Mission and History

HOLY FAMILY IS A JOYFUL CATHOLIC COMMUNITY THAT ENCOURAGES GROWTH IN PRAYER, FAITH IN GOD AND LIVES OF SERVICE.

The sun rose to a clear golden sky one summer morning in June 1942. It was going to be a hot one! No surprise there. Citizens all around the city of Fort Worth rose and sipped hot coffee at kitchen tables hoping the dry breeze crossing pastures and prairies to the southwest might provide relief. Folks scanned the front page of the Star Telegram for news of War to find another stunning victory by Admiral Nimitz's Pacific fleet in the battle for Midway Island. It was a time when all thoughts and prayers were sent to distant parts of the world.

On the home front, a defense and aerospace company named General Dynamics had recently opened at the western edge of Fort Worth. A two-bedroom frame house on Pershing Avenue sold for $3,000 and a new housing development, Ridglea Hills, had just broken ground. For a small group of west-side residents, history of another kind was about to be made on the corner of Camp Bowie Boulevard and Locke Avenue.

At 11:00 a.m. on Sunday June 14, 1942, a group of 400 Catholic families and clergy gathered for the much-anticipated dedication of Saint Alice Catholic Church by Bishop O'Brien from Chicago. O’Brien was president of the Catholic Church Extension Society, the group providing financial assistance for the young church.
The Church was named under the patronage of St. Alice and in memory of Bishop O'Brien's mother. Bishop Joseph P. Lynch of Dallas was also present. Msgr. Earnest Langenhorst, pastor of the new parish, celebrated Mass.

Twenty-three years later as the needs of parishioners outgrew facilities at Saint Alice Church, they moved to a new home on Pershing Avenue and became Holy Family Catholic Church.

At the first mass in the simple frame sanctuary of Saint Alice, Msgr. Langenhorst described the concept of a "Living Parish." This is a where a church is considered to be more than just territory and buildings but a collection of people to whom "a parish must be the center of vital interest," to become "a living organism of the Mystical Body of Christ." Holy Family, a "living parish," is composed of dedicated people ministering to each other and the greater community.

Holy Family Church's history is written in our hearts, in our grace, and in our faith. It is reflected in the eyes of the clergy, countless volunteers, in the exuberant enthusiasm of youth, and the refined peace of older generations. Our history illuminates from service to families, church, and community.  The real history, the legacy of the people, is still told in quiet conversation among strangers and friends...and thus, recorded in our souls.