In Dallas's State-Thomas Historical District, Saint Peter the Apostle Catholic Church is known as the oldest African-American parish in the Diocese of Dallas. Founded in 1905, the parish is rooted in the Eucharist and prayer. Its history joins the creation of Catholic education for Black children in Freedman's Town with the later arrival of Polish immigrants. It serves a diverse and growing community from across the Dallas area, with Mass celebrated in English and Polish.
Mary Jordan's Petition and the First Parish
Educational opportunities in Dallas for formerly enslaved people were few in the early 1900s, and many settled in Freedman's Town, an area now known as the State-Thomas Historical District and Uptown. Mary Stacker Jordan, a former slave, and her husband, Valentine Jordan, lived there. Valentine worked for the Ursuline nuns as a carpenter and maintenance employee and observed the care given to students at the Ursuline Academy. He shared those observations with Mary. Although both were Baptists, they agreed that their community needed a Catholic church and school. Mary asked for a meeting with Bishop Dunn, then bishop of the young Diocese of Dallas, and petitioned him to establish both. He agreed that the need was real.
Bishop Dunn invited the Josephite Fathers, an order committed to serving African Americans, to staff the new parish. Father John P. Ferdinand became its first pastor and oversaw the establishment of the church and school. The founding came while the new Sacred Heart Cathedral had recently been completed and the old cathedral at Bryan and Ervay was being disassembled. Remains from the old cathedral were moved to Allen and Cochran streets. Mary Jordan later converted to Catholicism and was baptized at Saint Peter in 1927.
Three years after the church was built, St. Peter Catholic School for Black children opened in 1908 with financial help from Blessed Katherine Drexel. Holy Ghost Sisters from San Antonio staffed the school, first called the Sister's Institute and later known as St. Peter Academy. The school educated many African American professionals in Dallas and elsewhere, creating an educational legacy closely connected to the church and the families who supported both.
Maxwell Murphy was born in Dallas and, after his mother's death, was raised as a Catholic by Mary Jordan. He was baptized at St. Peter on February 12, 1911, and belonged to the first graduating class of the school. He became the first student of St. Peter's Academy to become a priest and the first Texan of African-American descent ordained to the Catholic priesthood. He celebrated Mass at St. Peter on November 11, 1934, delivered the opening speech at the dedication of the new academy building in 1954, and later founded Presentation College in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago.
Two Cultures Meet in One Parish
State-Thomas later experienced gentrification, and the neighborhood's African-American population and dominant attendance at St. Peter began to change. The shift also affected St. Peter School, which closed in 1987. Even as those pressures altered the neighborhood, many multigenerational families continued to attend the church, and third- and fourth-generation parishioners remain connected to St. Peter.
During that period, Bishop Thomas A. Tsheope met with the pastoral council and the African-American council and community about a small group of Polish immigrants who needed a temporary place to worship. The parish's African-American parishioners agreed to welcome them. In February 1985, the Society of Christ Fathers from Poland assumed pastoral care of St. Peter. That decision shaped the parish that exists now: two active communities and cultures, with the longstanding Black Catholic community joined by Polish immigrants and their descendants.
The Polish community brought its own language and traditions, while English- and Polish-language worship became part of the same parish life. The staff includes Polish and English lectors and ushers, Polish catechesis leadership, and a director of music liturgy. The former St. Peter school building remains in its original location next to the church and is now called Notre Dame School at St. Peter. The bilingual worship, family histories and neighboring school building make much of the parish's story visible within the neighborhood.
Mass in English and Polish
Saint Peter the Apostle is at 2907 Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Dallas. The parish schedules Mass in two languages each weekend, with additional English Mass on weekdays. The regular schedule is:
- Saturday: 4:30 PM in English, followed by 6:00 PM in Polish.
- Sunday: 9:00 AM in English and 11:00 AM in Polish.
- Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday: 7:00 PM in English.
- Thursday: 7:00 AM in English.
The Saturday morning service is identified as the anticipatory Mass. Sunday worship is divided between the English and Polish communities, while the Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday evening Mass is followed by a short period of Eucharistic Adoration. The parish office can be reached at 214-855-1384 or saintpeter@stpeterdal.com.
Confession and Eucharistic Adoration
Confession is scheduled on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:10 PM to 6:50 PM, during the hour before the 7:00 PM weekday Mass. Saturday has two confession periods: 4:00 PM to 4:20 PM and 5:30 PM to 5:50 PM. These periods sit immediately before the respective English and Polish Saturday Masses.
Eucharistic Adoration is held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 6:00 PM to 6:55 PM. It occupies the final part of the same evening that includes weekday Mass and confession, giving the evening a clear rhythm of prayer, sacrament and quiet worship before Mass begins at 7:00 PM.
