The Catholic Community in Belton was present long before the Parish of Christ the King was formed in 1969. Much could be said about the Dedicated visiting priests and the hard working laity who were involved in the formation of the plans to have a Church in Belton.

The first written documentation of the Catholic community in Belton is found in Hoffman’s Catholic Directory of 1895, where Belton is mentioned as one of the "stations" of St. Mary’s Church in Temple, in the Diocese of Galveston. Some of the pioneer Catholics remember a small wood-structure located on North East Street, block 4 and block 7, as is recorded in the County records. This area is the exact location wherein H.E.B. Grocery Store presently stands. This property was owned by the Anglo-Catholic Community and according to the Bell County records of May 13, 1954, this property was sold to the school district in April of 1954 for the sum of $ 225,000.00.

In the early 1920’s, few Catholic families inhabited this area and the little Church was not able to be maintained. There were no priests available, although St. Mary’s in Temple, ministered to the needs of those that went there. The Anglo-Catholic community went all the way to St. Mary’s for Sunday Mass.

The Mexican-American Community also had to travel to Temple for Mass. Due to the distance, many Catholics became lukewarm and left the Church. St. Mary’s in Temple recognized this problem and set aside the first Sunday of each month to celebrate Holy Mass in Spanish and to administer the Sacraments to this community.

It was in the mid 1940’s that Fr. Francis D. Urbanovsky from the Diocese of Galveston drove into Belton in his little "Chapel on Wheels" named Espiritu Santo Mission. He held his Mission in a spacious field. His little tent embraced a sizable number of faithful. With that work, he performed many baptisms, validated marriages, distributed Holy Communion, and celebrated Holy Mass each morning. The flowers on the Altar were wild sunflowers, picked freshly from the fields. Fr. Urbanovsky encouraged the Catholic Community to remain strong in their faith and prayed that they should remain steadfast in it.

In the late 40’s, the Franciscan priests, who were based in Waco, began ministering to the Mexican-American Community by coming every Sunday to Temple. It was at this time that Fr. Miguel Rigo offered his assistance by encouraging the community in Belton to open their homes to have catechism classes for the children. When they were ready, the children were driven to Temple to be examined for their reception of the Sacraments.

Meanwhile, Fr. Miguel Rigo proposed the possibility of fund raisers, in order to build a church in Belton. Funds became available to purchase property off IH-35 and Second Street. Unfortunately Fr. Rigo was transferred and Fr. Terrassa was sent to replace him. By this time, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Temple became a reality, and Fr. Terrassa’s focus was now on his new assignment. At this point the idea of building a Church in Belton came to a halt.

It was during this time that Fr. Hiram Eastlind, Chaplain at V.A. Hospital in Temple, approached a group pertaining to the formation of a Church in Belton. After some research, he was told that a "dollar amount of $ 150,000.00" should cover the cost of forming this Church. This amount overwhelmed the small community and most felt that it could not be paid or maintained.

Shortly afterwards, Fr. Francis Urbanovsky got in touch with Fr. Frederick Schmidt from Round rock, telling him about the need for the Belton Catholic Community. Fr. Schmidt came immediately to Belton to meet with as many interested families as possible. He began to make frequent trips to Belton on his day-off. He took a census and spoke to Bishop Reicher regarding the great need for a Catholic Church in Belton.

Msgr. Arthur Michalka, who was Pastor of St. Mary’s in Temple tells the story of Fr. Schmidt coming to him and sharing his interest in "having a Mission for the people of Belton". Msgr Michalka said that it was a good idea and gave his blessings - thinking that Fr. Schmidt’s "mission" was a two or three or four day Mission to the Hispanic community of Belton. But Fr. Schmidt’s idea of "mission" was to have a "Mission Church"!

There is another alleged story of how the "Mission" began. After getting "permission" from Msgr. Michalka for a "mission in Belton", Fr. Schmidt went to Bishop Reicher, who told him that there should be "at least 50 people to begin the Mission". It is alleged that Fr. Schmidt requested everyone to go to all the highways and byways and bring everyone to the "wedding banquet" so that there would be "at least 50 present"!

With the blessings of Bishop Reicher, Fr. Schmidt began to make frequent visits to Belton from March 1969. He began celebrating Holy Mass on Sundays at the American Legion Hall. Later the community began using the cafeteria at Leon Heights Elementary School. Alternating these duties with Fr. Schmidt was Fr. Rosendo Raphael.

It was at this time that Fr. Frederick Schmidt received permission from Bishop Reicher to build a Church on condition that the Anglo and Mexican-American communities should join together and build a single Church in Belton.

