Before
the 20th Century | Mission
Years | Early
Parish Years
The
Waiting Years | A
Time of Rebirth | A
Time of Renewal
THE WAITING YEARS
In June of 1964 Fr. Maurice Gubler became the second Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker
Church. At that time, everyone in the community experienced pain because of changes in
the community and death to old ways of thinking. All parish organizations and ministries had
periods of growth and decline. The same loyal faithful parishioners kept life going at the
church. School enrollment increased slightly, however, as Fr. Gubler reminded families of
their responsibility to support their own Catholic school.�
The Catholic Goodwill Club decided to disband in the summer of 1966. Their treasury of
thirty-three hundred dollars was turned over to the parish, and the property which had
long since been paid for became a gift to St. Joseph the Worker from its black parishioners.
It was given for the benefit of the whole parish, and the dream of a separate black church
passed away into history just like many other dreams and ideas had as well.
The 1960's was a period when parishioners were adjusting to the shock of racial and
social change, a war in Vietnam and change in the Catholic Church brought on by
Vatican II. The mass and songs, which used to be in Latin, were now being said and
sung in English. The priest who had once celebrated mass while facing the altar was now
to face the people.
New lay ministries began that would forever change the way church
occurred.
School enrollment dropped to an all-time low. One-year confirmation was almost canceled
because of lack of enough children properly prepared to receive the sacrament. In August
of 1965 Fr. Bill Reed became the Pastor. In that same year, hurricane Betsy struck and
severely damaged many homes in the New Orleans Metropolitan area. Fortunately, there
was only slight damage to the roofs of both the school and the church. One year later
another tragedy struck. On April 10th , as the Easter Vigil was about to begin the rectory
(where the priests lived) caught fire and was completely destroyed. This was a blessing in
a sense, because the building was inadequate both in terms of office and living space, so
construction began to replace the old rectory.
By 1965, the St. Joseph Procession had been revived and the school was sponsoring a
mini-bazaar which later became the Parish Fair. Fr. Ignatius Roppolo became the third
Pastor of St. Joseph the Worker
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