Part 3 follows the Catholic community associated with Laindon from worship in a private home to the old timber chapel and the present church at Florence Way.
The modern Catholic history associated with Laindon begins in 1915, when the parish priest from Billericay celebrated Mass in a local family home. At that time there was no purpose-built Catholic church serving the growing settlement.
In the mid-1920s a small Catholic chapel was established to serve the community. Catholic histories record the church as dedicated to St Therese of Lisieux, who had been canonised in 1925, making the local dedication one of the earliest to the new saint.
Historical sources spell the name both St Teresa and St Therese. The older chapel stood on the High Road between Alexander Road and St David's Road. Although widely remembered as a Laindon church, that site fell within the historic parish of Langdon Hills, an important boundary distinction often blurred by everyday use of the name Laindon.
Church-history research records that the timber chapel had previously been used for Catholic worship at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924–25 before being moved to the Laindon district. Its lightweight construction made relocation possible.
The little church served generations of Catholics as the plotland population increased and, later, as the New Town transformed the district. It remained in use for decades and was registered for marriages in the mid-twentieth century.
By the late twentieth century the old timber building had deteriorated and was no longer considered suitable for the needs of the congregation. A replacement church was therefore planned on a new site.
The present church in Florence Way was built as part of a modern complex including a presbytery and hall. Architectural records date the building to 1991; it opened in December that year and was consecrated in May 1992.
The church has an octagonal plan with a conical roof and an interior centred on a single worship space. Although modern, it continues the Catholic mission that began in the Laindon area more than a century ago.
The original High Road chapel was demolished after the new church opened. Residential gardens now occupy the former site, making old photographs particularly valuable for showing where the timber church once stood.