers, ushers, sacristans), catechetical (Faith Formation, OCIA), pastoral (visiting the sick and homebound, bereavement), and devotional (the Healing-Cancer-with-Jesus prayer group, the Rosary, Stations of the Cross in Lent). The parish also maintains a Parish Pastoral Council, Finance Council, Knights of Columbus council shared with the two sister parishes, and outreach to the poor and homebound.

• Grupo de Oración Sanando Cancer con Jesús — prayer for cancer patients and families
• Liturgical ministries (English & Spanish): lectors, EMHCs, altar servers, ushers, sacristans
• Parish Pastoral Council & Finance Council
• Knights of Columbus (shared council with St. Joseph / St. Catherine)
• Outreach to the poor and homebound
• Bereavement / funeral ministry
• Faith Formation catechists and aides
• Youth ministry and Confirmation preparation

Schools, Vocations & Parish Legacy

St. James Grammar and High Schools together enrolled more than 1,400 students at their peak in the mid-20th century. St. James High School and St. Mary's High School consolidated in 1948 to form Bishop Byrne High School. In 1985 St. James and St. Joseph parish schools merged as Central Catholic School under the Dominican Sisters of Houston; the school was renamed the Sr. Thea Bowman Academy in 1996 and served Port Arthur until it closed in 2004, when its students were folded into St. Catherine School. The parish has fostered 25 men who have gone on to be ordained priests — a remarkable legacy for a parish of its size.

• 1929–1931 — first Catholic school built and opened under the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Houston
• 1940 — new grammar school built
• 1948 — Bishop Byrne High School formed
• 1985 — Central Catholic School formed under Dominican Sisters
• 1996 — renamed Sr. Thea Bowman Academy
• 2004 — school closed; students transferred to St. Catherine School
• 25 priestly vocations from the parish to date