About St. Teresa of Jesus · Friona, Texas
St. Teresa of Jesus (sometimes written St. Theresa of Jesus) is a small Catholic parish serving the rural community of Friona in the Texas Panhandle, in the Diocese of Amarillo. The parish was founded in 1927 through the missionary efforts of the Franciscan Atonement Friars and today gathers English-speaking Catholic families across Parmer County and the surrounding agricultural area. Worship is centered on a regular weekly Mass schedule (with a vigil Mass on Saturday and three additional Sunday/weekday Masses) and the parish participates in regional diocesan life, including the annual Jamaica fundraiser held each summer.
- Established
- 1927
- Patron
- St. Teresa of Jesus (St. Teresa of Ávila)
- Rector
- Father Gregory Bunyan
- Diocese
- Diocese of Amarillo
Why belong here
St. Teresa of Jesus offers a welcoming, English-language Catholic home for the families and farmworkers of Friona and Parmer County in the Texas Panhandle. The parish offers multiple weekly Masses (including a Saturday vigil and two Sunday morning Masses), Sacramental Confession by appointment, and connects parishioners to diocesan faith-formation, Confirmation, and stewardship programs through the Diocese of Amarillo. A long-standing summer Jamaica fundraiser (held each year on the parish grounds in early August) is one of the highlights of community life and reflects the parish's deep agricultural roots.
Mass times at St. Teresa of Jesus
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- By Appointment
About St. Teresa of Jesus Parish
St. Teresa of Jesus is a small, English-speaking Catholic parish serving the rural agricultural community of Friona, Texas, and the surrounding Parmer County area. It belongs to the Diocese of Amarillo and traces its origins to 1927, when it was founded through the missionary work of the Franciscan Atonement Friars. Today the parish gathers around a simple weekly Mass schedule, sacramental ministry, and a strong tradition of stewardship and community fundraising.
- Type: Parish (Church)
- Diocese: Amarillo
- Founded: 1927
- Address: 401 W 17th Street, Friona, TX 79035
- Phone: (806) 250-2871
History
According to the Texas State Historical Association, St. Teresa's was founded through the efforts of Fr. Raymond Gillis, a Friar of the Atonement. The Atonement Friars and Sisters — a Franciscan order founded in 1909 — came to the Texas Panhandle in 1917, when the Atonement sisters took over St. Anthony's School in Hereford. From 1920 to 1988 the friars served as pastors of St. Anthony's Church and its missions, and during that period helped develop several other parishes in the region, including St. Ann's in Bovina and St. Teresa's in Friona. The friars' ministry grew out of service to migrant farmworkers in the vegetable fields of the Panhandle; Fr. Gillis eventually moved to Hereford and built a church, school, convent, and clinic at the 'Labor Camp' — a former WWII prisoner-of-war camp where many of the area's first Catholic families had lived. As these families settled permanently, St. Teresa's continued as a small rural parish serving the farming and ranching community around Friona.
- Founded 1927 (per GCatholic)
- Founded by Fr. Raymond Gillis, SA (Atonement Friar)
- Developed alongside St. Ann's, Bovina, under Atonement Friars' care
Atonement Friars' Mission in the Texas Panhandle
The Society of the Atonement (Friars and Sisters of the Atonement) is a Franciscan order devoted to Christian unity and mission work. They came to the Texas Panhandle in 1917 at the invitation of Fr. J. A. Campbell, pastor of St. Anthony's in Hereford. The Atonement sisters ran St. Anthony's School from 1917 to 1938, and the friars served as pastors of St. Anthony's and its missions from 1920 to 1988. Their pastoral work in the region's vegetable fields — first in Hereford and later in places like Friona and Bovina — laid the foundation for the small network of rural Catholic parishes that still exist in the Diocese of Amarillo today.
Clergy & Staff
The parish is currently served by Father Gregory Bunyan, who is also pastor of St. Ann's Church in Bovina. The parish office is staffed in coordination with the diocesan chancery, and the published parish email is [email protected]. Historical diocesan records show that earlier pastors and parochial vicars of the parish have included Father Haider Quintero, who was assigned to St. Teresa's on a temporary basis after his ordination in 2011.
- Father Gregory Bunyan — Pastor (also St. Ann's, Bovina)
- Father Haider Quintero — formerly assigned temporarily after 2011 ordination
Parish Ministries & Community Life
Although St. Teresa's is a small parish, it participates in several wider diocesan and community programs. Like most Diocese of Amarillo parishes, it takes part in the annual United Catholic Appeal, the diocesan stewardship appeal. It also maintains a tradition of summer parish fundraisers — most notably its annual 'Jamaica,' listed by the diocese on the first Sunday of August, which is one of the highlights of community life. The parish also connects families to the diocesan faith-formation and Confirmation programs coordinated by the Diocese of Amarillo.
- Annual parish Jamaica (first Sunday in August)
- Diocese of Amarillo United Catholic Appeal
- Diocesan faith-formation and Confirmation preparation
Sacraments
The parish celebrates the Holy Mass on the regular weekly schedule above, offers Confession by appointment, and prepares parishioners for the Sacrament of Confirmation through the Diocese of Amarillo's diocesan-wide faith-formation program.
- Eucharist: Saturday vigil, two Sunday Masses, and weekday Masses Tue/Wed/Fri
- Confession: by appointment
- Confirmation: through diocesan faith formation
Daily Liturgical Resources
The parish homepage features the day's Mass readings (from the USCCB liturgical calendar) and an embedded Word on Fire video reflection. Recent readings displayed on the site have included Amos 3:1-8; 4:11-12 and Matthew 8:23-27.
Visit, Contact & Connect
St. Teresa of Jesus Catholic Church is located at 401 W 17th Street in Friona, Texas (Parmer County, ZIP 79035). The parish office can be reached by phone at (806) 250-2871 or by email at [email protected]. The parish's official website is http://stteresafrionatx.com/.
- Address: 401 W 17th Street, Friona, TX 79035
- Phone: (806) 250-2871
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: http://stteresafrionatx.com/
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Raymond Gillis, SA (Atonement Friar)1927–c. 1948
Franciscan Atonement friar credited with founding the parish as part of the Atonement Friars' missionary work in the Texas Panhandle; later moved to Hereford to serve migrant laborers at the Labor Camp.
- Father Haider Quintero2011–
Ordained May 13, 2011 by Bishop Patrick J. Zurek at St. Mary's Cathedral, Amarillo; appointed parochial vicar of St. Anthony's, Hereford, with temporary additional assignment to St. Teresa of Jesus, Friona and St. Ann's, Bovina, effective June 7, 2011.
- Father Gregory Bunyan2020–
Pastor of St. Teresa of Jesus, Friona and St. Ann's, Bovina, as listed in the Amarillo Diocese COVID-19 pastoral reflection series (2020).