[3] It is a part of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston and its membership has included both Creole and non-Creole African Americans.

[5] Because the church treated the Creole people in a discriminatory manner, by forcing them to confess and take communion after people of other races did so and after forcing them to take the back pews,[7] the Creoles opted to build their own church.

[8] In order to acquire funds, Creole families hosted dinners, dances, and parties.

They served Louisiana Creole cuisine, using the food to acquire the means to build the church.

Tyina L. Steptoe, author of Houston Bound: Culture and Color in a Jim Crow City, stated that they "noted the centrality of the church" to area residents.

The practices of drinking alcohol and dancing communities differed from those of Protestant communities in Texas, which had historically prohibited drinking alcohol and did not have dancing to popular music during church events.