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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