Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, Jennings; 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: 920 South Broadway, Jennings LA, 70546; Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church is located on South Broadway, between Renshaw and Mulkern Streets. Going South on South Main, go East (left) at Renshaw to Broadway, go South on Broadway. If you miss Renshaw Street, fear not, go East at Mulkern St, till Broadway, then North (left). The Church is on the East (right) side of the road. JENNINGS - "We have come this far by faith" is the motto of the parishioners of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in here. Throughout the early years of the 20th century all Catholics in the Jennings area were served by priests of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish. As the area developed with the coming of the railroads, other parishes were established in neighboring towns. The Rev. Lawrence Fournet, Pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians Parish from 1929 to 1948, assisted in this expansion by purchasing properties that were later to become the sites of Immaculate Conception and Our Lady Perpetual of Help Parishes in Jennings and St. Lawrence Parish in Hathaway. He built a mission chapel in the southern area of Jennings, which was named for Our Lady Perpetual Help, and Mass was celebrated there every Sunday for the Jennings' Black Catholic population. Later the Black Catholic community in Jennings was placed under the care of the Holy Ghost Fathers, who manned Sacred Heart Parish in Lake Charles. In 1939, however, the mission was transferred back to Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, where it remained until 1941. That year the Most Rev. Jules B. Jeanmard, Bishop of Lafayette, established St. Joseph Parish in Welsh, and entrusted it to the priests of the Society of St. Joseph. At the same time Our Lady of Perpetual Help Chapel became a mission of the new Welsh Parish. In March of 1946 the Rev. George Reynolds, SSJ, became the pastor in Welsh. He suffered from sinus problems, and the condition of the rectory in Welsh worsened his conditions. He purchased a two-story building in Jennings, and had it moved to the property of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. That became the rectory for the Welsh parish. Father Reynolds also established the Corporation of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and started a building fund which grew to $20,000. Other Welsh pastors continued to develop Our Lady of Perpetual Help Mission. Repairs to the rectory were made under the Rev. Michael Parent. The Rev. George Betzenhauser, SSJ, launched a fund drive to build a new mission school. The Most Rev. Maurice Schexnayder, Bishop of Lafayette, broke ground for the new chapel on March 8, 1958. The new building was dedicated on November 26. In 1961 Bishop Schexnayder established Our Lady of Perpetual Help as a canonical church parish, with Father Betzenhauser as the founding pastor. Other Josephite priests served the parish well, and were outstanding spiritual leaders. During the 1980s, however, a worldwide shortage of priests began to make itself felt, and the Josephites were forced to give up their spiritual leadership in Jennings. In 1983, priests of the Franciscan Order took charge. Over the years new facilities have been added -- a parish hall and an educational center with classrooms, meeting rooms, a weekday chapel and an office. A beautiful St. Francis Grotto was created. In time the priest shortage was felt by the Franciscans, and they, too, were forced to give up the parish. The Rev. Albert Borel, a diocesan priest, became pastor in 1995. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish is known for the number of lay parishioners who are devoted to their parish and who take on a great many tasks. Two of the more important lay organizations of the parish are Our Lady of Perpetual Help Council and Court 132 of the Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver, which undertake a number of projects for the parish. The parish has an active music ministry. Vera Abraham, a Lady of the Holy Sepulchre, leads the contingent of the parish in the Companions of Honor. Holders of the Devoted Service Medal are Edna Mae Charles, Lionel Charles, Clementine Riggs and Margaret Riggs. The late Sidney Briscoe was decorated with the Bishop's Medal of the Diocese of Lafayette. The Rev. Peter Nkedife, a native of Nigeria, has been administrator of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish since August of 1996, and celebrates Mass weekly in a parishioner's home, and celebrates an extra Mass on Tuesday afternoons for the sick and shut-ins, and for special needs of parishioners. Father Nkedife was ordained in 1976 after studies at the University of Lagos and Rome's Urban University. He served as associate pastor and pastor of a number parishes in Nigeria and principal of a number of secondary schools in his native country. He came to the United States in 1995, and after a short time in residence at Sacred Heart Parish in Lake Charles, he became administrator of the Jennings parish. Here is a list of pastors of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish prior to Father Nkedife, and the year in which they were assigned to the pastorship: Here is a list of pastors of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish prior to Father Nkedife, and the year in which they were assigned to the pastorship: 1961 - the Rev. George Betzenhauser, SSJ; 1963 - the Rev. Leo J. Farrell, SSJ; 1964 - the Rev. Charles Tobin, SSJ; 1967 - the Rev. John A. McShane, SSJ; 1967 - the Rev. Thomas J. Monahan, SSJ; 1971 - the Rev. Eugene McKenna, SSJ; 1971 - the Rev. Francis H. Fallon, SSJ; 1979 - The Rev. George Betzenhauser, SSJ; 1983 - the Rev. Reginald Kellogg, OFM Conv.; 1988 - the Rev. Kenneth Bartsch, OFM Conv. 1995 - the Rev. Albert Borel.