Children Receive Faith That Takes Root
Religious education is offered for children from Pre-K through Grade 8. Classes meet on Sundays after Mass, and enrollment begins in September. This Sunday formation connects the parish's worship life with the preparation of children for First Reconciliation, First Holy Communion and Confirmation.
First Holy Communion is presented as the first time a baptized child receives the Eucharist. The parish describes the consecrated bread and wine as becoming the Body and Blood of Christ, with Christ truly, really and substantially present. Before receiving First Communion, a child is prepared to receive the Sacrament of Penance. Baptized children in first grade or older, together with their parents, attend a weekly class for two consecutive years. Faith formation for children age seven and younger is also offered, and parents are included in the preparation process.
Confirmation follows First Communion and is received only once in life. The parish describes Confirmation as one of the sacraments of Christian initiation that binds a baptized person more completely to the Church and gives special strength through the Holy Spirit. Students prepare through weekly classes for two consecutive years. Candidates must be baptized, provide a baptism certificate, complete First Holy Communion, and receive the sacrament of Penance before Confirmation.
Children and young people who have received First Holy Communion may also serve as altar servers. During the liturgy they wear an alb with a cingulum. Their ministry can include service at the altar, carrying the processional cross and liturgical book, assisting with incense, reading the Word of God, singing the responsorial psalm, serving as commentator, and helping coordinate the ceremonial celebration.
Adult Faith Formation and the Parish Mission
Adult Faith Formation at St. Peter is described as a lifelong process of finding and growing in love with God within daily life. Because Baptism begins a lifelong journey of faith, the parish seeks to support, nourish and challenge adults as they explore faith, experience its power and deepen their relationship with God. Marcella Savala-Hamilton serves as Faith Formation Director.
The parish's adult formation goals center on three connected areas:
- Encouraging ongoing conversion to Jesus and a life of holiness, including repentance, reconciliation through the sacraments and deeper faith.
- Supporting active membership in the Christian community and shared responsibility for the Church's mission and life.
- Preparing baptized adults for evangelization and justice in the world.
This work reflects the three-part mission proclaimed by the parish: to preach the Gospel, strengthen faith, and serve those in need. Volunteers maintain the church, assist with religious education and support other parish ministries. A Living Rosary group, bilingual ushers and lectors, the music ministry and the choir all add distinct forms of service to the parish's worship and community life.
Sacraments Across a Parish Life
St. Peter describes Baptism as a gift from God that initiates a person into the family of God and cleanses sin. It teaches that Baptism is not earned but freely given to those open to it. Through water and the Word, a baptized person is freed from sin, reborn as a child of God, incorporated into Christ and the Church, and made a sharer in its mission. The parish prepares infants and children up to age seven for Baptism, offers Baptism for children age seven and older, and welcomes adults seeking Baptism.
Matrimony is presented as a sacramental sign of the love of Christ and the Church. The parish's teaching emphasizes a faithful and exclusive union, the growth of both spouses, family life, the education of children, and the fruit of natural or spiritual fertility. Prayer, reception of the sacraments, self-denial and active love are named as ways couples fulfill this vocation. Couples planning to celebrate the sacrament begin the parish's formal process six months before the intended wedding date.
The Anointing of the Sick is one of the seven sacraments and is intended to strengthen those who are seriously ill. Through anointing with holy oil and the priest's prayer, the sacrament offers special grace, relief from suffering and sometimes health, while also taking away sin. It is not reserved only for someone at the final danger of death; the appropriate time may come during danger caused by illness or old age. It can be repeated after recovery and a later serious illness, or when the danger becomes greater during the same illness. The parish also provides visits for seriously ill relatives who wish to receive Holy Communion and this sacrament.
Safe Environment, Stewardship and Continuing Welcome
St. Peter follows the Diocese of Dallas's Safe Environment Program. The parish commits to providing a safe and nurturing environment for minors and vulnerable adults, and all volunteers and staff must follow diocesan requirements. For families visiting the church, one specific safety rule applies: children age thirteen or younger must be accompanied to the restroom by a parent or guardian.
Parish giving supports the ministries and mission described throughout the life of St. Peter. Donations may be made in preset or custom amounts through PayPal. The parish identifies itself as a 501(c)(3) charitable foundation and states that donations are tax-deductible.
The life of Saint Peter the Apostle remains grounded in the relationship between history and ongoing parish life. Mary Stacker Jordan's effort for a Catholic church and school, the ministry of the Josephite Fathers, the legacy of St. Peter Academy and Father Maxwell Murphy, and the welcome extended to Polish immigrants in 1985 are all part of its story. English and Polish Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, formation from childhood through adulthood, the altar-server ministry and service to the surrounding Dallas area continue that history in the present.