Parish history
From four rugged acres to a parish of saints
It started in 1963 with four acres of hillside in Northwest Hills and one condition: build a church for St. Thérèse. More than sixty years later, St. Theresa is a parish of nearly 6,000 souls and a school of about 400 students. This is the story so far, in six chapters. If you lived any part of it, your memories belong here too.
Chapter 1
1963 to 1972
The founding years, 1963 to 1972
Four acres, folding chairs, and a church on the hill.
In 1963, an anonymous donor gave four acres in Northwest Hills to the Diocese of Austin on one condition: that the land be used for a church dedicated to St. Thérèse of Lisieux. The Diocese bought five more acres of rugged, undeveloped hillside and established St. Theresa Parish in 1968, with Msgr. Charles Elmer as its founding pastor.
Those first months ran on borrowed space and willing hands. Sunday Mass was said at Gullett Elementary School and later at Murchison Middle School, and parishioners put away their own chairs when Mass was over. Weekday Mass was in a nearby barber shop, and confessions were heard in a broom closet. Covenant Presbyterian and Highland Park Baptist opened their doors to the young parish too.
At the groundbreaking on October 3, 1969, Bishop Louis J. Reicher looked around the hillside and joked, “A goat couldn’t live in this place.” Sixteen months later, on January 10, 1971, the first Mass was said in the new church, with 14-year-old Larry Covington at the organ. He had no idea he would one day be the pastor. Bishop Reicher dedicated the church three weeks later, on January 31.
Were you there in the early years? Record a memory Know someone who was? Nominate them
In Msgr. Elmer’s own words
I wanted to make saints out of everybody in this parish.
In the parish’s 50th anniversary video, Msgr. Elmer remembered working hard to help people from nearby parishes think of St. Theresa as their new home. “You’re a special people of God,” he said. “You are now called St. Theresa Parish.”
The message landed. Michael Mulvey, then a young man in the pews, felt a call to the priesthood through one of Fr. Elmer’s sermons. Fr. Elmer encouraged him to join the choir and teach CCD while he discerned, and he went on to become Bishop of the Diocese of Corpus Christi.
Hear him tell it
Chapter 2
1972 to 1987
A growing parish, 1972 to 1987
Food drives, CYO, an art show, and a parish zoo.
Msgr. Edward Matocha served two years, then Msgr. Richard E. McCabe led the parish for twelve. Ministries took root. The Ladies Club was one of the first, committed to serving people in Austin and beyond who needed help. The parish’s St. Vincent de Paul ran a medical clinic, and the Legion of Mary visited local inmates.
People who were here in the 1970s remember the San Saba food and clothing drive, CCD, CYO, the annual art show, and the parish zoo. It opened in 1976 with ducks, monkeys, peacocks, wild turkeys, and exotic deer. By 1978, St. Theresa had grown to nearly 600 families.
Remember the zoo, the art show, or CYO? Record a memory Know someone who was there? Nominate them
Chapter 3
1983 to 1986
Launching the school, 1983 to 1986
Thirty-eight students and three grades to start.
Planning for a parish school began in 1983 under Msgr. McCabe. The Education Building was finished in 1985, and St. Theresa Catholic School opened in 1986 with 38 students in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and 1st grade. Terry France was the first principal.
Over the years the school added students and grade levels, and it completed its expansion in 2005 with a second section of 8th grade.
Were you one of the first families, students, or teachers? Record a memory Know someone who was? Nominate them
Chapter 4
1987 to 1999
The 1990s and Saint Gym, 1987 to 1999
More families, a growing school, and a gym that doubled as a church.
Msgr. Edward Jordan became pastor in 1987 and served until 1999. By 1990, about 1,600 families called St. Theresa home. The school earned full accreditation in 1993 and added second sections in 1995.
More families and more ministries meant a need for more space. The multipurpose gymnasium, known as Saint Gym, was completed in 1999, and it doubled as the parish church while a new sanctuary was being built.
Did you go to Mass in Saint Gym? Record a memory Know someone with a story from those years? Nominate them
Chapter 5
2000 to 2001
The fire and the rebuilding, 2000 to 2001
A fire weeks before the first Mass, and a parish that kept going.
