In 1929, Father Frank D. Urbanovsky, known as Padre Panchito, came to Bryan to assist the pastor at St. Joseph Catholic Church and soon traveled the countryside to minister to Mexican and Mexican American residents of Bryan, nearby towns, and small rural communities along the Brazos River, where they worked in agriculture, on railroads, and in service jobs at Texas A&M College. Using a trailer chapel, he served these settlers and saw growing numbers of baptisms of Mexican children at St. Joseph. Recognizing the need for a parish in 1934, he organized the worshipers and obtained approval from Bishop Rev. C.E. Byrne of the Diocese of Galveston to build a church, which was dedicated on November 1, 1940, as the first church for the Hispanic Catholic community. Key fundraising came from the men’s Santo Nombre Society and the women’s Guadalupanas. Other Franciscan priests followed, including Father Guillermo Buades, who served for 29 years. Father Tom Frank arrived in 1978 and continued Father Buades’s fundraising efforts to build a new church as membership grew to 400. In 1979, a new church building across from the original church was dedicated to Santa Teresa. The church holds Mass in Spanish and English and organizes choirs, education, youth ministries, and Bible study groups, continuing to play an important role in the Hispanic community through the hard work and dedication of its parishioners.