About St. Luke · Warren, Arkansas
St. Luke Church is a small Catholic mission in Warren, Arkansas, the only Catholic church in Bradley County. It belongs to the Diocese of Little Rock, sits in the Ouachita Deanery, and is pastored and attended from Holy Redeemer Church in nearby El Dorado. The parish today is made up of roughly 300 mostly Spanish-speaking Catholic families from across the region, and Mass is celebrated in Spanish each Sunday evening. After outgrowing its century-old Gothic Revival sanctuary, the community dedicated a new church campus in November 2019 — a renovated former farmers' co-op that nearly doubled its seating and gave the parish its first real classrooms and parking lot.
- Established
- 1948
- Patron
- St. Luke the Evangelist
- Rector
- Fr. Edward (Eddie) D'Almeida
- Diocese
- Diocese of Little Rock (Ouachita Deanery)
Why belong here
St. Luke is the only Catholic parish in Bradley County and a true community church for Spanish-speaking Catholic families across south-central Arkansas. Worshippers are drawn by a vibrant Spanish-language Sunday Mass, a weekly Wednesday evening rosary, and ready availability of confession before Mass. The new 350-seat church campus with classrooms, a parking lot, and ten acres of land is being built up from scratch by the parish itself — with longtime parishioners, food sales, and diocesan partners like the One Church campaign and Catholic Extension all pitching in — making St. Luke a place where belonging means helping shape the future of a small but growing mission.
Mass times at St. Luke
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- 30 minutes before Mass
Parish Overview & Identity
St. Luke Church is a Catholic mission in Warren, Arkansas, the only Catholic parish in Bradley County, and part of the Diocese of Little Rock's Ouachita Deanery. Because it is a mission, it is pastored and attended from Holy Redeemer Church in El Dorado, where the pastor resides and where the parish phone line rings. The diocese's directory lists about 300 parishioners, drawn largely from Bradley and surrounding counties, and the community today is overwhelmingly Hispanic, with Sunday Mass celebrated in Spanish.
- Diocese of Little Rock — Ouachita Deanery
- Bradley County, Arkansas
- Attended from Holy Redeemer Church, El Dorado
- Current address: 200 N. Bradley St., Warren, AR 71671
- C/DRE: Teresa Simon
History
The parish's roots lie in a 1907 Gothic Revival sanctuary originally built as St. Mary's Episcopal Church by Minnesota-born executives of the Southern Lumber Company. After that Episcopal congregation faded, the Catholic Diocese of Little Rock bought the building in 1948 and renamed it St. Luke's, and for decades the small church served Catholics across Bradley, Ashley (until 1965), and Drew (until 1978) counties. As the Hispanic Catholic community grew through the late 20th century, the parish outgrew the 180-seat sanctuary and spent roughly twenty years saving for a replacement. After purchasing a former farmers' co-op in 2017, St. Luke became the first partner of the diocese's One Church campaign in 2018 and dedicated its new, nearly-doubled church on November 23, 2019.
- 1907 — Building constructed as St. Mary's Episcopal Church by Southern Lumber Company executives from Minnesota; Bishop William Montgomery Brown bought the lot for $275.
- Late 1920s — Episcopal services end; building falls empty by the late 1930s.
- 1948 — Catholic Diocese of Little Rock purchases the church and renames it St. Luke's.
- 1965 — Ashley County Catholic ministry transferred elsewhere.
- 1978 — Drew County Catholic ministry transferred elsewhere.
- Late 1990s — Membership becomes overwhelmingly Hispanic.
- May 29, 1998 — Original 1907 church listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP #98000581).
- November 15, 2017 — Parish purchases a 7.5-acre former farmers' co-op for $200,000.
- September 2018 — Diocese of Little Rock names St. Luke the first One Church partner parish.
- November 23, 2019 — Bishop Anthony B. Taylor dedicates the new St. Luke Church.
The Historic 1907 Church
The 1907 building that housed St. Luke for seventy years is a textbook early-20th-century Gothic Revival church, distinguished by the fact that its walls are made of concrete blocks molded to imitate both smooth and rusticated ashlar — the only known example of this kind of construction in the region. It carries a pointed-arch bell tower topped by a steep pyramidal roof and cross, an asymmetrical front facade with a small bell-cast entrance porch, Gothic-arched stained-glass windows (replaced in 1948), and an interior of beaded board hung with bold dark wooden trusses with pendants. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998, it has since been sold by the diocese.
- L-shaped plan with Gothic Revival fenestration
- Concrete blocks molded to look like smooth and rusticated ashlar
- Beaded-board interior with dark wooden trusses and pendants
- Stained-glass windows replaced in 1948; bell-cast porch entrance added then as well
- National Register of Historic Places, listed May 29, 1998 (NRHP #98000581)
The New 2019 Church Campus
Because the 1907 sanctuary had its original roof, cracking walls, and tree roots undermining the foundation, repairs were not realistic, and the 180-seat building regularly overflowed on Sunday evenings. In November 2017 the parish bought a 7.5-acre former farmers' co-op (warehouse, store, and mechanic's shop) for $200,000, and after a $1.3 million capital campaign — boosted by nearly $150,000 from One Church donors across Arkansas and $140,000 from Catholic Extension — Bishop Anthony B. Taylor dedicated the finished campus on November 23, 2019. The new church seats 350, adds seven classrooms, an office, and a choir area, gives the parish its first real parking lot, and leaves room for a future soccer field on the back acreage.
