|
|
|
|
|
|
In late 1958, during the early stages of the change in Jefferson Parish from rural to residential, an enthusiastic group of 63 met with Bishop Girault Jones to discuss preliminary plans to form a new mission. At the next meeting, early in January 1959, the Bishop named the Rev. John Stone Jenkins to serve as priest-in-charge, and the new mission was named All Saints'. While the initial meetings took place in the Harahan Youth Center, the auditorium of the Harahan Elementary School served as the house of worship for the next five years. Meanwhile, the diocese acquired land along the river levee about a mile from Harahan, along with an existing residence at 101 Moss Lane that could be used as a Rectory. Under Fr. Jenkins' guidance, the members of All Saints' selected a Mission Council, organized a Sunday School, and recruited and trained an Altar Guild. These were days of "making do," doing without, borrowing, and improvising, with members full of hope for the future. All Saints' first vicar, The Rev. John McKee, arrived in the fall of 1959 when the mission was nine months old. A stable on the back of the Rectory property was renovated and used for the 8 a.m. services, while Sunday School and 10 a.m. services continued to be held at Harahan Elementary. On November 22, 1963, the evening of President Kennedy's assassination, church members assembled to break ground for an all-purpose building. Bishop Noland officiated at this somber ceremony; he also officiated at the jubilant dedication of the completed structure on April 4, 1964. In 1965, Fr. McKee left All Saints to become chaplain at Emory University, and in 1966, Fr. James Douglass arrived. Under his spiritual guidance, the youth of the church became more active, Bible study groups met on a regular basis, and All Saints continued to look to the future and grew with Jefferson Parish. The Rectory was sold in order to acquire lots still available directly across the street from the all purpose building, providing ample space for a new Rectory and off street parking. The Rev. William Morris arrived in November 1971, and moved with his family into the new Rectory in 1974. Fr. Morris agonized with us through the Prayer Book revision, and steered us through the transition from mission to parish, which we completed in February 1977. Next on our agenda was the planning, executing, and struggling to design and build a new, separate, sanctuary. The consecration service for All Saints' took place on September 20, 1981, with Bishop James Brown officiating and Bishop Jones as guest speaker. The old building continued to be used as our parish hall. In July 1988, we gathered for a service of thanksgiving and the symbolic "burning of the mortgage" of the sanctuary, a service that occurred earlier than expected because of the success of La Bonne Cuisine. In 1990, All Saints' built a small office building between the sanctuary and the parish hall to house the church and cookbook offices; this debt was paid off in 1995. On March 15, 1998, the parish hall was named Morris Hall in honor of Fr. Morris' retirement, and was blessed by Bishop Charles Jenkins. The Rev. Susan L. Davidson accepted the call to All Saints' during Advent of December of 1998. Who We Are All Saints' Episcopal Church is nestled against the levee of the Mississippi River, in the suburban community of River Ridge. Children from the church are particularly fond of climbing the levee after church to check out the water level of the river and throw rocks into the water. Eclectic does describe the community of almost 110 families that are the community of All Saints'. Our ages range from being a few months old to being in our 100s. We are homemakers, students, doctors, nurses, attorneys, accountants, managers, and teachers. We work full-time. We work part-time. And we volunteer our services and skills. We are self-employed. We are retired. And some of us are semi-retired. A few of us have been at All Saints' since its inception in the 50s, and a few of us have been here only a few months. Some of us have been Episcopalians since birth and some since the most recent Confirmation/Reception. Before becoming Episcopalians we have been Methodists, Presbyterians, Disciples of Christ, Baptists, Quakers, and Roman Catholics. Most of us live in River Ridge, Harahan, and Metairie. But we also live in Jefferson, Kenner, New Orleans, Norco, Avondale, Luling, LaPlace, and Destrehan. We come together from whoever we are, whatever we do, and wherever we are to worship, to learn, to celebrate, and to eat. Worship Worship services are the center of All Saints' church life. We celebrate two services each Sunday: an 8 a.m. Rite I Eucharist with no music and a 10 a.m. Rite II sung Eucharist. Although All Saints' congregation members enjoy the beauty of the traditional services, there is very little else about the services that is traditional. Rather than ushers, a vestry member each Sunday greets arrivals, hands out bulletins, and chooses church members to deliver the gifts of bread and wine and handle the offertory. Children and adults participate in a variety of ways in All Saints' services. Lay persons (called "lectors") present the lessons and lead the prayers of the people each Sunday. There are no age restrictions on being an acolyte; indeed, you may often find a parent and a child serving together at the altar, with the child being the more experienced acolyte of the two. Likewise, small children often help collect the offering and often present the bread and wine to the altar. While this participation sometimes means a bit more noise during the sermon, the All Saints' congregation believes it is important to build a safe, trusting place where young and old alike can grow spiritually and be loved unconditionally. Our music is provided by a talented organist, and an excellent volunteer choir. Different members