In 1904, a Spanish-speaking priest from Ireland came to Austin. Reverend Patrick J. O’Reilly, C.S.C., was the first priest to visit Georgetown families in the Mexican colony. He celebrated Mass in a tent, and established mission stations on ranches in the outlying districts of Andice, Bertram, and Liberty Hill.

On May 3, 1931, Bishop Christopher E. Byrne, C.S.C., Diocese of Galveston, blessed the first Catholic Church in Georgetown--St. Helen’s Mexican Missions Church.

In July, 1935, Father Thomas Culhane, C.S.C., came to Austin. Aside from a full-time teaching schedule at St. Edward’s, Fr. Culhane assumed responsibility for the mission churches in Andice, Bertram, and Georgetown.

Santa Rosa’s parishioners had access to the only vacant building on Sunday morning--an abandoned movie theater. Mass was celebrated on the stage. To hear Confessions, one side of the ticket office was boarded up so that passersby couldn’t see the penitent inside. When the owner razed the abandoned building unexpectedly, Fr. Culhane led everyone to the San José Cemetery where Father O’Reilly had built a covered altar. Mass was moved to the residence of Juan Zavala during the winter.

Santa Rosa parishioners purchased land for their church in 1937 from Charley Stapp for $50. 

When asked for support, The Catholic Church Extension Society donated $1,000 provided the church is named after Santa Rosa de Lima. 

The Congregation of Holy Cross (founders of Notre Dame, St. Edward’s Universities) sent Brother Jerome Steffes, C.S.C., to build our church. 

Actual construction of the first church cost a little more than $2,000.00. the church was dedicated on November 7, 1937 by Bishop Christopher Byrne.

Santa Rosa became St. Helen’s first Mission Church in 1938, and for the next 57 years, priests from St. Helen’s celebrated Mass in both Georgetown and Andice.

For many years Mass would be celebrated only on alternate Sundays. Santa Rosa would not celebrate its first Confirmation until 1976. The first Confirmation class was confirmed by Fr. Palermo of St. Helen's and Bishop Vincent Harris.

Fr. John Herledan came to St. Helen’s in 1980 to assist Fr. John Frizelle and in 1981 Fr. John Herledan became the first resident priest for Santa Rosa de Lima.

Despite a dwindling community of only sixty people, Father John Herledan chose to reside in Andice full time in 1984. The parishioners purchased a used mobile home, and set it up behind the church parking lot.

By 1988, parishioners saw the need for a multi-purpose structure to hold everything from religious education classes to meetings and receptions. The Diocese of Austin approved a $30,000 loan and through a series of garage, bake, and tamale sales the parishioners raised $7,500; which qualified them to receive two $5,000 grants. Construction began on August 6, 1988 on a 2,880-sq. ft. structure.

The structure was completed on November 28, 1991 and named Herledan Hall. By this time, Msgr. Louis Wozniak, Pastor of St. Helen’s, served Santa Rosa and alternated his weekends with Fr. Greg McLaughlin, the Parochial Vicar.

Barely a month after his ordination to the priesthood, Reverend Walter F. Carr was assigned to assist at St. Helen’s and was then appointed Pastor of Santa Rosa in January of 1993. At that time, Williamson County was experiencing a robust real estate market and was anticipating the 1995 grand opening of Sun City.
 
By 1997, there were so many new parishioners that Father Carr burned the $35,000 “note” for Herledan Hall and declared us “debt free.” It was under his guidance and leadership that the parish began to grow dramatically, thus forging the need for larger facilities.

By 1998 Santa Rosa de Lima was no longer a Mission Church of St. Helen's.

By February of 1999, with “standing room” only at Sunday Mass, Easter Sunday Mass was celebrated in Herledan Hall. And it was then in 1999 that five acres were purchased less than a quarter of a mile away. (Across FM 970 and west of the original church)
 
Construction of the new church began in April of 1999. After 9 months of construction the church was completed in January of 2000. The first Mass was held on February 5, 2000. And was dedicated by Bishop John McCarthy on March 5, 2000.

