Our parish history has seen many changes and many milestones in our relatively short existence.  Nancy Bourque was designated our first historian, followed by Jeannie Loftus, Trudy LaSala and Nancy Panger. Sara Creech became historian in December 1993 and continues to this day (2026).

     On May 13, 1988, the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, Bishop John J. Snyder, sent a letter to Father Frank Haryasz instructing him to establish a parish in the Argyle Forest area of Jacksonville effective September 15, 1988.

     Twenty-two people attended the initial parish formation meeting on September 14, 1988, which was held at the Polish American Club. On September 18 at 9:30 am, the first Mass of the new parish was celebrated in the Terrace Room of the Best Western Hotel on State Road 17 in Orange Park. Of the 39 people who began the church, two are still members of the parish  — Sara and Michael Creech.

     Mike Leahy was the first Deacon assigned to our small parish and  first assisted at Mass on September 25, 1988. Deacon Mike would remain our only Deacon until he left the parish in the Fall of 1996.

     Our faith community continued to celebrate Mass at the Best Western until October 16, 1988, at which time the celebration of Mass moved to the Nice House of Music (now the NAPA Auto Parts) on Wells Road in Orange Park. The Nice House of Music would remain our parish home for the next five years.

     A committee of parishioners met to discuss a name for our new parish and discussed several options finally selecting one that was sent to Bishop Snyder. On October 31, 1988, Bishop Snyder sent a letter accepting the name submitted by the parishioners and granting permission for the parish name to become Mary, Queen of Heaven.

     As a result of the growth of our faith community, a second Sunday Mass was added on February 5, 1989 at 11:15 am. In September of that year, a Religious Education program was started in the parish and  Kathleen Marie Drop was designated our first Director of Religious Education and remains in that position today (2026).

     The parish was growing and a permanent home became a priority. In February 1990, Bishop Snyder approved the purchase of 13.5 acres of land at the corner of what is now Argyle Forest Blvd and Staples Mill Drive (our current location). On December 16, 1990, Father Frank signed a promissory note for the purchase of the property. A small area of the property was cleared by parishioners and an outdoor Mass was celebrated amid the palmettos and pine trees on December 30, 1990.

     Bishop Snyder celebrated a very special outdoor Mass with the parish community on the site of our new parish home on January 10m 1993. This was the day of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Mary, Queen of Heaven Religious and Social Hall (the building currently known as Haryasz Hall).

      In August of 1993, the Sisters of St. Joseph donated the wood-carved Stations of the Cross (currently located in the Church) and the Living Christ statue (currently hanging in Haryasz Hall). These artifacts had been in their convent in St. Augustine which was being renovated. At this same time, Father Frank, found 10 stained glass windows in an antique shop. The owner had obtained them from a church that was closing. Father Frank was able to acquire the windows that would be kept in storage until the parish was able to build a purpose-built church. Two of the windows were installed in the new multipurpose building and the other eight remained in storage for the next 23 years, The windows are believed to be from the Franz Mayer company of Germany and are considered “works of art”.

     Ten months after the groundbreaking ceremony on October 31, 1993, Bishop Snyder returned to our parish to celebrate Mass and dedicate the new Religious and Social Hall.

     With sadness, we learned in 1995 that Father Frank would resign as pastor due to health concerns, and Fr. Michael Houle was appointed as the temporary administrator for the next year. A  Knights of Columbus Council was formed in our parish in this same year and it is still active today (2026).

     In January of 1996, a Saturday Vigil Mass at 5:30 pm was added. In that same year, Monsignor R. Joseph James was appointed as the new pastor on May 10. He would remain our pastor until his sudden death on May 6, 2003.

     In 2001, Argyle Forest Blvd. was extended to circle our property and Staples Mill was extended to meet Argyle. Our church went from the little church in the woods to the little church on the corner. After Monsignor ,m James’ unexpected death, Father Caesar Russo became the third pastor on July 1, 2003. He served in that capacity until his reassignment to the Tribunal in July of 2008. At that time, Father Denis O’Shaughnessy was appointed the fourth pastor of our parish.

     On November 21, 2010, Father Denis began a Capital Campaign to accumulate the funds  necessary to construct a new purpose-built church. At this time, Fr. Frank’s health allowed him to return to con-celebrate one of the Sunday Masses with Father Denis and he did so over the next 2 ½ years until his death on January 9, 2011.

     David Williams, a member of Mary, Queen of Heaven, was Ordained deacon on June 18, 2011. Though he was always assigned to our church, he became Chancellor in January 2015 and retired January of 2021. 

     After 3 years of fund raising, on December 8, 2014, Bishop Estevez celebrated Mass with the parish community and blessed the building site of what would be our new purpose-built church. The official groundbreaking ceremony for the new church building was held on January 31, 2015 with Mass and a BBQ lunch served al fresco. One year later, on January 17, 2016, Bishop Estevez returned to celebrate a dedication Mass of the new building.

     Deacon Paul Testa was assigned to our parish starting December 5, 2015 and is still serving our parish as one of the two deacons (2026).

     On July 1, 2019, Father Denis retired and Father Philip Timlin became the fifth pastor of our growing parish. Father Philip remained our pastor until he was re-assigned to St. Luke Parish in July of 2025. At that time, Father Lawrence Peck was appointed as the sixth pastor of our parish.

     The Saturday Vigil Mass time was changed to 4:30 pm in August of 2025 and in February of 2026, our parish added two Spanish weekday Masses (Tuesday and Thursday at 7:30 am) and one Spanish Sunday Mass (1:00 pm) to meet the needs of a growing Hispanic population.