Hello, St. Clement parishioners & friends!
Why is our parish under the patronage of Pope St. Clement? Read on for some parish history written by former parish secretary Carolyn Lott!
St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church, located at 155th and south Memorial, began as a mission church in late 1957. The first Mass was celebrated in the home of Jack and Joan Sheridan, who lived in Bixby. There were fewer than ten people in attendance. Having no priest assigned to their fledgling church, they relied upon a visiting priest, usually from Broken Arrow, to say Mass. Bixby Catholics became accustomed to meeting in one home after another, but as their number grew, moving from home to home became a major inconvenience. Early in 1958, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Stolba, who lived near Leonard, offered their home as a permanent meeting place. For many years their home wasowned by another Bixby/Leonard family and parishioner of St. Clement of many years, Chris and Bob Murphy. Mass was celebrated in the Stolba home until November of 1959 when a bridge washed out making the Stolba home inaccessible from Broken Arrow.
In October of 1959, Bishop Victor J. Reed, the fourth bishop of Oklahoma, met with priests and Bixby area Catholics to discuss the possibility of establishing a permanent Catholic church. Several sites were suggested but it was finally agreed that the site should be near the heart of Bixby, preferably on Highway 64 (Memorial Drive). The 10-acre site, home of the current church building, was purchased from Ada Harry through the Indian Department in February of 1960. The land was secured by sealed bid at auction for $10,000.
Until a church structure could be built on the newly acquired land, parishioners met in an empty building in downtown Bixby, northwest of the Devine Drug. Bishop Reed appointed Fr. Robert O’Brien to be the first permanent pastor. Groundbreaking on the new church was in April of 1960. The cost of the steel building constructed by McGrath Construction was $48,750. The first Mass was celebrated on July 17, 1960, even before the building was completed. Because St. Clement was established primarily to serve the migrant workers, who would leave soon after the first corn harvest, a First Holy Communion class of 19 boys and girls was hastily assembled from the migrant worker camps. Parishioners Josephine Smith and Helene Stolba transported the children to their religion classes. They were served cookies and Kool-aid.
The church had originally been called St. Francis of Assisi Mission. However, now that the congregation had a permanent structure and location, they considered other options. The name St. Clement of Rome Catholic Church was probably chosen for several reasons. First, the congregation wanted to honor Bishop Kelley, whose middle name was Clement. Bishop Francis Clement Kelley, the second bishop in Oklahoma, founded the Catholic Church Extension Society in 1905 to improve and establish rural missions, like the Bixby mission church. The Society contributed $10,000 to the Bixby congregation. Second, Clement of Rome, the third successor of Peter as bishop of Rome, promoted the ministry of the Universal Church. St. Clement was a patron saint of Bishop Kelley. And finally perhaps because the still-standing 12th century St. Clement basilica in Rome dates to a first century house-church. Bixby’s St. Clement, which began itself as a house-church, was recently given a rock that was used to build a fourth century basilica on the site of the first century house-church. This fourth century rock will be placed in the corner stone of the new church St. Clement parishioners hope to build in the future on a new site on 161st, east of Yale. Thus St. Clement Church in Bixby has a special connection to a site that has been a continuous place of Christian worship since the first century.
The congregation and the structure of St. Clement Church have changed and grown in the last 67 years. However, the ministry remains as it was. St. Clement distributes food to needy families in and around Bixby and ministers to Hispanic families in the area by offering a Spanish Mass. Like their patron, St. Clement of Rome, parishioners strive to follow the Christian virtues of charity, unity, fidelity, and humility.
St. Clement of Rome, pray for us!
Reminders:
- The tree of life is at the front of the church near the baptismal font all this month, ready to receive the names of relatives, friends, and others who have passed from this life.
- The Women’s Guild is accepting donations to its Christmas Jar at the back of church for a family in need.
- Envelopes are available in the entryway for donations to holiday meal certificates distributed by our parish outreach program.
- The angel tree will be going up closer to Thanksgiving.
- We invite folks to send names (first only are fine!) to include on a list of people for whom to pray, such as the sick and suffering of our parish. If you’d like to add a name to the prayer list (yours or someone else’s *with their permission), please email that info to Bonnie at music@stcbixby.org. Please specify that you’re sending names for the prayer list.
