Father Michael Campbell was appointed by Bishop Richard Gerow to establish a new South Jackson parish on Sept. 3, 1955. Father Campbell was ordained in the Diocese of Natchez on June 6, 1943. 

According to Bishop Gerow, the pressing need in South Jackson was for a school. Most of the children in the newly designated area were attending St. Mary School, which was already becoming overcrowded.  A map of Hinds County showing the parish boundaries in 1955 reveals St. Therese was carved out of St. Mary and St. Peter Parishes.

St. Therese was the fourth Catholic parish to be organized since the mid-1940s. If you like statistics, here are some to ponder: In the decade between 1946 and 1956, Jackson's Catholic parishes had tripled from two to six. The number of priests had risen from six to 18 and Catholic sisters from 22 to 59. 

The phenomenal growth in the Jackson area allowed Catholic schools to flourish, with enrollment growing from 871 to 1,493 and the total Catholic population increasing from 2677 to 5470 in the late fifties. 
Seventy-four of those Catholics gathered at the Leavell Woods Clubhouse on Sept. 21, 1955, for the first meeting of the community, which became St. Therese. And community is the proper word. No matter whom you ask to characterize St. Therese Parish - former pastors, present parishioners, former parishioners - the verdict is the same.

The great strength at St. Therese is the strong community spirit. In choosing the parish patron, St. Therese of Lisieux. Bishop Gerow remarked, “She was the product of a saintly and cheerful home,” said the bishop, who saw parallels in the homes of the parishioners of the new parish.

Ground was broken on Sunday, Aug. 12, 1956, for the first phase of the building program, a chapel to be converted later into classrooms. Bishop Gerow dedicated it on Dec. 23, 1956. An open house arranged by the ever-faithful ladies of the CWA followed the dedication, and St. Therese was in business.

Summarized from Christ: The Living Water. The Catholic Church in Mississippi.
Cleta Ellington (Author); Janna Avalon (editor); Carole Pigott (illustrator). 1989.