St. Michael Catholic Church was established on July 20, 1977 by Bishop John J. Cassata. Rev. James R. Miller was appointed the first pastor. On August 1, 1977, the rectory on Marlene Street was purchased and the first Mass was celebrated in the rectory that same day. Approximately 30 people attended the first Mass.
The first Sunday Mass was celebrated on August 14, 1977 in the cafeteria of Harwood Junior High School in Bedford. There were only two Sunday Masses at that time, but it soon became necessary to add a third. Originally, our parish was known as the Bedford-Euless Catholic Community. It was only after three ballots that the name St. Michael was chosen by parishioners.
The congregation for the new parish came mainly from St. John the Apostle in North Richland Hills and Holy Family in Irving. Parish boundaries were set at Glade Road on the North, the Dallas County line on the East, Brown Trail (from Glade Road to the Airport Freeway on the West, then east to Central) and the Trinity River on the South, encompassing all of Euless and most of Bedford, with a little bit of Fort Worth and Arlington.
By the summer of 1979, our community had grown to 510 families. A multipurpose building was erected on the parish land. With the parish growing at the rate of five families per week, we needed a permanent church. In the summer of 1982, a building committee began plans for the final phase of the building program. An architect was hired in the summer of 1983 and plans were submitted for bid by the next summer. We broke ground on June 24, 1984 for the church and classrooms, and construction began the following October. The church had seating for 800 people. The educational wing (Activity Center) had 12 classrooms and nursery facilities. Along with the administration wing (now named Pastoral Center), these were dedicated on September 28, 1985.
In 1997 we were once again out growing our facilities. Plans were prepared for the Formation Center/Offices (then named Pastoral Center) with additional offices, meeting rooms, and youth facilities. We celebrated the construction of the new Pastoral Center with a Ground Blessing on May 23, 1999.
As our needs grew, the faith and support of our community grew. Whenever we asked for continued stewardship of time, talent and treasure, the St. Michael community responded so resoundingly, that we have grown to become one of the largest Catholic communities in the Fort Worth Diocese. There are currently over 3,800 registered families.
In 2007, we celebrated the 30th Anniversary of St. Michael’s first Mass. We were not only “Treasuring the Past”. We began “Charting the Future”. About two years ago, we began developing a long-range strategic plan so that St. Michael can continue to minister and share the Good News with future generations.
Parish History