About St. Mary · Saint Vincent, Arkansas
St. Mary Church is a small Roman Catholic parish serving the rural community of Saint Vincent in Conway County, Arkansas. It belongs to the Diocese of Little Rock and sits in the River Valley Deanery, with its church located at 11 Kaufman Lane. The parish traces its roots to the late 19th-century German Catholic colony along the Arkansas River and was historically served by the Spiritans (Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers). Today it is led by Fr. Mark Abban, a priest from Ghana, with a small staff handling religious education, youth ministry, music, and parish administration.
- Established
- 1881
- Patron
- Blessed Virgin Mary (St. Mary)
- Rector
- Fr. Mark Abban
- Diocese
- Diocese of Little Rock
Why belong here
St. Mary offers a small, intimate Catholic community in rural Conway County with daily and weekly Mass, Tuesday morning Eucharistic Adoration, and the Sacrament of Reconciliation before each weekend Mass. Active parishioners can get involved in religious education for children, the parish youth ministry (CYM), two parish choirs, and the Knights of Columbus, which hosts parish fundraisers such as spaghetti dinners supporting local charities like the Conway County Center for Exceptional Children.
Mass times at St. Mary
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Before Mass on Saturday and Sunday (Saturday Vigil ~3:30–3:50 p.m.; Sunday ~7:00–7:20 a.m., per third-party listings)
Adoration times
- Tuesday 8:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. (Eucharistic Adoration)
About St. Mary Church, Saint Vincent
St. Mary is a small Roman Catholic parish in Conway County, Arkansas, part of the Diocese of Little Rock's River Valley Deanery. The parish serves the rural community of Saint Vincent, mailing through Hattieville, and maintains a simple weekly schedule of Masses, Confession, and a Tuesday block of Eucharistic Adoration. Its roots reach back to the German Catholic colony that the Spiritans planted along the Arkansas River in the late 1800s.
- Parish type: Roman Catholic, diocesan parish (historically Spiritan)
- Deanery: River Valley
- County: Conway
- Diocese: Little Rock
History and Origins
The parish is a living remnant of the St. Joseph Colony, founded in 1878 by Spiritan Father Joseph Strub after he and other Holy Ghost Fathers were expelled from Germany by Bismarck's Kulturkampf. With the support of Bishop Edward Fitzgerald of Little Rock and a land arrangement with the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, Strub recruited German, Swiss, and Austrian Catholic settlers to lands stretching from Marche to Atkins. Mission churches and schools were built to anchor the colony, including the first Catholic church at Saint Vincent — Our Mother of Perpetual Help — erected under Strub's direction in 1881. That building was destroyed (a tornado in 1892 damaged colony structures) and the current St. Mary Church was constructed in 1930 to continue serving the descendants of the original settlers.
- 1878 — Father Joseph Strub founds St. Joseph Colony; Holy Ghost Fathers arrive in Conway
- 1880 — Strub publishes The Leitstern recruitment pamphlet in St. Louis
- 1881 — Our Mother of Perpetual Help Church built in Saint Vincent under Strub
- 1889 — About 90 Catholic families around Saint Vincent
- 1930 — Present St. Mary Church built, replacing the original mission church
- 2010 — Spiritans begin transition of Conway County parishes (including St. Mary) to diocesan administration
Spiritans and the Conway County Mission
For more than a century St. Mary, along with St. Joseph in Conway and St. Joseph in Center Ridge, was served by the Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans). In April 2010 the order announced it was reassessing its U.S. commitments so that it could refocus on its founder's mission to evangelize the poor, opening the way for the Diocese of Little Rock to assume pastoral care of these historic parishes. The parish today remains a small rural mission with deep ties to that legacy.
- Order: Congregation of the Holy Ghost Fathers (Spiritans)
- 131 years of Spiritan presence in Conway County before the 2010 transition discussions
- Parish now staffed by the Diocese of Little Rock
Parish Staff
The parish is led by a small team that combines clergy, administration, faith formation, youth ministry, and music leadership. Fr. Mark Abban serves as pastor of both St. Mary in Saint Vincent and St. Joseph in Center Ridge.
- Pastor: Fr. Mark Abban — ordained Nov. 22, 2003; home diocese Archdiocese of Cape Coast, Ghana; appointed to Little Rock Aug. 6, 2013; birthday May 21
- Secretary: Connie Rees — (501) 208-6494
- Coordinator of Religious Education / DRE: Brianna Beck — (501) 289-0446
- CYM (Youth Ministry) Director: Katie Hartman — (501) 215-3722
- Choir Directors: Emerita Sponer and Mary Frances Gottsponer
Parish Ministries and Organizations
St. Mary supports the core areas of a small Catholic parish: faith formation for children, youth ministry, music, and parish life through the Knights of Columbus. The Knights have hosted community fundraisers such as spaghetti dinners, with proceeds going to local charities like the Conway County Center for Exceptional Children.
- Religious Education / CCD (children's faith formation)
- CYM — Catholic Youth Ministry
- Parish Choir (two directors)
- Knights of Columbus parish council
Visiting and Contact Information
St. Mary welcomes visitors and new parishioners at its location on Kaufman Lane in the small community of Saint Vincent in Conway County. Office hours run weekday mornings, and the parish can be reached by phone or via the email listed on third-party Mass-time directories.
- Address: 11 Kaufman Lane, Saint Vincent, AR 72063
- Mailing address: 11 Kaufman Ln., Hattieville, AR 72063
- Phone: (501) 354-3206
- Email: [email protected]
- Office hours: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. – noon