Our Lady Help of Christians Church, Jennings, 1891; Jefferson Davis, Louisiana Submitted by Kathy Tell Source; Truman Stacey of the Diocese of Lake Charles. Written for the Jubilee Year 2000. Submitted July 2004 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ LOCATION: 710 State Street, Jennings LA, 70546; This Catholic Church is located on State Street, between Third and Second in Jennings, Louisiana. JENNINGS - The City of Jennings was a comparative latecomer in the history of Southwest Louisiana. The tracks of the Southern Pacific Railway reached Jennings in 1882. At the time Jennings was not even name. It consisted of the McFarlain Tavern, a general store owned by the same man, a nearby store owned by DENENOT DEROUEN and a small wooden building that housed a temporary post office. It was the shrewd land promoter, J. B. WATKINS, who seized the opportunity to promote Southwest Louisiana lands among towns in the Middle West, calling it "the land of sunshine and flowers." One of his first successes was a S. A. Sutter of Kansas, a deacon of the Dunkard Brethren, who enticed almost his whole congregation to move south. Some settled around McFarlain's store and others to the westward, where Roanoke was founded. Sutter later became a mayor of Jennings. The first church of the Brethren was built in Roanoke. In 1891 the Rev. Sam Honebeger of Stuttgart, Arkansas arrived as pastor of this church. He brought with him other Brethren: William Bruchhaus, Charles Groth, Henry Kool, Henry Precht, Fred Lipscomb, Henry Justman, Albert Ellis, William Baier, Ben Meyer, Charles Nohe, H. B. Hesse, Thomas Barker and three Hetzel brothers, Albert, William and Herman. In 1883 S. L. CARY, a schoolteacher and Congregationalist, was employed by the railway as a ticket agent, and he, too, began to solicit settlers from his former residence in Iowa. In 1884 a group of 150 families arrived. The first Catholic immigrants began to arrive in the middle 1880s. They included Joseph and Peter Bollich from Nebraska, Fritz and Valentine Huber from Missouri. Peter Unkel from Illinois first settled around Mamou, and then moved near Welsh. Other early settlers were Peter Strohe, Peter Eckel, and William and Henry Tietje. Meanwhile, of course, Catholics of French descent were moving into the area from the east, and from nearby Lake Arthur. In 1886 there were enough Catholics in residence that plans were drafted for the building of a chapel. This plan failed to materialize, and priests form Immaculate Conception Parish in Lake Charles arrived on a regular basis to celebrate Mass. The first chapel in Jennings was built under the direction of the Rev. E. J. Fallon, the Lake Charles Pastor. The chapel was built south of the railway, at the corner of Madison and South Main Streets. In 1890 the Most Rev. Francis Janssens, Archbishop of New Orleans, came to Imperial Calcasieu to administer Confirmation and other Sacraments. The Archbishop agreed with Father Fallon that Jennings was in need of its own parish and pastor, so on Dec. 7, 1891, the Parish of Our Lady Help of Christians was established, with the Rev. Cornelius van de Ven, a native of the Netherlands, as the Founding Pastor. The first child to be baptized after the parish was established was that of Marie Desida Benoit, daughter of Joseph and Aglae Dupuy. The first marriage was that of Joseph Duplessis Istre and Marie Melisa LeBlanc. The first priest to be ordained who was a native of the parish was the Rev. Eugene Hebert, S. J. The new Pastor was also was also responsible for chapels or stations at Lake Arthur, Welsh, Mermentau and Point-aux-Loups (later to be known as Iota). The parish's physical plant at the time consisted of the chapel (now a church) in Jennings, still unpainted, unfinished and largely unfurnished. The need for a rectory was temporarily solved when Peter Bollich offered a nearby house for rent at $8 a month. Father van de Ven's pastorate was not a long one. In 1892 he was called to Lake Charles as Pastor of the "mother parish," of Immaculate Conception. Father van de Ven's successor was the Rev. Joseph Peeters, a native of Belgium, who left a large imprint on the Catholic Church in the Jefferson Davis Civil Parish. He was a man of stature, of huge energy, and a well-developed sense of humor. Almost immediately he began to plan for a new and larger church. He drafted his brother, Louis, to assist him with the blueprints for the structure, which was to be based upon the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Parish. The church was constructed with locally-made concrete blocks, which were molded by Fr. Peeters and parishioners he had instructed in such work. The blocks were made on the site of the church. As money was raised, blocks were cast, so the building of the church took nine years of labor by Fr. Peeters, is brothers and laborers from the Black community. The new church was dedicated on Feb. 29, 1916, by the Most Rev. James Hubert