About St. Peter Vietnamese · Dallas, Texas
St. Peter Vietnamese Catholic Church (Giáo Xứ Thánh Phêrô) is a Roman Catholic parish in the Diocese of Dallas serving the Vietnamese Catholic community of East Dallas, Texas. Founded in 1998 by Vietnamese refugees who had originally settled under the umbrella of St. Pius X Catholic Parish after the fall of South Vietnam in 1975, the community purchased the former Reinhardt Bible Church on Garland Road and converted it into their own house of worship. Today the parish is pastored by Father Minh Pham, C.M., a Vincentian priest, and runs the full sacramental life of the parish in the Vietnamese language, including weekday and Sunday Masses, confession, faith formation, and a vibrant youth society.
- Established
- 1998
- Patron
- St. Peter (the Apostle)
- Rector
- Rev. Minh Pham, C.M.
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas
Why belong here
St. Peter's is a tight-knit Vietnamese Catholic parish where faith, language, and culture are kept alive together across generations. Worship is celebrated entirely in Vietnamese, the Vietnamese Youth Eucharist Society (Thiếu Nhi Thánh Thể) gives children a place to learn Vietnamese, the Bible, and to lead parts of the Sunday liturgy, and the parish's Vincentian pastor keeps the community oriented toward charity — including annual support for Vincentian missions among the poor in Kenya. Visitors and new parishioners are welcomed into a small, family-sized community of roughly 375 families where members know one another by name.
Mass times at St. Peter Vietnamese
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Tuesday 6:30 PM – 7:00 PM
- Saturday 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM
About St. Peter Vietnamese Catholic Parish
St. Peter Vietnamese Catholic Church (Giáo Xứ Thánh Phêrô) is a Roman Catholic parish in the Diocese of Dallas that serves the Vietnamese Catholic community of East Dallas. The parish identifies itself with the verse from 1 Peter 4:10: 'Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms.' All Masses and the sacraments are celebrated in Vietnamese, and the parish sees itself as a place where Vietnamese Catholics in Dallas can believe, belong, and become — keeping their faith, language, and culture alive across generations.
History of the Parish
St. Peter's history begins in 1975 with the fall of South Vietnam. Vietnamese refugee families resettled in Dallas under the care of St. Pius X Catholic Parish, which helped them with food, shelter, and jobs. For decades the Vietnamese community worshipped at St. Pius, eventually drawing an average of 400 people plus choir to a single Vietnamese Sunday Mass, and they ran their own marriage-prep and religious-education classes. By 1998 the community was large enough to split into three Vietnamese parishes. The families who formed St. Peter's bought the Reinhardt Bible Church on Garland Road for $700,000 and converted the former Baptist worship space, offices, and classrooms into their own parish plant. The parish has since paid off its debt entirely.
- 1975 – Vietnamese refugee families resettle under St. Pius X Catholic Parish, Dallas.
- Decades under St. Pius – Vietnamese Sunday Mass averaging 400 attendees plus choir; marriage prep and religious instruction classes run by the community.
- 1998 – Community splits into three Vietnamese parishes: St. Peter's, Giáo Xứ Đức Mẹ Hằng Cứu Giúp (Mother of Perpetual Help), and Sacred Heart of Jesus.
- 1998 – St. Peter's parishioners purchase the Reinhardt Bible Church on Garland Road for $700,000.
- Today – Debt-free parish of roughly 375 families, the smallest of four Vietnamese parishes in the Dallas area.
Clergy and Pastoral Leadership
The parish is pastored by Rev. Minh Pham, C.M., a Vincentian (Congregation of the Mission) priest and native of Vietnam who was ordained in 1991. Before coming to St. Peter's, Fr. Minh served in pastoral assignments in California and Arizona. He was assigned to Dallas by then-Vincentian Provincial Fr. Perry Henry, C.M., at the request of the Bishop of Dallas after the previous priest left — Fr. Perry, who was friends with the bishop, offered a bilingual Vincentian to the diocese. Fr. Minh is known for running St. Peter's largely on his own, with the help of volunteers for cleaning, the bulletin, and announcements. Beyond his parochial duties he is well loved for his energetic, animated sermons and for taking the youth group on annual camping trips to build friendships among the young parishioners and with the church.
- Rev. Minh Pham, C.M. — Pastor, Vincentian (Congregation of the Mission)
- Volunteers — assist with cleaning, bulletin assembly, and announcements
Mass and Sacramental Schedule
St. Peter Vietnamese Catholic Church celebrates Mass entirely in Vietnamese. The full weekly schedule includes a Saturday Vigil Mass, two Sunday Masses (the noon Mass is suspended during summer), five weekday evening Masses, and two morning Masses on Wednesday and Saturday. Reconciliation is offered on Tuesday evenings and before the Saturday Vigil Mass.
