Nuestra Historia
-
-
-
Rev. James Burkart
Pastor
2014
Founded April 1, 1978
Rev. Edward W. Abell
1978-1990Rev. Msgr. William Robertson1990-2002Rev. John C. Upton
2002-2014Fr. Ed Abell was our founding pastor and he served over eleven years. Msgr. Bill Robertson became our pastor in 1990. The parish boundaries were carved out of Prince of Peace to the west, St. Edward's to the northeast and St. Anne's in Tomball. (The parish split again in 1986 when St. Ignatius was formed between us and Prince of Peace). Originally we had 370 families; today we have more than 2,500 families.
The parish was "born" in the oil boom days of the late '70s when Houston was bursting at the seams. The bishop instructed Father Al Doga, Pastor of Prince of Peace, to begin acquiring property for expansion. Father Doga and Father Eugene Francis, pastor of St. Edward's, also began advising their parishioners of the pending expansion, encouraging them to pray about it, mentally preparing them to leave. Out of this encouragement to pray, many prayer groups were formed. They prayed for strong leadership, divine guidance and the kind of spirit that has become contagious in our community.
The rectory where Father Ed first lived was a home in Wimbledon Estates subdivision. It also served as our chapel for weekday and special worship services as well as the parish office. We grew quickly and by early 1979 we leased storefront office space on FM 1960 for religious and sacramental education. A good example of our rapid growth was registration for our first Religious Education program in the fall of 1978 - 1,200 youth enrolled! We began weekend worship at Benfer Elementary School, affectionately known as St. Benfer's and later moved to Strack Intermediate School, Our Lady of Strack. We were a very transient parish in those days; Sunday after the last mass we packed our supplies in a van and drove them across the street to store in Ron and Virginia Hassett's garage in Cypressdale.
Sue Frey was our Liturgist for a few months in our beginning stages until Mary Ann Greco came on board as the full time Liturgist. Vic and Jan Norton helped form the first nursery under the stairwell at Strack. The Strack custodian, Johnnie Elias, retired from Klein ISD about the time we moved to our new church and we hired him as our first custodian in the new church.
Sister Alice Meenan was the first employee of the pastoral staff. She interviewed with Father Ed over the kitchen table in Wimbledon. Mary Ann Malone, a former secretary at Prince of Peace, was our first secretary and general organizer. Msgr. Frank Rossi, then a seminarian, spent the summer of '78 helping out, before we rated an Associate Pastor. One of the many things Sister Alice was responsible for is R.C.I.A., the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. In 1979, it all began with a traditional inquiry class. Then Lani Mock attended a conference in Seattle, outlining the new R.C.I.A. procedures. We kicked it off in 1979-80 with Alice, Father Oliver Bourgeois and Jane Weatherford, then fresh out of the University of Texas, headed our first Music Ministry. Jane and the other members laid the foundation for a very strong music program.
It didn't take long to organize a Building Committee. Terry Malone was the first chairman. He was joined by George Haberman, chairman of the original Finance Committee. Surveys of parishioners were taken to find what we wanted in the new buildings. Father Don Neumann of the bishop's staff met with us to discuss American Catholic Bishop's "Art and Environment for Catholic Worship." We were probably the first church built using these guidelines. Sister Mary Peter Tremonte, O.P., was hired as our liturgical consultant; architects and general contractors were retained and we were on our way.
Formal groundbreaking for our new church and parish activity center was Dec. 23,
1979. We moved into the new 17,500 square foot Parish Activity Center and Administrative Office Building in November 1980. One of the more memorable occasions was our first Thanksgiving mass there, celebrated by Father John Keller upstairs in what we called the "upper room". We packed the room, sitting cross-legged on the floor, but we knew we were home at last.