Blenk, Archbishop of New Orleans. Until 1906 Mass had been celebrated in the original church (chapel). In 1906 Father Peeters built St. Henry Academy as a Catholic school, and persuaded the Archbishop to persuaded the Marianites of the Holy Cross to conduct the school. After the school was built, Fr. Peeters celebrated Mass on the second floor until the new church was ready. The academy was in operation until the uncertain days of World War I. Fr. Peeters had much more to occupy his time and his mind besides building a church. Population in the area increased, so his parish also consisted of chapels and stations in Lake Arthur, Mermentau, Welsh, Elton, Gueydan, Hathaway and Hickory Flats. So extensive was the territory, and so poor the means of transportation that at times he would be absent from Jennings for 15 days. Fr. Peeters was not a 9-to-5 priest. He was on duty 24 hours a day. In January 1917 Fr. Peeters was made Pastor in St. Martinville. He was succeeded in Jennings by the Rev. Louis Espitalier, who was to remain in Jennings more than 10 years. He did much toward the completion of the interior of the church. During his time he oversaw establishment of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Arthur. In 1927 the Rev. George Mollo became Pastor, and served for two years before being transferred to Crowley. The next pastor, the Rev. Laurence Fournet, served longer than any other Pastor, from 1929 to 1948. During this time the parish struggled through the days of the Great Depression, and then witnessed many of its sons being called up to fight the great battles of World War II. Realizing that the expansion of population in the area called for the end of additional facilities, Father Fournet purchased the properties on which the future parishes of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and Immaculate Conception in Jennings and St. Lawrence in Hathaway would be built. A parish hall was constructed on the south side of Jennings where Mass was celebrated until a new parish was established there. Msgr. A. L. Soulier followed Father Fournet as Pastor in 1948. Under his jurisdiction St. Mary's Center, a modern brick structure, was built as a parish hall and catechetical center. The renovation of the church was completed, and through the generosity of R. Mouton the parish acquired a social center on Cary Avenue and 160 acres of land north of Jennings on the Elton Road. Msgr. Soulier also oversaw the establishment of the Parishes of St. Lawrence in Hathaway, later moved to Raymond in 1951 and Immaculate Conception Parish in South Jennings in 1956. Msgr. Charles Marin followed Msgr. Soulier in 1956. Under his administration Our Lady Help of Christians Elementary School was built on 10 acres on Roberts Avenue. He also supervised the construction of a convent next to the school to house the Teresian Sisters who were to staff the school. Msgr. Marin also oversaw the establishment of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in 1961. With the establishment of the third Jennings parish Our Lady Help of Christians Parish assumed its present boundaries, and its physical plan was primarily completed, and the school was re-named Our Lady Immaculate School, to include all three parishes. Succeeding Pastors built on the accomplishments of their predecessors, seeking to increase the scope and efficiency of religious education both to youths and adults, and extending overtures to the unchurched. Church facilities have been refurbished, landscaping carried out, additional parking obtained, and youth activities expanded, and study groups and prayer groups initiated. Currently Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, centered in North Jennings, administers to 1,039 families. The current Pastor, Msgr. James Gaddy, has been at the helm only since July 1. He is assisted by an able staff of workers. Deacon Ed McNally is attached to the parish. The parish religious education program provides instruction for 340 students. The devotion of the parishioners of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish is mirrored in the fact that a total of 36 men and women of the parish have been decorated by the Diocese of Lake Charles or by the Holy See, becoming members of the diocesan Companions of Honor. An additional 12 members of the parish, also decorated and members of the Companions of Honor, have passed to their eternal rewards. During it long history, 15 Pastors have served the parish. They are, with the years they were appointed: 1891 - Rev. Cornelius van de Ven, 1892 - Rev. Joseph Peeters, 1917 - Rev. Louis Espitalier, 1926 - Rev. George Mollo, 1929 - Rev. Laurence Fournet, 1948 - Msgr. A. L. Soulier, 1956 - Msgr. Charles Marin, 1970 - Msgr. Ivan Arceneaux, 1973 - Rev. Fernand Gouaux, 1976 - Revs. Ronald Groth and Marshall Boulet (co-Pastors), 1981 - Rev. Marshall Boulet, 1985 - Msgr. Joseph Bourque, 1991 - Msgr. Vincent Sedita, V. G. 1999 - Msgr. James Gaddy.