About

- About
  - Staff

Our History

Formerly an old Mennonite chapel, the first mission chapel of SWLA was founded in 1925 & named St. Elizabeth Chapel. St. Elizabeth's was a small wooden structure on what is now Lincoln Road and was a mission of Immaculate Conception Church until 1945. In 1945, to accommodate the growing Roman Catholic population in the area, St. Margaret of Scotland was established as a parish and the care of St. Elizabeth's was transferred to the newly formed parish. The need for a larger mission chapel became apparent and in 1954, Mrs. Flavia Reed donated 1 1/2 acres of land for a new Chapel and $10,000 for a shrine to Christ the King. The community donated an additional $19,000 for the Chapel.

In December 1955, Msgr. Bodin celebrated his first Mass in the newly dedicated Christ the King Chapel located on Gulf Highway. The small, wooden framed building known as St. Elizabeth's was sold & moved. In August of 1959, Our Lady Queen of Heaven accepted the responsibility for the care of Christ the King Chapel. Various improvements were made throughout the years following to accommodate the needs of the growing community of faith. In 2002, a meeting was called to discuss the future of the community at Christ the King Chapel. As a result of the meeting, Bishop Edward K. Braxton granted approval to make Christ the King Chapel a Juridical Person.

In November 2002, on the Feast Day of Christ the King (11/24/02), the establishment of the new parish was official. Reverend V. Wayne LeBleu was named the founding pastor, and served the parish well from 2002 - 2014. In July 2014, the Very Reverend Anthony Fontenot was installed as pastor and as Vicar Forane of the newly established South Deanery and served our community well for 6 years. In July of 2020, the Very Reverend Rojo A. Palatty Koonathan, H.G.N was installed as pastor and as Vicar Forane of what would soon become the newly established South-Central Deanery.

In Fall of 2020, Southwest Louisiana suffered the ravages of Hurricanes Laura and Hurricane Delta. Christ the King parish took a hard hit and we are going to rebuild our entire campus across the road from the current location. The new church and offices are to be built first and we hope to be in them late in 2024. Currently we are using a double-wide trailer as our temporary church/meetings space and our storage building for confessions and office business.

In Summer of 2024, Fr. Rojo was assigned to a 2 year program of Canonical Studies in Washington, D.C. in the Fall to fill a role needed in the Diocese. Father Matthew Cormier became our fourth pastor and shepherd of the flock of Christ the King and picks up the mantel as leader of this community of faith as we continue to work towards our rebuilding from the devestation of Hurricane Laura in 2020.
Our Mission

"We are called as one family in the Body of Christ to spread the Word of God through Fellowship, Support, and Service to all. Under the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, we are committed to living a Christian Life, with Catholic Values and Beliefs to bring all to Christ through our Celebration of the Eucharist."

Fellowship. A core concept of evangelization in our faith community. We are all on a life journey, searching for the truth, seeking God. At Christ the King, we believe that no one is in this journey alone. Let us walk with you.

Support. We are all laborers in God's vineyard. Sometimes life can be burdensome, the load can be too much to bear. Support for one another and our surrounding community is integral to our mission as the Church.

Service. We have come to serve and not to be served. We believe in order for the life of our community to be sustained and fruitful we must continue to reach out. We are committed to the words of Jesus to 'love our neighbor as ourselves'.

Christ the King Catholic Church

Lake Charles, LA

About

Our History

Our Mission