On Sunday November 9, 1969 at 3:00 PM, the ground-breaking for the multi-purpose building took place. Here is an excerpt from the newspaper dated Saturday November 8, 1969:

And from the newspaper of March 26, 1970 we read:

Date for the Dedication and Blessing of Christ the King Parish Center Catholic Church is June 14. Bishop Luis J. Reicher will officiate, according to the announcement made this week by Rev. Frederick Schmidt.

Fr. Frederick Schmidt took up residence in Belton and set up organizations to help him with the work of this Mission. He sold the property on IH-35 and Second Street, purchased a mobile home, and had Sisters from Round Rock to teach summer School that summer.

Rev. Frederick Schmidt, being a missionary, yearned to serve in the Missions, and left for missionary work in Ahuacatlan, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, in April 1972 (where he still serves the community in 1998).

Rev. Luis Dussan was a temporary replacement till September 1972, when he was recalled to Central America.

With no resident priest in Belton, Christ the King Mission was placed under the supervision of Rev. John Driscoll and Rev. Oliver Johnson from St. Luke’s in Temple.

In November 1972, Rev. Oliver Johnson was named Administrator and he took up residence in the mobile home, but was soon convinced by a storm that a Rectory should be purchased. The house on 15th Street was purchased for the Rectory. In February 1973, Fr. Oliver Johnson was appointed as the First Pastor of Christ the King.

It was soon seen that the multi-purpose building did not meet the needs of the growing Catholic community, and Rev. Oliver Johnson proceeded to make plans for the building of a Hall, which would eventually be built to the east of the Church.

In April 1974 ground was broken for a separate Parish Hall. This 4,800 square feet Parish Hall, containing five classrooms, a kitchen, and a large room for Parish social activities was built by Vanicek Construction Company at a cost of about $ 51,000.00 and dedicated on July 14, 1974, leaving the original "multi-purpose" structure strictly for worship.

In 1975, Fr. Johnson convinced a local Belton Catholic, Isabel Matamoras, to paint 14 Icon's depicting the Stations of the Cross. Mr. Matamoras completed the project and the Icon's were hung in the Sanctuary where they now hang in the Day Chapel.

In October 1979, Rev. Oliver Johnson was asked to build a new Church and Parish of St. Catherine of Sienna in Austin. (Fr. Johnson still serves that community in 1998)

In November 1979 Rev. Victor Goertz was named the new Pastor of Christ the King. Rev. Victor Goertz was officially Pastor till December 1981, but he served a short period because of ill-health. During this period the Catholic Community was again left with no priest, and volunteer priests from other parishes came to assist the Community - Fr. Benish, associate from St. Mary’s in Temple; Fr. Elmer Holtman and other priests from Fort Hood; Fr. Bernard Goertz, Fr. Gideon Stram and others.

In June 1982, Rev. Vaughn Meiller was appointed Pastor and continued to bring the Catholic Community of Christ the King together for the next two years.

In May 1984, Rev. Donald Chatham came to Christ the King and brought with him his interest in music. It was during his term as Pastor, the property on the west side, between the Church and Main Street was purchased (where we now have the New Church) for $ 150,000.00

Rev. Donald Chatham left "with his new car" in June 1985, and the same month, June 1985, Rev. Msgr. Marion Atomanczyk became Pastor of Christ the King.

In May 1987 Msgr. Atomanczyk was transferred and Rev. Charles Davis was appointed Pastor in June 1987, who remained here till April 1990. It was during this time that the Church was renovated, the roof re-done, stained glass windows installed and new pews with cushions put in the Church. The new Rectory was constructed and Rev. Charles Davis moved into the new Rectory in March 1988.

In April 1990, Rev. Charles Davis was assigned to St. Mary’s in Temple, and in June 1990 Rev. John Boiko appointed as Pastor, who remained here till December 1991.

Rev. Hilario Guajardo was appointed Administrator in January 1992, but due to illness had to leave in March 1992.

Rev. Rocky I. Vaz was asked by Bishop McCarthy to take care of the week-end Masses at Christ the King from March 1992, and appointed Pastor on May 10, 1992. The Religious Education Center with 16 classrooms and 2 Offices was completed in November 1995 - thanks go to Mr. Tom Vitek who directed the building of this Education Center and the help given by many of our Parishioners.

The New Church of Christ the King was designed by Architect George Jezek (who also drew the plans for the Religious Education Center) and built by Vanicek Construction Company from Temple.

The New Church has been constructed in the form of a Cross. Along the vertical beam of the cross is the Main entrance with the three Etched Glass Windows that can be seen from 24th Avenue, the Statue of Christ the King in the middle of the Narthex, the central aisle of the Church ending with the back wall with the Crucifix; above on the vertical beam are the 14 new stained glass windows. The horizontal beam of the cross, going from east to west, contains the 14 old stained glass windows that were in the present Church. The Main Altar is where the vertical and horizontal beams meet and above the Main Altar is the Dome.