In the early morning of May 23, 2000, smoldering paint rags caught fire and destroyed the nearly finished new church, just weeks before its first Mass.
Two stained glass windows were spared while the rest of the building burned: the cross and St. Theresa. The parish worshipped in Saint Gym for a second year while the church was rebuilt, and the new church, with those two windows in it, was dedicated on September 29, 2001.
Remember hearing the news, or the day the new church was dedicated? Record a memory Know someone with a story from that year? Nominate them
Chapter 6
2004 to today
A parish of saints, 2004 to today
The boy at the organ becomes the pastor.
Fr. Rakshaganathan Selvaraj, known as Fr. Raj, served as parish administrator for a year. Msgr. Bill Brooks then led the parish for nine years, through the 40th anniversary Mass on August 17, 2008, and the completion of Elmer Hall, named for the founding pastor, in 2013.
A parish out of room
Made in 2010 to help build Elmer Hall. A church built for 500 families now served 2,600, and every room was in use. Staff and parishioners show how tight things were, the architects’ drawings show the parish center to come, and the film ends with a call to pray and to give.
Watch on YouTube: A parish out of room Video: Anndeeo
In 2014, Fr. Larry Covington became pastor, the same Larry Covington who played the organ at the first Mass in 1971. The parish celebrated its 50th anniversary with a Mass on September 30, 2018. Little Flower Catholic Academy opened in 2019, the school was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2023, and in 2026 the school celebrates 40 years.
Today St. Theresa is a busy campus of buildings, older and newer, a school of about 400 students, and a parish of nearly 6,000 souls: souls called to be saints.
Part of the story since 2004? Recent memories matter too. Record a memory Know someone who should be heard? Nominate them
Moments on film
Some of our story was caught on camera. Press play on any of them to watch it right here.
Our parish today
Fr. Larry, after the first video Mass
In the first weeks of COVID-19, with the parish kept apart, Fr. Larry thanked everyone who joined St. Theresa’s first video Mass, watched more than 1,700 times, and said robotic cameras were being installed in the sanctuary. “Even apart,” he said, “we can be together in prayer.”
The campus from above
Drone and ground views of the hillside campus in Northwest Hills: the stone sign at the entrance, the church and school among the trees, the playing field, and the Ten Commandments monument.
Why the organ needed rebuilding
At the console, Fr. Larry and the parish organist show why the organ needed help: a broken key, stops that made no sound, and computer parts from the late 1980s and early 1990s that were failing.
The organ is blessed
The dedication concert for the parish’s Walker Ballard organ: the Rite of Blessing, then a recital and a large choir. The video starts where the program begins.
Our school
Our patron’s feast day
October 1, 2020, the feast of St. Thérèse. Students in masks leave flowers at the statue outside and gather for the school Mass in honor of the parish’s patron saint.
A National Blue Ribbon School
The celebration when St. Theresa Catholic School was named a National Blue Ribbon School for the first time. The school community says what it means: “We have built on the shoulders of giants.”
Bridget, class of 2020
Bridget finished at St. Theresa in 2020. Three years later, she says its challenging classes taught her how to study, and that she always felt she belonged here.
From student to school parent
Patrick went to St. Theresa in the mid-1990s, and now his two children go here. He says the school gave him a foundation that everything else in his life grew from.
The Little Way at school
Students show how the school lives St. Thérèse’s “Little Way”: doing everything with love and kindness, in class, at play, and with their buddies. In their words, “It’s another Little Way day.”
40 years of educating Austin
In the school’s 40th year, Principal Mr. Wheeler talks about the legacy of 40 years of students, teachers, and families, and what every family should feel here: “We see the individual child.”
From the archive
Amahl and the Night Visitors
A preview of the parish’s December 2007 performances of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Christmas opera: a poor shepherd boy, his mother, and the night the Magi knocked at their door. The narrator calls it “St. Theresa’s Christmas gift to Austin.”