During the construction of the church another 3.2 acres of property were acquired immediately adjacent and to the west of the original 5-acre parcel bringing the total land size to 8.2 acres. And in October of 2000 the parking lot was expanded to accommodate the new influx of parishioners.

The Rectory/Parish office was constructed to the east of the church and dedicated on June 9 & 10, 2001. On May 28, 2002 at storm hit Andice and northwest Georgetown hard. Damaging the rectory and leaving the sanctuary unscathed. A section of the roof was found in a field about a mile south of the rectory.
 
With the number of parishioners growing so too did the number of children needing catechism. The Religious Education building was then built in 2004. 

With all the growth, the parish saw the need for a larger activity center to better serve the needs of the parish. And, in 2006 construction began on a new parish activity center. Construction was completed in August of 2007. The cost to the parish $761,352.49. This building was then named Reverend Walter Carr Activity Center (Carr Hall for short).

Rev. Fr. Eliseus O. Ibeh, MSP, a member of the Missionary Society of St. Paul took over as Administrator of the parish on July 3, 2006 after Fr. Carr suffered unexpected health issues. And on November 8, 2006 he was appointed Pastor of Santa Rosa de Lima. 

In the Spring of 2011 tragedy struck and the Religious Education building burned. The building would need to be rebuilt from the ground up. Construction began in 2012 to reconstruct the RE building on the original foundation.

On July 2, 2012 Fr. Larry Stehling was appointed Pastor of the parish, taking over for Fr. Ibeh who was reassigned to a parish in Louisiana. Fr. Larry came to us from St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Austin, Texas.

Construction of the current Religious Education building was complete not complete until 2013. It was during this time that an additional 4.61 acres were purchased to the immediate west of the existing property bring the total land size to slightly less than 13 acres. But with this purchase Santa Rosa would be saying goodbye to the parcel of land that held the original church and Herleden hall. So, on January 22, 2014 the then named Santa Rosa Chapel was decommissioned at a 6 PM Mass attended by many of the parishioners who attended Mass there for years. The Mass was presided by Msgr. Wozniak, Fr. Carr, and Fr. Larry. This action consolidated all of the almost 13 acres of the parish property to one site.

Due to increasing growth, yet again, a study was ordered to see how the parish could best utilize all the land for the future. And it was in 2014 that a Programming and Site Master Planning studies were conducted. While in the middle of these studies the opportunity to purchase all or a portion of approximately 26 acres that bordered the existing property to the south and west arose. With encouragement from the Diocese; Santa Rosa purchased the approximately 26 acres in December of 2014 bringing the amount of land to approximately 40 acres.
 
The study revealed that Phase One of the Master Plan would renew the plants infrastructure by improving parking and drainage, as well as expand the sanctuary to add 200 new seats to accommodate growth. Construction of Phase One began in the Fall of 2015. It was during the construction period that a fourth Mass was added to the weekend schedule and the 4PM Mass was born.
 
Expansion of the church and the addition of 200 new seats would be completed by mid-March of 2016 just in time for Easter. During this time we broke ground on our outdoor stations and began building a playground next to the Religious Education Building next to the church. 

Phase One of the Master Plan reached completion in the summer of 2016. 

By 2017 the outdoor stations and the Oak grove of St. Francis were complete thanks to the help from our Ladies Group, Knights of Columbus and various donors.

Santa Rosa continued to grow under the care of Father Larry Stehling. As we continued to grow and saw more families move to the area Father Larry saw a need that was not being met...the need for a Spanish liturgy. 

So in June of 2022 it was announced that Santa Rosa would be welcoming their first Associate Pastor, Padre Cesar Guzman-Diaz. Padre Cesar celebrated Santa Rosa's first Spanish Liturgy accompanied by Bishop Joe Vasquez on October 2, 2022.

For the first time in the parish's history there were not only one but two priests and two deacon's on staff. 

Thanks to Padre Cesar's arrival Santa Rosa now offers two Spanish liturgies on the weekends and one during the week. This is a dream come true for the founding members of the parish who, sadly never got to experience the liturgy celebrated in their native tongue.