On the north side of Owasso, just off the Owasso Expressway, St. Henry Catholic Church has been a steady presence for nearly seven decades. What began in 1957 as a mission parish of twenty families meeting at the corner of 86th Street and Main has grown into a registered community of about one thousand households, diverse in age, background, and ethnicity, gathered around the same conviction that has carried the parish since its founding: that the Eucharist is the source and summit of Christian life.
From Mission Parish to a Thousand Families
St. Henry began as a mission parish in 1957 and moved to its present site in 1965. Over the years the church has been expanded and renovated many times to accommodate the growing number of Catholics moving into the area. The most recent addition, Bamberg Hall and new kitchen facilities, was completed in 2013 and now serves as the gathering space for parish meals, faith formation classes, and community events. The parish's name honors St. Henry of Bavaria, a tenth-century Holy Roman Emperor, whose feast day is July 13 and whose patronage is invoked for childless couples, dukes, the handicapped, and those rejected by religious orders.
Mass in English and Spanish
The weekend Mass schedule is structured so that Spanish-speaking families have a full liturgical home at St. Henry. Saturday evening brings a 5:00 PM Mass in English, followed on Sunday by Masses at 7:30 AM and 10:00 AM in English and a 12:00 PM Mass in Spanish. On weekdays, Mass is offered Tuesday through Friday at 8:45 AM in English, with an additional 6:00 PM Mass in Spanish on Thursday.
Visitors who are not Catholic are welcome to remain in the pew during Communion, or to come forward with arms crossed for a blessing. Worship aids in each pew carry the order of the Mass, the postures, and the words of every prayer; if one is missing, an usher will bring one. Dress is informal and welcoming: sandals, shorts, and a shirt are common in the summer, with the only request being that shorts be of a conservative length and that clothing be respectable.
Nursery care is available during the weekend Masses for children from three months through three years of age, in a room on the west side of the church near Bamberg Hall and the education building. Older children are encouraged to take part in the celebration of the Mass with their families.
Confession, Holy Hour, and Marriage Blessings
The sacrament of Penance is offered three times a week. On Saturday afternoon confessions are heard from 3:00 to 4:30 PM, in the hour before the vigil Mass. On Wednesday evening, during the parish Holy Hour from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, the priest is also available in the confessional. On Thursday, confessions are heard in Spanish from 5:15 to 5:45 PM, before the 6:00 PM Spanish Mass. Confessions can also be arranged by appointment with the pastor.
Marriage blessings take place on the last weekend of each month at the end of every Mass. Couples who would like to be married at St. Henry are asked to begin the preparation process at least six months before the wedding date and to be registered members of the parish. The first step is an appointment with the pastor; the couple then reserves the date with the parish office and arranges a time to review the parish guidelines. St. Henry follows the Diocese of Tulsa's Pre-Cana requirement and works closely with the diocesan Family Life Office on marriage preparation.
The Restored Order of the Sacraments
One of the most visible changes at St. Henry in recent years is the parish's transition to what Bishop David Konderla has called the Restored Order of the sacraments. Under this plan, which the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma has directed all parishes to adopt by 2029, children are baptized in infancy, prepared for First Reconciliation in the second grade, and then receive both Confirmation and First Communion together in the third grade, in a Mass presided by the bishop. The reasoning is rooted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Christian initiation is a single movement that culminates in the Eucharist, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit given at Confirmation belong to that same journey.
St. Henry is rolling this out in stages. In the 2025 - 2026 school year the parish opened Confirmation to fourth-graders and above while second-graders began First Reconciliation preparation. In 2026 - 2027 Confirmation is open to third-graders and above, the first year of the Restored Order at St. Henry, and by 2027 - 2028 all students will be on the new plan. No student is required to be confirmed at a younger age; classes for older students remain available. Children in grades three through eleven who have not yet been baptized follow the Rite of Christian Initiation for Children.
Sacrament preparation classes for all grades meet on Sunday mornings from 8:30 to 9:45 AM, following the Owasso Public Schools calendar. A $50 registration fee per student supports the faith formation programs and materials. All students must be registered parishioners, attend Sunday Mass regularly, and, if not baptized at St. Henry, provide a baptismal certificate.
EPIC Families: Catechesis at Home and at Church
For students in kindergarten through fifth grade, St. Henry uses a Family Catechesis model called EPIC Families, built on the conviction that parents are the first educators of their children in the faith. The program draws on the Sophia Institute series Family of Faith, with a yearly focus that rotates through the pillars of Catholic life; the current year centers on the sacraments. EPIC Families meets on the first Sunday of every month from 8:30 to 9:45 AM: parents gather in Bamberg Hall for their own lesson while the children split into classes by grade. Parents then continue the lesson at home during the week, using the parent book, student activity book, and a range of supplemental resources. A Spanish-language version of the program, EPIC Familiar, runs in parallel for Hispanic families. The whole approach is designed to support regular Sunday Mass attendance by placing the monthly class between the early and late morning Masses.
Discipleship Nights for Teens
Middle school and high school students gather on Wednesday evenings for what the parish calls EPIC Wednesdays: a time to be Eucharistic, Prayerful, Intentional, and Catholic. The night begins with a shared dinner at 5:30 PM. From 6:00 to 7:00 PM, middle schoolers are in small-group classes divided by grade and topic while high schoolers spend the hour in Youth Group; from 7:00 to 8:00 PM the two groups switch. Four nights a year are set aside as family nights, when parents, students, and other parish families come together for fellowship and service.
