Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church

Parish History - The Early Years

Nestling in a stand of tall pines, the stucco and natural wood of the Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church seem to grow from the ground.  The church is trimmed in copper etching.  Full-length window bring the woods into the church to give an appearance of isolation.

Authorized during the bishopric of Paul Tanner of the St. Augustine diocese on May 22, 1969, the parish – named for one of the mysteries of Our Lord – came under the early formation of Father Francis Killeen.

Initially, Father Killeen recommended against the use of the property adjacent to the then newly established University of West Florida.  Purchased by Bishop Toolen of the Mobile-Birmingham diocese, the 20 acre tract appeared to have some disadvantages which led Father Killeen to recommend the purchase of ten acres of land at the corner of Olive Road and Hendricks Street.

Reasons for the undesirability of the University site included the beliefs that not only would the location be inconvenient to the majority of parishioners in the Olive Road area, but that the site and surrounding area had little possibility for future development.

Monsignor Leo Byrnes of Sacred Heart Parish disagreed, however, stating that the Olive Road location would simply repeat the mistakes that had already been made on the eastern side of Pensacola, i.e. that all of the Eastern parishes had been located had been located in the southern edge of their boundaries making access difficult for parishioners close to the northern boundaries.  Locating the parish at the University site would be of greater service to the people in the northern district of the Pensacola area.

Twenty years later, the belief that the area near the University and west of Ellyson Field would not show designs for future development has been disproved.  Pensacola continues to grow at a rapid pace as the boundaries of the city race northward.

Although the site for the new parish would not be chosen until much later, the first mass for the parish was held in the Ferry Pass Middle School Cafeteria on Sunday, November 9, 1969.  From that time until midnight mass on the Feast of Our Lord’s Nativity in 1972, the parish Sunday masses were celebrated in the school while Saturday evening mass and all religious education classes were held in the Ferry Pass United Methodist Church on Davis Highway.

The site for the new parish was finally settled on the original area of interest:  the 20-acre tract adjacent to the University of West Florida.  Groundbreaking ceremonies were held on March 26, 1972, with Father Killeen, Nativity’s first pastor, turning over the first shovel of earth.

The rustic church was designed by architects Marshall and MacNeil of Pensacola and built by Carter and Sapp Construction Company.  The interior is semi-circular in arrangement, affording the nearly 500 person congregation a nearness to the altar.

The artist who decorated the interior of the church was Robert Marshman, a native of Wharton, Texas.  Marshman was the first in his family to strive at being a full-fledged artist.  He was teaching at the University of West Florida when he was contacted tin 1972 about the possibility of doing art work in the new parish church.  After researching the Catholic faith, he presented his plan for tongues of fire on the concrete column, the baptismal font, and the large glass window on the north side of the building.

When asked the reason behind the color scheme for the tongues of fire, Wharton listed two:  the colors harmonized with the church’s interior design and the colors symbolized the movement from earth (darker colors) to heaven (pure white light).

On a raised area near the center of the church, a simple altar is formed from a slab of wood mounted on a concrete pillar.  The stations of the cross are fashioned from bronze.  The bronze tabernacle is to one side of the main altar with a bronze statue of the risen Christ above it.  “Unto us the Savior is born” is engraved on the tabernacle.

Construction was completed in December of 1972, and appropriately, first use of Nativity of Our Lord Church was possible on Christmas for the young parish located just outside the gates to the University of West Florida.

The Solemn Blessing and Dedication of Nativity of Out Lord Church was held on May 4, 1973, with Bishop of the Saint Augustine diocese, the Most Reverend Paul F. Tanner, presiding.

After ten years of faithful service, Father Francis Killeen was transferred from the parish.  Father Michael P. Mooney became the second pastor of Nativity parish, effective December 2, 1980.

The “campus church” as University of West Florida students like to call the Nativity church because of its proximity, serves a young-to-middle aged congregation, including UWF students and faculty, as well as permanent residents of the parish that extends from north of I-10 up to Kingsfield Road and from Escambia Bay to the L&N Railroad by Old Palafox.