History of the Parish

Saint Therese de Lisieux Catholic Church

Saint Therese de Lisieux Catholic Church was founded on July 1, 2000, with Father Louis Guerin as the founding Pastor.

St. Therese (birth name Therese Marie Martin) was born to Louis Martin and his wife Zelie Guerin in Alcenon, France. She was one of five girls to enter the Carmelite convent in Lisieux after her mother died.

Pope John Paul II called her one of the greatest saints in modern times when he declared her a Doctor of the Church in 1997. Her youthful spirit permeates the Church today. She died at the age of 24 years of tuberculosis and promised before she died "to spend her heaven doing good upon earth."

St. Therese de Lisieux parish serves the western Lake Worth and Wellington communities.

Mass was first celebrated in the Wellington Boys & Girls Club; then in the cafeteria of Polo Park Middle School, and then in a modular building. Our new worship space has been built, and our first Mass was celebrated in May of 2010.  

On July 1, 2006 Father Brian Lehnert was assigned as the second Pastor of St. Therese of Lisieux. He was ordained April 29th, 2000. In early 2004, Father Guerin began the campaign "Share the Vision, Meet the Challenge" and in late 2007 Father Lehnert started the campaign "Building on Holy Ground." These two campaigns, through the generosity of our parishioners, allowed us to break ground on our new parish/Church on February 22, 2009. The St. Therese community was blessed to have the blessing of our new parish center/Church on our feast day of October 3, 2010 by the Most Reverend Gerald M. Barbarito.  2010 also marks the tenth anniversary of the founding of our parish, and is therefore a truly great year for the parish of St. Therese de Lisieux. Father Lehnert, along with our parishioners, look forward to continuing the great work of building the Kingdom of God through the intercession of St. Therese de Lisieux.