In addition to their financial woes back in 1929, Catholics in the Bellview area had other problems. St. Stephen's about 12 miles away, was the closest Church: transportation was not easily available for some, and the roads were terrible. Several families had fallen away from the Faith, while others desired to become Catholics: something needed to be done. Miss Mary Johnson (later to become Mrs. Clarence Blom) of Bellview, who was staying with the Caro family in Myrtle Grove, talked to Miss Egan Caro about the situation. Miss Caro went to the Trinitarian Sisters on West Government Street to ask for their help, and help they did.
Sisters Mary Helen and Mary Augustine, chauffeured by Miss Margaret Francisco, started coming out once a week to teach catechism. Others assisting in teaching and/or driving in the early days were the Misses Fannie Sullivan, Rose Burkhart (now Sister Rose Anita, MSBT), Julia Crooke (Peters), Daisy Rowley (Villar), Jeanne Pfeiffer (Gallagher), Katherine arques (Geist), and Minnie Oliver, as well as Bill Pfeiffer and H.C. Struck. Catechism classes, with both Catholics and non-Catholics in attendance, were held in the William Roberts home and, later on, in the Samuel Clepper home. Other Catholic families in the area included the Johnsons, Austins, Matthews, Daws, Gauthiers, Kupfrians, Holdens and Sheridans. After sufficient instructions had been received, candidates were baptized at St. Stephen's.
About 60 people were present for Bellview's first Mass, which was celebrated by Father Richard Barry on June 21, 1936, in the "Union Church," a community building which the people of Bellview had erected on some property donated by Mr. Brewton on Millview Road (now Blue Angel Parkway). The various denominations in the area took turns using the building for their services. Trinitarian Brother Basil served the first Mass and Brother Hugh led the singing. The newspaper clipping from which this information was gained says that Brother Bernadine, although no present at the Mass, was involved in the mission work.
Now the Trinitarian's catechism classes began meet in the Union Church building. Ruth Clepper (Riggins) remembers that they were held on Friday afternoons and that Sister John Joseph who, along with Sister Mary Calvary, had replaced Sisters Mary Helen and Mary Augustine, would go to Mrs. Brewton and get the key to the building, then return it to her when classes were over (everything had to be left spic and span, of course).
The sisters, who brought the chaplain fro the Pensacola (later Sacred Heart) Hospital to say Mass on Sundays and Holy Days, soon decided that it was difficult to share tie in a community church. They began inquiring to see if anyone was interested in giving some land to build a Catholic Church: out of several offers received, Sister John Joseph selected the land offered by the J. J. Sheridan family, primarily because of its location. Then she went to see Bishop Thomas J. Toolen in Mobile, Alabama (at that time Pensacola was part of the Mobile-Birmingham Diocese). She told hi that she had the land for a church and he gave her his permission to build.