We have tried to incorporate all the things that we had in the Old Church (given by different Parishioners over the years) into the New Church. The new Church should be completed by August 15th, but the Dedication will be on another day to thank God for all the dedicated priests and all the laity who helped form what we call Christ the King today.

The best "incorporation" or "continuation" of the Old and New Church can be seen in our Stained Glass Windows - the 14 New Stain Glass Windows and the 14 Stain Glass windows that were made by the parishioners in 1989.

The biggest problem to keep the fourteen 1989 windows and make new ones, was to keep the same artwork and a continuous theme. To keep to the same design, we had asked that there be uneven blocks with a lot of blue and the brightness of the yellow in the new. Then came a design that would fit into the theme of the old.

The theme that we finally chose was "waves". Life is like the waves of the sea. There are ups and downs as the wave ebb and flow. There are joys and sufferings, tears and laughter, weddings and funerals, baptisms and anointings, childrens nurseries and ICU’s, child care and nursing homes. Life is a mixture of all of these and no one is exempt from it. Yes, life is like the waves on these new stained glass windows, there is ebb and flow throughout our lives.

In the midst of our lives, with its joys and sufferings, Jesus Christ entered this world. He was born (1st window on the East-South), he lived 30 years at Nazareth and earned his living as a Carpenter (2nd window on the East-South) and John the Baptist pointed to him as the " Lamb of God" - the Messiah to come (3rd window on the East-South).

He preached for three years in Galilee, Judea and Samaria (3rd window on the East-North). He died on the cross (2nd window on the East-North) and through his Death-Resurrection became the Heart and Anchor of our belief (1st window on the East-North)

Jesus thus becomes the beginning and the end of our lives - symbolically expressed in the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet - the alpha and omega (East facing window)

Jesus Christ gave us an opportunity to enter into his life, through the Sacraments wherein he is present in a special way. We can participate in his salvific life through these Sacraments.

We become part of his people/community through the Sacraments of Initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist. We are included into his people through the Sacrament of Baptism (3rd window on the West-South), we confirm this baptism through the Sacrament of Confirmation (2nd window on the West-South) and become a special part of Him through his sacramental presence within us through the Sacrament of the Eucharist (1st window on the West-South)

We participate in the life of Jesus through the Sacraments of Vocation - the Sacrament of Matrimony (West facing window) and the Sacrament of Holy Orders (1st West-North). And being children of this world, we need healing and forgiveness, which he showers on us through the Sacraments of Anointing (2nd West-North) and Reconciliation (3rd West-North).

Thus in the midst of our pains and sufferings, our joys and laughter - he entered our lives, was born in Bethlehem, lived in Nazareth, preached in Palestine, died and rose from the dead; and He gives us an opportunity to become a part of his life through the Sacraments.

Christ The King – Purchased by: Lastovica Family

Mary and Baby Jesus and 8 children, titled: "Children of the World" Purchased by: Dunnahoo & Frank Families for the Cry Room!

Sacred Heart – – Purchased by: Dennis & Carol Rabroker

Our Lady of Fatima – – Purchased by: Edeltraud Wintersteen – In the Grotto

St. Francis of Assisi – – Purchased by: Al and Betty Rogers

St. Anthony of Padua – – Purchased by: Carmen Amato

St. Joseph – – Purchased by: Lorenzo & Maria Guzman

St. Rock (Contagious Diseases)– – Purchased by: Joe and Virginia Wallace & family

St. Peregrine (Cancer Saint) – – Purchased by: Steffek & Hunt Families

St. Therese – – Purchased by: Jack & Maggie Riley

Our Lady of Mount Carmel – – Purchased by: Fr. Schmidt

New Altar – – Purchased by: Knights of Columbus

New Tabernacle, Chalices, – Purchased by: Women’s Ministry

New Tabernacle Base – – Purchased by: Guadalupanos

Our Lady of Guadalupe Icon –– Purchased by: Don Meyer & Guadalupanos

Six pews were paid for at $450.00 each.

One lectern was paid for at $450.00

1 Presiders Chair paid for at $1500.00

5 pulpit chairs paid for at $300.00 each

4 choir chairs paid for at $300.00 each

Votive Candle Stand - paid for by KJZT

14 new stained glass windows at $550.00 each – most paid for.

6’ diameter stained glass window, the front crown and sceptor stained glass window was paid for in honor of Margaret Williamson.

The Alpha & Omega Window over the entrance to the Sacristy was donated by Lloyd&Asta Mullen.