St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish was established on August 1, 1982, with Fr. James P. Bridges as its founding pastor.  The parish was in distant northeast Odessa, and streets to the site were not yet complete.  A parish office and priest’s residence was purchased on Candy Lane and the congregation’s first Masses were celebrated at nearby Blanton Elementary School.  Later, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church welcomed the congregation and Masses were celebrated in their church for three years.  Then on Christmas Day 1985, St. Elizabeth’s new church was ready for its first Mass.  In May 1986, Bishop Michael D. Pfeifer, OMI formally dedicated the church.

Parish events soon taxed the congregation’s limited facilities, so despite its debt, the parish quickly set about adding the Family Center consisting of a hall, parlor and kitchen.  It was completed in 1990.

On July 1, 1996 Fr. Mark J. Woodruff was appointed as St. Elizabeth’s second pastor.  The parish needed classroom space for its expanding CCD and RCIA programs, and the parish offices needed to be relocated closer to the church, so another building program began.  The Office and Education Building was completed in August 1999.  A courtyard around a beautiful fountain united the parish’s three buildings, making the parish one of the most beautiful and well-planned church complexes in Texas.

After the Office and Education building debt was paid in 2007, another project began, the planning of a building dedicated to youth  activities.  The Hollice & Sylvia Clark Youth Building and the Molina Fellowship Pavilion were completed in 2011, making St. Elizabeth’s one of the few parishes with a separate building dedicated to the youth.

When an anonymous donor paid the million dollar debt remaining from the construction of the youth building in 2012, the parish began the planning of the expansion of the existing church.  Even before ground was broken for the original church in the early 1980’s, parishioners knew it would be too small for the parish’s long term needs.  Over the years, eight major housing developments and about as many apartment complexes have been constructed within the parish boundaries, thanks to Odessa’s ever growing economy.  By the parish’s 25th anniversary the need for more seating in the church was becoming critical.  The original church held 550, a church that could hold over 1,000 was needed.

In July 2016, following a very successful capital campaign with the theme Making Room for All, San Angelo’s sixth bishop, Michael J. Sis, came to Odessa to bless the outline of the new addition and break ground.  Parish Masses were moved to the hall which was called The Chapel of the Risen Lord because of the statue on the outside of the building.  For about eighty weekends, parishioners courageously sat on folding chairs and stood during the Eucharistic Prayer instead of kneeling. About thirty-five brides wed in less than ideal setting, and baptisms, funerals, and other religious activities took place in the makeshift setting.  The parishioners took it in stride, knowing that a little sacrifice was sometimes necessary.  After all, the charter members of the parish had endured Mass at Blanton in the early days.