St. Lawrence Church, Raymond, 1951; 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: Pine Island Highway, Jennings LA, 70546; St Lawrence is located on the Raymond (Pine Island) road. Going North from Jennings on La 26, go West at the Raymond (Pine Island) road. The church is on the South side of the junction with the road to Elton. Or, from I-10, take La 395 North and at the Raymond (Pine Island) road, go East. RAYMOND - The rural community of Raymond has two focal point: the Raymond United Methodist Church on the north side of Highway 102, and St. Lawrence Catholic Church on the south side. The Parish of St. Lawrence is unique among the 36 which make up the Diocese of Lake Charles. It originated in 1951, which the Most Rev. Jules B. Jeanmard, Bishop of Lafayette, established St. Lawrence Parish in Hathaway, with the Rev. Henry J. Pelous as founding pastor. Some time later, St. John Mission was established at Pine Island, and attached to St. Lawrence Parish. In 1975, the church in Hathaway and the chapel in Pine Island were both closed and a new church was built about halfway between the two, in Raymond. During this transition, the Rev. John A. Poerio was pastor. Today, the 64-square-mile parish is still predominantly rural. The 440 families are primarily engaged in farming and ranching, with oil production as a welcome addition. Much of the development of the parish has taken during the pastorships of Fr. Poerio (1972-85) and the Rev. Fred Russi (1986-97). The new church building at Raymond was constructed on a 12-acre plot donated to the parish by Mrs. Louise Hebert. The first Mass in the new church was celebrated on Sept. 25, 1976 by Fr. Poerio. The church has a seating capacity of 400. A new parish rectory was built in 1980, followed by a driveway and parking lot. A cemetery was opened in 1987, followed by a 36-crypt mausoleum. St. Lawrence Parish is proud of its large crops of volunteers who man the parish organizations, assist the clergy and carry out a great deal of the maintenance work, as well as finance the entire operation. Two organizational mainstay are Our Lady of Grace Court 1964 of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas and St. Lawrence Council 4787 of the Knights of Columbus. The parish conducts a Faith Renewal program each February, along with religious education classes, which are held weekly. An hour of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is held each Thursday, followed by the celebration of Mass. Dozens of lay volunteers take care of the parish needs, but two are deserving of special mention: Raoul Hebert and Joe B. Landry. Landry chaired a committee that met in the late summer of 1938 to find ways to build a church at Hathaway. He headed up the first bazaar to raise funds for a church, and was in the forefront of all other fund-raising efforts. These efforts resulted in the construction of a chapel in 1940. He was among the first ushers for the Hathaway chapel. Hebert used his carpentry skills in renovating the chapel at Pine Island, and assisted in demolishing an old cotton gin to use the materials for a mission hall at Pine Island. He also headed the list of Pine Island ushers. When St. Lawrence Parish was moved to Raymond, Landry and Hebert were on the building committee that supervised the construction of the church. They were both charter lay trustees for the parish, filling these posts for many years. Both were charter members of the first Parish Pastoral Council, and both were charter members of St. Lawrence Council 4787 of the Knights of Columbus. In 1975 Hebert was among the first Lay Ministers of Communion to be commissioned for the parish, and he used his skills to build all the cabinetry in the new mission. Nine pastors have been assigned to St. Lawrence Parish. They are 1951- the Rev. Henry J. Pelous; 1952 - the Rev. Jules C. Speyrer; 1956 - the Rev. August Cyr; 1962 - the Rev. Wilfred Sylvester; 1966 - the Rev. Joseph Bourque; 1972 the Rev. John A. Poerio; 1985 - the Rev. Charles Soileau; 1986 - the Rev. Fred Russi. In 1997 Fr. Russi was transferred to Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Oakdale. The Rev. Eappen Joseph, a native of India, was appointed by the Most Rev. Jude Speyrer, Bishop of Lake Charles, as administrator of the parish following Fr. Russi's transfer. Fr. Joseph, a native of Kerla, India was ordained in 1977 for the Diocese of Aurangabad in India. He is one of a number of priests from India now serving in the diocese.