- Saturday Vigil: 6:00 PM (Vietnamese)
- Saturday morning: 8:00 AM (Vietnamese)
- Sunday: 10:00 AM (Vietnamese); 12:00 PM (Vietnamese, September–April only)
- Weekday evenings: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday at 7:00 PM (Vietnamese)
- Weekday mornings: Wednesday and Saturday at 8:00 AM (Vietnamese)
- Holy Days: 7:00 PM (Vietnamese)
- Confession: Tuesday 6:30–7:00 PM; Saturday 5:30–6:00 PM
Faith Formation and Religious Education
The parish runs a PSR (Parish School of Religion) program for children, held in the classrooms of the parish complex on Garland Road. RCIA is also offered for adults preparing to enter the Catholic Church. Marriage preparation has been part of the community's life since its days at St. Pius X and continues at St. Peter's today.
- PSR – parish faith formation program for children
- RCIA – Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
- Marriage preparation classes
- Adult faith enrichment through homilies and the parish Facebook feed
Vietnamese Youth Eucharist Society (Thiếu Nhi Thánh Thể / TNTT)
The Vietnamese Youth Eucharist Society is the heart of intergenerational ministry at St. Peter's. Children from elementary through high school gather on Sundays to learn Vietnamese prayers, songs, the Bible, and the Ten Commandments of TNTT. Youth members are easily spotted by their uniform of dark pants, white button-ups, and colored scarves — green for Au Nhi (seedlings), red for Huynh Trưởng (coordinating leaders and mentors), the highest rank in the society. The youth actively lead the noon Mass: older students sing in the choir loft playing piano and guitar, and 12-year-olds through teens serve as lectors, reading in both Vietnamese and English. Fr. Minh code-switches between Vietnamese and English in his preaching to address the youth directly, and he leads them on annual camping trips to strengthen friendships and ties to the church.
- Green-scarved members — Au Nhi (seedlings/beginners)
- Red-scarved members — Huynh Trưởng (coordinating leaders/mentors)
- Lectors at noon Mass — ages 12 through teens, reading in Vietnamese and English
- Musicians — youth playing piano, guitar, and singing in the choir loft at the noon Mass
- Annual youth camping trip led by Fr. Minh Pham, C.M.
Ca Đoàn Emmanuel (Emmanuel Choir)
The Emmanuel Choir (Ca Đoàn Emmanuel) is the Vietnamese-language choir that serves the 12:00 noon Mass at St. Peter's. The choir maintains its own companion website (cdemmanuel.org) with mass song lists, MP3 recordings of Vietnamese hymn settings (such as 'Ngôi Lời,' 'Tình Ngài Không Phai,' 'Xin Hãy Nhận Lấy,' and 'Broken & Beloved'), and a section for Sunday Responsorial Psalms (Thánh Vịnh Đáp Ca) in Vietnamese using the current text from the Conference of Vietnamese Catholic Bishops (Hội Đồng Giám Mục Việt Nam).
- Serves the 12:00 noon Sunday Mass
- Publishes Vietnamese Responsorial Psalms from the Vietnamese Bishops' Conference
- MP3 recordings of Vietnamese hymns available online
- Links to the radio show 'Đồng Hành Ánh Sáng Tin Mừng' and 'HeartSongs Tâm Tình Ca' concerts
Outreach and Parish Life
St. Peter's life extends beyond the church walls into cultural preservation and missionary charity. Although the parish is small, its members keep their Vietnamese Catholic identity alive through a Facebook page where they share articles in Vietnamese on Catholic religious life and the Dallas religious community, and they regularly support the Vincentian missions among the poor in Kenya — a direct link to Fr. Minh's religious family. Fundraising dinners and a couple of festivals each year help support parish operations.
- Parish Facebook page (facebook.com/giaoxuthanhphero) — articles in Vietnamese on Catholic and Dallas religious life
- Annual fundraising dinners
- Two parish festivals per year
- Annual donations in support of Vincentian missions among the poor in Kenya
Visiting and Contact
St. Peter Vietnamese Catholic Church is located at 10123 Garland Road in East Dallas (ZIP 75218), in the 75218 corridor. The parish office can be reached at (214) 321-9493 (fax 214-320-2219), and email is [email protected]. The parish also maintains an active Facebook page at facebook.com/giaoxuthanhphero/.
- Address: 10123 Garland Road, Dallas, TX 75218
- Phone: (214) 321-9493
- Fax: (214) 320-2219
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://www.stpetervndal.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/giaoxuthanhphero/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Rev. Minh Pham, C.M.2011–present (approximately 12 years as of 2023)
Current pastor; Vincentian priest who runs the parish largely on his own ('a one-man band,' he has said), handling maintenance, the bulletin, announcements, and pastoral care in addition to celebrating Mass.
- Previous priest (unnamed in sources)Before Fr. Minh Pham
His departure prompted the Diocese of Dallas to ask Fr. Perry Henry, C.M., for a bilingual Vincentian to take over the parish.