Perhaps you have heard of a Doctor of the Church. Parroquia Santa Teresa de Avila honors one such person. This is Saint Teresa of Avila. She was a Carmelite Nun born in Avila Spain. Her birth was March 28 1515.
Saint Teresa entered the Carmelites. She became a reformer. She brought sincerity and discipline to her order. Saint Teresa founded many convents. She also wrote five famous books of spirituality. These earned her the title Doctor of the Church. Pope Gregory XV canonized her 40 years after her death in 1622. Her feast day is on October 15. This is the anniversary of her death.
Bishop Gerald Frey established St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church and Parish. The date was September 3 1968. The first Mass happened on September 29 1968. It was in a house at 3327 Crane Ferry Road. This house was a place of worship. It was for Catholics on the west side of Richmond County and in Martinez. The house was also the parish office and hall. It even served as the rectory for the first pastor Fr. Roy Cox. About seventy families were members of St. Teresa’s at that time.
Parishioners worshiped in the house until December 14 1969. The first Mass was then in the T-shaped multipurpose building. It was located on Pleasant Home Road. Bishop Frey dedicated this new worship center in January 1970.
Over the years the parish grew. Columbia County was part of the Archdiocese of Atlanta then. Catholics in Columbia County attended Eucharistic celebrations at St. Teresa’s. A survey showed the spiritual needs of Columbia County’s Catholics could be best served by St. Teresa’s. The survey results were sent to Bishop Raymond Lessard. In 1979 Columbia County became part of the Diocese of Savannah. This brought the official parish enrollment to about 350 families.
In September 1983 eight classrooms were built. They were for the religious education program. On October 11 1987 Bishop Lessard celebrated Mass. He also dedicated the new church building. It had a capacity of 750. On December 5 1993 the parish celebrated its Twenty-Fifth Anniversary. Bishop Lessard celebrated Mass. He also blessed the new Parish Center or Gym and the new Rectory.
St. Teresa of Avila Parish has seen much spiritual and physical growth. Since the thirtieth anniversary the parish grew. It went from about 600 registered families to almost 1600 families. Many people worked to find a good site for a new church. It would better accommodate the parish family. It was decided that St. Teresa of Avila Parish should move west into Columbia County. In May 2002 the parish purchased a 44.47-acre site on Columbia Road. Ground was broken for the new parish campus on March 7 2004. Bishop Boland dedicated the present facility on September 18 2005. The journey was not easy. Sacrifices of time talent and treasure were made. They have rewarded the parish with a new campus to call home.
The fiftieth anniversary was celebrated in Columbia County in 2018. The parish is still growing. It continues to serve the Catholic Community of Richmond and Columbia Counties. This has been the case since 1968. So now as you leave Parroquia Santa Teresa de Avila consider its long history.