About St. Mary Magdalen · Earth, TX, Texas
St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church is a small rural parish in the farm-and-ranch community of Earth, Texas, in Lamb County on the West Texas Llano Estacado. Established in 1955, it is one of five Christian congregations serving the town of roughly 900 people, and is part of the Catholic Diocese of Lubbock, which covers 25 counties of West Texas. The parish shares its pastor with neighboring Immaculate Conception in Muleshoe and gathers a Sunday Mass attendance of about 75 faithful in its church on U.S. Highway 70.
- Established
- 1955
- Patron
- Saint Mary Magdalen
- Rector
- Rev. Nahum Lopez
- Diocese
- Diocese of Lubbock
Why belong here
St. Mary Magdalen offers the small-town Catholic faithful of northwestern Lamb County a weekly place to worship close to home, with a Sunday noon Mass and a Tuesday evening Mass in English, plus Tuesday-evening confession and adoration. As a tight-knit rural parish clustered with Immaculate Conception in nearby Muleshoe, it is the kind of community where the priest knows his people by name and Mass attendance of around 75 reflects real, committed families. For anyone in the Earth, Springlake, or surrounding High Plains farming area looking for a Catholic home with traditional devotions and personal pastoral care, St. Mary Magdalen is a welcoming parish within the Diocese of Lubbock.
Mass times at St. Mary Magdalen
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Tuesday 6:00 PM (and by appointment)
Adoration times
- Tuesday 6:00 PM (per the diocesan directory; check parish bulletin for current schedule)
Parish Identity & History
St. Mary Magdalen Catholic Church was established in 1955 to serve the Catholic families of Earth, a small farming community platted in 1924 on the former Halsell/Mashed O Ranch lands of northwestern Lamb County. It is one of five churches in town and has remained a quiet, stable parish within the Catholic Diocese of Lubbock since its founding nearly seventy years ago. Because Earth is a tiny rural town (population roughly 901 at the 2020 Census), the parish is a familiar gathering place for Catholic families across the surrounding cotton- and-grain-farming country of the Llano Estacado.
- Established 1955
- Located in Earth, Lamb County, West Texas
- One of five Christian churches in the town of Earth
- Under the Diocese of Lubbock (est. 1983)
Clergy & Parish Leadership
St. Mary Magdalen is pastored by Rev. Nahum Lopez, who was assigned to the parish (and to neighboring Immaculate Conception, Muleshoe) on March 22, 2024. He resides at 805 E. Hickory Street in Muleshoe and travels to Earth for Mass and other pastoral duties. The 2023–24 diocesan directory also lists a Parish Catechetical Leader, Mari Ceballos, as parish staff.
- Rev. Nahum Lopez — Pastor (assigned March 22, 2024)
- Mari Ceballos — Parish Catechetical Leader (per 2023–24 directory)
Visiting Earth, Texas
Earth is a tiny, friendly town on the High Plains of northwestern Lamb County, where State Highway 70 and Farm Road 1055 meet at the only stop light. Roughly 70 miles northwest of Lubbock and 40 miles east of the New Mexico line, it is the kind of small West Texas community where the parish church on East Highway 70 is a familiar landmark. Visitors are welcome at the simple weekday and Sunday Mass schedule; parking is available at the church.
- Town founded 1924 by the Halsell family on former Mashed O Ranch land
- Population about 901 (2020 Census)
- Located at the junction of U.S. Highway 70 and Farm Road 1055
- Roughly 70 miles NW of Lubbock, 45 miles W of Plainview, 40 miles E of New Mexico
Contact & Practical Information
Parishioners and visitors can reach the parish office by phone Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to noon. Because the pastor resides in Muleshoe, the mailing address for the parish office is the Hickory Street address in Muleshoe; the church itself sits on East Highway 70 in Earth.
- Church address: 806 E. US Highway 70, Earth, TX 79031
- Mailing address: 805 E. Hickory Street, Muleshoe, TX 79347
- Phone: (806) 272-4384
- Office hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
- Email: [email protected]
- Diocesan listing: catholiclubbock.org/Parishes/EarthSaintMaryMagdalen.html
Diocese of Lubbock
St. Mary Magdalen is one of 60 parish churches in the Catholic Diocese of Lubbock, which was established in 1983 and encompasses 25 counties on the Llano Estacado and Rolling Plains of West Texas. The diocese serves more than 136,000 Catholics in this wide swath of small towns, farming communities, and ranch country. St. Mary Magdalen is part of a wider Lubbock Catholic family that includes parishes from Amarillo-area cotton country to the South Plains cities.
- Diocese of Lubbock — established 1983
- 25 counties on the Llano Estacado and Rolling Plains
- More than 136,000 Catholics across 60 parish churches
- Lamb County (where St. Mary Magdalen sits) has about 3,288 Catholics
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Leonardo Pahamtang
Listed as Pastor of St. Mary Magdalen, Earth and Immaculate Conception, Muleshoe on the diocesan stewardship site; served before Fr. Mercado.
- Rev. Heriberto MercadoAssigned July 1, 2018 – March 2024
Pastor during the 2023–24 diocesan directory year; led the parish alongside Immaculate Conception, Muleshoe.
- Rev. Nahum LopezAssigned March 22, 2024 – present
Current pastor; also pastor of Immaculate Conception, Muleshoe, with residence at 805 E. Hickory Street, Muleshoe.