Watch on YouTube: Amahl and the Night Visitors Video: russrhea
Amahl and the Christmas Gift
A preview of an all-new show for Christmas 2010. First came the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors, then a concert of Christmas music with choir and orchestra and a carol sing-along for the audience. The parish offered two performances, December 4 and 5, “as a Christmas gift to the Austin community.”
Watch on YouTube: Amahl and the Christmas Gift Video: russrhea
A Christmas card to the parish
The parish’s Christmas card, a short tour of the church dressed for the season: the Holy Family, a tree of poinsettias beneath the stained glass, an angel, the altar, and the nativity. It closes with wishes for “a joyful and peaceful Christmas Season” from Msgr. Bill Brooks, Fr. Vincent Nguyen, and all the St. Theresa staff.
Watch on YouTube: A Christmas card to the parish Video: Anndeeo
The Gift of Light
A preview of The Gift of Light on December 1, 2012: the story of Christ’s birth told in music and dance, with the whole music ministry taking part. The show closes with the Christmas Truce of 1914, when soldiers on both sides of World War I sang “Silent Night.”
Watch on YouTube: The Gift of Light Video: russrhea
The Gift of Light: A Season of Hope
A preview of the eighth annual Gift of Light, December 7, 2013, with all of St. Theresa’s choirs, dancers, and Austin musicians. The show centered on Mary’s yes to God, with a tribute to women of faith who said yes too, like Mother Teresa.
Watch on YouTube: The Gift of Light: A Season of Hope Video: Kirsten Cutshall
Thank you, Dr. Dan Girardot
A farewell tribute to Dr. Dan Girardot, who served St. Theresa for 37 years, starting in 1983. Photos show the choirs he grew, the children’s and youth choirs, choir camp, concerts, pilgrimages to Rome, and the organ the parish added after years of prayer. In 1987 he was chosen as cantor for Pope John Paul II’s visit to San Antonio.
Watch on YouTube: Thank you, Dr. Dan Girardot Video: Dee Dee Schoenberger
One more film lives with its chapter: A parish out of room (2010), in Chapter 6.
Milestones
The parish’s official milestones through its 50th anniversary, and what has happened since.
- 1963
An anonymous donor makes a gift for a church.
- 1968
The Diocese establishes St. Theresa Parish.
- 1969Oct. 3
Groundbreaking for the sanctuary, parish hall, and rectory.
- 1971Jan. 10
The first Mass is held in the new church.
- 1971Jan. 31
Dedication of the new church.
- 1978
The parish grows to nearly 600 families.
- 1985
The Education Building is completed.
- 1986
St. Theresa Catholic School is established.
- 1990
The parish grows to 1,600 families.
- 1999
The multipurpose gymnasium is completed.
- 2000May 23
Fire destroys the nearly completed sanctuary.
- 2001Sept. 29
Dedication of the reconstructed church.
- 2008Aug. 17
40th Anniversary Mass and celebration.
- 2013
Elmer Hall is completed.
- 2018Sept. 30
50th Anniversary Mass and celebration.
- 2019
Little Flower Catholic Academy opens.
- 2023
The school is named a National Blue Ribbon School.
- 2026
The school celebrates 40 years, and the Oral History Project begins.
Pastors of St. Theresa
With gratitude to the pastors and priests who have led this parish and ministered to its people.
- Msgr. Charles Elmer
- 1968 to 1972
- Msgr. Edward Matocha
- 1972 to 1974
- Msgr. Richard E. McCabe
- 1975 to 1987
- Msgr. Edward Jordan
- 1987 to 1999
- Rev. Gregory A. Romanski
- 1999 to 2004
- Rev. Rakshaganathan Selvaraj (Raj)
- 2004 to 2005Parish administrator
- Msgr. Bill Brooks
- 2005 to 2014
- Rev. Charles L. (Larry) Covington
- 2014 to today
From the parish history at st-theresa.org/parish-history and the parish’s 50th anniversary. Know something we got wrong or left out? Email hello@st-theresa.org.
Your memory belongs here
This page is the outline. The rest of the story lives with the people who were there: the Sunday mornings, the school days, the friendships, and the faith. Pick a chapter that brings something to mind and tell it in your own voice.