Our first Mass in the new 19,500 square foot Church was celebrated on May 2, 1981. However, official dedication ceremonies were held on Sunday, June 7. The Church was packed and it was a most joyous and emotional afternoon. Both Bishop Morkovsky and McCarthy were in attendance. We have felt the joy and the sorrow and it certainly is "home" now.However, like any growing family, the house we call home seldom stays big enough for long. For ten years we lived with "the slab", poured at the same time as the original building, but held off until we could afford to expand. In 1990, Al Hardey agreed to head up a new building committee and Rick Jones took on finance. We broke ground in the fall of 1990 and moved into the 16,800 square foot addition that houses badly needed kitchen facilities, as well as additional classrooms and large meeting rooms. At the same time, we made extensive modifications to the original PAC, creating a special tiered choir room, offices for our four deacons, a bride's room, youth room and "board room" for adult meetings. Ramps and elevators were also installed for handicapped access.Christ the Good Shepherd has been blessed to have had twelve outstanding Associate Pastors. First was newly ordained Rev. Pat Cummings who served from Dec. 1978 until March 1979. He was followed by Rev. Oliver Bourgeois who was reassigned in June 1980. Then came Rev. John Keller who ministered with us through July 1983. Rev. James Anderson was with us until Oct. 1983. Rev. Gary Wanzong, who also served at the prison in Huntsville, was our associate to June 1985. Rev. Joe Plummer, one of our most beloved and remembered associates, served until his reassignment in June 1988. Tragically, he passed away in October of that year. Our Knights of Columbus chapter is named after Fr. Joe. Rev. Norbert Maduzia came in June 1988 and was with us until July 1992. Rev. Paul Richard was here from 1992 until 1993. Rev. Brendan Cahill arrived in 1993 and blessed us until 1995. Rev. Frederick Valone joined us in 1995 until 1997. Rev. Frank Quezada served our community from 1997 until 1999. Rev. John Upton, began as an associate pastor in 1999 until June 2002. In 2001 we received a blessing from the other side of the world, India, as Rev. Sunny Plammoottil joined our community until the summer of 2006. As we said goodbye to our beloved Fr. Sunny, God brought to us Rev. Joe Hoang Bui.
Our deacons have been Steve LaBonte, who was our first starting in 1978; Glen Cupier was a part of our community from 1981 until 1982; Pat Camerino has blessed CGS since February 1984, when he completed his diaconate training. Also, Barry Beckman was with us until August of 1984, Bob DeGrave until June of 1985, John Charnisky, Jr. was with us until October of 1985, Al O'Brien until September of 1993, Les Cooper until June of 1995. John Rooney, our first Youth Minister, received his diaconate training here at CGS. Our community was blessed by the Holy Spirit to receive two deacons, C.J. Mangano in January 2003 and Alberto Patetta in February 2003; Alberto continues to serve here at CGS. Christ the Good Shepherd's latest gifts from the Lord are our permanent deacon, Pat Hancock in February 2007, and in June 2008 we celebrate the assignment of a new deacon, Jim Gallagher, from Corpus Christi.Our church comfortably seats just over 1,200 with space for music and other liturgical ministers. There have been quite a few Sundays and special holidays where we have far exceeded the 1,200 and some have questioned the term "comfortable." Consequently, on Easter we now use the Parish Life Center Large Hall for additional Masses and overcrowding has been reduced. We also have a chapel which is open 24 hours for individual prayer.
One of the highlights for our community was receiving our Sister Parish, Holy Name in 1982. In 1980 the Diocese started the program to assist the inner-city Catholic schools which were struggling to stay open. The food donated at our Liturgy celebrations is shared with Holy Name and NAM (Northwest Assistance Ministries).
Christ the Good Shepherd has a history of a people who are generous in sharing resources amongst themselves and the larger community, open and responsive to the challenge of the gospel, hospitable, and formed and hungry for opportunities to serve. Msgr. Bill Robertson's commitment to the poor and the building of a Parish Social Ministry was a priority and his legacy to the community. He encouraged innovation in providing opportunities for community members to live out their baptismal call to service. The community stands on Scripture, Sacrament and Service.We are currently led by Rev. James Burkart whose spirituality and vision now shepherd us on our journey of faith.
-