Before the 20th Century   |  Mission Years  |  Early Parish Years

  The Waiting Years  |   A Time of Rebirth   |  A Time of Renewal  

 

 

 

 

A TIME OF RENEWAL

 

Through the leadership of Fr. Doussan, the life that had been reborn in recent years 

blossomed even more. Rapidly changing times were calling the people of St. Joseph the 

Worker into deeper awareness of who they were to God, and who God was to them.�

There were new developments in liturgy, sacramental development, education, youth 

programs, programs for the poor and for seniors, and ministries to the poor. School 

enrollment increased from 230 students in 1970 to 250 students in 1972. More attention 

was paid to music and the arts, educational basics, cultural understanding and diversity. 

The school PTA came into its own sponsoring many fund-raises.

Food drives; toy drive and the St. Vincent DePaul Society made major contributions to 

organizations that worked with the poor. They also committed themselves to extensive 

direct service.

1973 was a significant year. The Vietnam War ended, the Watergate Crisis in Washington 

started, and it was also the 50th Anniversary of St. Joseph the Worker Church. That same 

year the parish council voted to tithe 4% of the weekly parish income to support a poor 

Catholic mission in Guatemala. The Liturgy Committee held a workshop to help 

parishioners understand the incorporation of Black Culture into the Catholic liturgy. 

And....A decision was made to commence construction of a brand new church that could 

better meet the needs of this prosperous church.

In August, the property that had been purchased in1951 for $ 11,000 was sold to 

McDonald�s for $ 200,000. Some of the money was used to build two new classrooms 

and the rest was to finance a new church. In 1975, St. Joseph the Worker welcomed into 

its family several Vietnamese families which had come to the United States after the end 

of the

War in Vietnam.  They were welcomed and introduced to the congregation at a mass 

in late May. In broken English, one of the new parishioners told of their journey from 

Asia to America. In the following years the Vietnamese community grew, and several 

were educated at St. Joseph the Worker School. Later, a special C.C.D. program was 

established for them, and a Sunday evening mass was said in their native language 

every week.

In 1977 a contract was signed for construction to begin on the brand new church. 

Ground breaking was on January 15th of 1978. An estimated 700 people gathered for 

the great event. The old church was sold for $ 2000 to Heavenly Star Missionary Baptist 

Church in Marrero. The old church was placed on rollers, and moved intact to its new 

location where it still sits today. You can see it today on Cohen Street, just across the 

Westbank Expressway.  The first mass was celebrated in the new church in March of 

1979. This was a joyous day for all the people of St. Joseph the Worker.

1980 to the present marked many significant events to the life of the parish. Fr. Ferdinand 

Cheri established the Youth Gospel Choir and later the Adult Gospel Choir came into 

being.The Knights of Peter Claver, the Knights of Columbus, their Ladies` Auxiliaries 

and Children�s Groups made major contributions to the community. The Parish Fair 

and other fundraising events supported family life. Over forty-five lay ministries made 

their mark on the community.

In 1990, Fr. Doussan searched for some assistance with saying mass in the mushrooming 

church community. Fr. Paul McQuillen answered the call, at first just to say mass. In 1991,

 Fr. Paul accepted a position as the Associate Pastor.

Later that year, Fr. Doussan suffered a sudden heart attack and went on leave at which time 

Fr. Paul took on the duties of the Parish Administrator. In March of that year Fr. Doussan 

decided to move on and the position as the fifth Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Church. 

Today, he still serves in that capacity.

 

 

 

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