The middle school curriculum includes Encounter, a Bible Timeline for Middle School, for sixth-graders; Envision, a Theology of the Body curriculum, for seventh-graders; and a Catholic Church History course for eighth-graders. High school students choose from electives such as A Case for Catholicism, a Catholic apologetics course; Sisters in Christ, a Walking with Purpose Bible study for young women; and Created, a parallel study for young men. Adult volunteers, all VIRTUS-certified, are needed every week to lead small groups, supervise, and help with setup. The parish also offers scholarships so that any teen who wants to participate can do so.
Becoming Catholic: OCIA
Adults who have never been baptized, or who have been baptized Catholic but have not received First Communion or Confirmation, are invited to take part in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. OCIA classes meet on Thursday evenings at 6:45 PM in the parish hall from September through May. The team includes the pastor, the OCIA and Altar Server Coordinator, and a group of sponsors. The same coordinator runs monthly Altar Server training on the second Tuesday of each month, with two sessions at 4:30 PM and 5:30 PM.
Women's, Men's, and Family Ministries
St. Henry is unusual in the breadth of small communities that meet under its roof. Among the women's groups, the Altar Society maintains the sanctuary linens and supplies, the Kindred Spirits group offers wider fellowship across ages and stages of life, and a Tuesday Morning Faith Study meets weekly at 10:00 AM for women who want to grow in friendship and knowledge of the faith. Adult faith formation currently includes the Pivotal Players video series and the Spiritual Motherhood Bible Study through Walking with Purpose.
For men, the Men's Club meets on the second Tuesday of every month at 7:00 PM in the St. Peter and Paul room. Open to non-Catholics, the club's motto is "Giving it all away - Time, Talent, Treasure," and the group channels its fundraising toward the needs of the parish. A Men's Prayer Breakfast gathers on the first and third Thursday of every month from 6:00 to 7:00 AM in the St. Jude room for breakfast, the rosary, and a frank discussion of Catholic life. The parish also has a Knights of Columbus council.
Two ministries focus on the everyday rhythms of family. Prime Timers is the parish's senior group, and the Divine Mercy Cenacle is a small prayer group centered on the Divine Mercy chaplet and St. Faustina's spirituality. Families with Young Children meets on the second Sunday of each month in the parish hall for cookouts, parent discussions, speakers, and game nights, with the nursery team watching the children. The parish also hosts a Boy Scouts of America troop, and the parish's Hispanic Ministry - El Ministerio Hispano - gathers the Spanish-speaking community around the noon Mass, faith formation in Spanish, and sacramental preparation through Diana Gonzalez.
Serving Grace, Food on the Fourth, and the CareCalendar
The parish's response to material need takes three main shapes. Serving Grace is a free community meal served on a Thursday evening once a month, prepared by volunteer cooks from the parish and open to anyone in the wider community who would like a hot dinner. The CareCalendar Meal Train organizes fellow parishioners to bring dinner every other night for two weeks, or as long as needed, to families welcoming a new baby, recovering from surgery, or walking through a serious illness; a single call to the parish office sets the schedule in motion. Food on the Fourth is a monthly food drive: green bags hung on the wooden cross in the vestibule go home with parishioners on the fourth Sunday of every month and are returned filled with nonperishable food, which is then taken to Catholic Charities in Tulsa.
Wee Angels Preschool
St. Henry also operates Wee Angels, a licensed Christian preschool on the parish campus. The program is a kindergarten-readiness curriculum taught by experienced, certified teachers, with a low student-to-teacher ratio, a Christian atmosphere built around Bible stories, music, handwriting instruction, playground time, field trips, and drive-through drop-off and pick-up. Three- and four-year-olds attend either Mondays and Wednesdays or Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00 AM to 12:15 PM; the Pre-K class for four-year-olds meets Tuesday through Thursday from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM. A non-refundable deposit and a supply fee are due at registration. The preschool is a separate program from the parish nursery and from the elementary faith formation classes, although they share the same St. Henry grounds.
The Parish Team
The parish is led by Father Josh Litwack, pastor, with two deacons, Myles McDonough and Jerry Rutherford, who assist at Mass, preach, and serve as the first point of contact for baptism preparation, liturgical scheduling, and home visits to the sick. Craig Rhodes coordinates both OCIA and Altar Server training. The faith formation team is led by Faith Formation Coordinator Tristan McGill, with Diana Gonzalez overseeing sacramental preparation including the Spanish sacramental track, and Monica Martin serving as Music Director and Youth Ministry leader, assisted by Jadyn Martin as Youth Ministry Assistant. Dillon Kay coordinates the young adult ministry, Laura Valdez-Lona coordinates the many parish ministries and the food drives, and Wendy Pickering directs Wee Angels. Giving is supported through the parish's WeShare online giving platform.
A Safe Place for Children
Every adult who volunteers with children or youth at St. Henry, whether in faith formation, youth ministry, or any other setting where children are present, must complete VIRTUS training and a background check before serving. St. Henry works with the Diocese of Tulsa Child and Youth Protection Office and follows its Policies and Procedures for the Protection of Children and Young People. The parish accepts VIRTUS training completed in other dioceses through a simple account transfer. The same standard covers parish staff, the nursery team, scout leaders, and the volunteers who cook Serving Grace meals and staff the food drive.
Sunday mornings at St. Henry bring the parish family together: English Masses at 7:30 and 10:00 AM, Spanish Mass at noon, faith formation classes at 8:30, the OCIA class on Thursday evenings, the Wednesday night youth program, the second-Sunday family cookout, and the monthly Serving Grace meal. The parish office at 8500 N Owasso Expressway is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM and on Friday from 8:00 AM to noon, with a sacramental emergency line available around the clock.