Who We Are
Our Story
The new parish community started from a humble beginning, celebrating the Mass in the backyard of Aurora Rivas and Fred Hernandez's home until a few months later when the Parish Council rented a two-room building on Summit Street to serve as the first chapel. The new parish community remained on Summit Street for four years. In 2000, Rev. Fr. Charles Henderson bought a building and four city lots on Tampico Street from a non-profit medical provider, La Clinica Amistad, and turned it into the new place of worship for the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish community.
After guiding the parish community for the past 25 years, Rev. Fr. Charles Henderson decided to retire as Pastor of Annunciation Parish in January 2021. Our Bishop, The Rt. Rev. John E Mack assigned Rev. Fr. Sr. Mark Raya to be the new pastor of Annunciation Parish in February 2021. During a rare Texas, Winter storm on February 21, 2021, the church building suffered devasting damage due to a ruptured water line found in the ceiling. Extensive work was done to repair, restore, and upgrade our church building from the end of February 2021 to the beginning of November 2021.
Despite all the challenges and hardships brought about by the winter storm of 2021, we are incredibly pleased to be celebrating 25 years of announcing the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of San Antonio, and we are excited that you will support us through all the years. We hope that you will join us at the celebration of the 25th anniversary of our church community, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Polish National Catholic Church, and the 25th anniversary of the ordination of Rev. Fr. Charles Henderson to the Priesthood, as we look forward to continuing the work of announcing the Good News of Jesus Christ to the people of San Antonio, Texas for the next 25 years.