- 7.5–10 acres purchased November 2017 for $200,000
- $1.3 million total capital campaign
- Nearly $150,000 from One Church statewide donors; $140,000 from Catholic Extension
- Seating for 350 (nearly double the old 180)
- Seven classrooms, an office, choir area, and a still-unfinished parish hall
Architectural Details & Furnishings of the New Church
The new sanctuary was designed to echo the old. Niches shaped like the Gothic arches of the 1907 building now house statues of Our Lady of Guadalupe and St. Luke — and a small ox statue, the traditional symbol of St. Luke as sacrifice, sits beside him. Because the warehouse walls have no windows, three stained-glass windows removed from behind the old altar — the Alpha and Omega, the Chi Rho, and one with the papal keys — have been framed and backlit in the new space, with the Chi Rho and Alpha/Omega destined for placement behind the new altar and the papal-keys window to be installed in the confessional. Many furnishings came as gifts from across the diocese and beyond.
- Altar donated by St. Scholastica Monastery, Fort Smith
- Pews cut down to fit from pews originally in St. Joseph Cathedral, Jefferson City, Missouri
- Speakers from Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church, Little Rock
- Classroom desks and chairs from Christ the King School, Little Rock
- Pendant lights are the only brand-new amenity inside the worship space
- Stations of the Cross, ambo, crucifix, and tabernacle brought from the old church
Pastoral Leadership
St. Luke is currently pastored by Fr. Edward (Eddie) D'Almeida, who also serves as pastor of Holy Redeemer Church in El Dorado and resides there. He was ordained July 11, 2009, celebrates Mass in both English and Spanish (and in the Latin New Order of the Mass), and his birthday is October 2. Teresa Simon serves as the parish's Catechesis / Director of Religious Education (C/DRE). Because the parish is a mission of Holy Redeemer, the simplest way to reach Father D'Almeida is through the Holy Redeemer Church office in El Dorado.
- Fr. Edward (Eddie) D'Almeida — Pastor; ordained July 11, 2009; birthday October 2
- Teresa Simon — C/DRE (Catechesis / Director of Religious Education)
- Parish attended from Holy Redeemer Church, El Dorado
- Best contact: Holy Redeemer Church office — (870) 863-3620; [email protected]
Faith Formation & Religious Education
Religious education (catechesis) for the parish's children is coordinated by Teresa Simon, C/DRE. For years in the old sanctuary, the religious-education building could schedule only two classes at a time, which limited how many children the parish could serve. The seven new classrooms added in the 2019 campus expansion have changed that, giving St. Luke the capacity to schedule CCD classes for multiple age groups simultaneously and to grow faith formation alongside its growing worshipping community.
- C/DRE: Teresa Simon
- Seven new classrooms dedicated in 2019
- Capacity to schedule multiple CCD classes at the same time
- Religious-education building (former) only had room for two simultaneous classes
Parish Life & Community
St. Luke is a close-knit mission built largely by Hispanic Catholic families from across Bradley County and surrounding areas, many of them working in agriculture, timber, and the poultry industry. Parishioners have historically shouldered much of the parish's fundraising themselves — setting aside second collections, holding food sales after Sunday Mass (tacos and other homemade foods), and even auctioning small items like a karaoke machine — to save toward a larger church. As one longtime parishioner told Catholic Extension, 'For immigrants, we are far from home, so we need a place to have community with our people, to express our faith and connect with God. With a church, it is not as hard to be away from home.'
- About 300 parishioners, mostly Hispanic families
- Food sales after Sunday Mass as a long-standing fundraiser
- Second collections dedicated to the building fund for two decades
- Many parishioners work in agriculture, timber, and poultry processing
- Roughly one-third of local residents live below the poverty line
Outreach: One Church & Catholic Extension
In September 2018 the Diocese of Little Rock launched One Church: Unite Arkansas in Faith and Mission, a campaign administered by Catholic Charities of Arkansas that invites every parish in the state to support a single rural mission each year. St. Luke was chosen as the very first One Church partner parish, and donors across Arkansas contributed nearly $150,000 to the building fund. Catholic Extension added another $140,000 to help pay down the mortgage on the renovated co-op campus. The campaign's message was simple: a one-time boost to help a struggling rural parish become a thriving community.
- St. Luke named first One Church partner parish in 2018
- Nearly $150,000 from One Church donors across Arkansas
- $140,000 grant from Catholic Extension
- Campaign administered by Catholic Charities of Arkansas
- Rebecca Cargile, contact at Catholic Charities of Arkansas: (501) 664-0340
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Edward (Eddie) D'Almeidacirca 2014–present
Current pastor; resides in El Dorado; led the parish through the 2017 purchase of the co-op property and the 2019 dedication of the new church.