of the congregation provide vocal and instrumental music on occasion. In addition to the traditional holiday services, we also enjoy special services throughout the year, including a Good Friday Stations of the Cross, the full Holy Week Triduum, including an Easter vigil that is followed by a Resurrection Party of ice cream sundaes. A Thanksgiving service each year gives us a chance to reflect on our blessings, while a Christmas service helps us focus on Christ's birth. We celebrate two services each Christmas Eve: a family service in the afternoon, which usually includes the children's annual pageant, and a festive midnight service with glorious music. For those who cannot attend services, the Sacrament is administered at their home by the clergy and/or by Eucharistic Visitors. Participatory Ministries and Programs All Saints' provides ongoing education and opportunities for spiritual growth to all ages. Our education programs have grown through the years, thanks to the generous contributions of our education leaders. The Adult Education program examines a variety of topics in an informal setting, studying books, movies, the Bible, and current issues. The "academic year" usually begins with a pot-luck gathering. Trained volunteers lead Sunday School classes for children three years old and older including the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (for children 3-11) and the Journey to Adulthood, for youth from 12-18. These classes mix stories that illustrate the Gospel lessons of the week with a variety of games, art projects, and songs. Throughout the year, all ages meet together for occasional intergenerational events that reach out to the community. These events include making Thanksgiving baskets, preparing boxes for Mississippi River sailors at Christmas time, making and delivering handmade Valentines to a nursing home, a Sunday School brunch to start the school year, and a picnic at the end of the school year. Both Adult Education and Sunday School classes are offered between the two services. An adult Study Group meets year round, while other Sunday School classes take a break during the summer. A fund raising dinner for All Saints' in 1974 has now grown into a highly successful, nationally-recognized cookbook with more than 155,000 copies in print. La Bonne Cuisine: Cooking New Orleans Style started with a dinner, La Bonne Cuisine. People liked the food. There was another dinner the following year, another success. Soon, people were buying mimeographed copies of the recipes for $1. Could the parish do a real cookbook? Would it sell? After careful research, an idea with wide appeal emerged. Recipes were submitted by Parishioners, evaluated, and carefully rewritten. Parishioners ate their way through each dish at least three times (and gained at least five pounds each). And in 1980, after more work than anyone imagined possible, the cookbook was born and La Bonne Cuisine became an incorporated arm of the Episcopal Church Women of All Saints.. The result is La Bonne Cuisine, with a sharp, professional cover; recipes for typical New Orleans food; photographs of New Orleans scenes; a chapter of recipes from famous local restaurants -- in short, a cookbook aimed at locals, tourists, and a national market. Profits from the cookbook were dedicated to retiring the mortgage of the church building and to mission work. In 1989, La Bonne Cuisine reached the milestone of 100,000 copies in print and $100,000 in contributions to the church mortgage, which was paid off that year. Profits have continued to be dedicated to mission work, to paying the mortgage of a small office building shared by La Bonne Cuisine and the church, to the Solomon Episcopal Conference Center in Robert, Louisiana, and currently, to Katrina recovery. Today, La Bonne Cuisine's success continues with two sister cookbooks: Cooking New Orleans Style and Lagniappe. The La Bonne Cuisine dinner that gave birth to the cookbook continues to be an annual fund-raising event for All Saints', with nearly the whole congregation participating in some way. For one night each spring, our parish hall is turned into a restaurant, seating and feeding about 250 people over the course of four hours. From preparing the food to arranging tables, from managing the behind-the-scenes action to acting as hostesses, there is a role for everyone. Older children act as waitresses and bus the tables, while the younger children serve bread to our customers. The annual dinner raises approximately $2,000, which is used by the E.C.W. to help fund their many projects. Dinners for Eight is small-group bi-monthly potluck gatherings in members' homes, to help people get to know one another. The Episcopal Church Women of All Saints' has played a pivotal role in the building of All Saints', and continues in that role today. In addition to the work of La Bonne Cuisine, the E.C.W. hosts periodic dinners and lectures for the women of the church, sponsors a Lenten Quiet Day, hosts baby showers for expectant parents in the parish, gives gifts to high school graduates, and provides food and hospitality for many of the church's special events. The E.C.W. Caring Committee supports bereaved families by notifying Parishioners of deaths in the congregation and sponsoring a visitation in Morris Hall after funeral services. All Saints' E.C.W. supports the United Thank Offering, the Woman to Woman Society, the E.C.W. Dollar Endowment Fund, and other programs. The Flower Guild, a small, dedicated group, brings the glory of God's outdoor creation into the church each week, dressing the altar with flowers. Funds for this group are provided by Parishioner gifts. The Altar Guild's behind-the-scenes work prepares the linens and equipment needed for each Eucharist at All Saints', as well as preparing for all other services, such as weddings, funerals, and other special occasions. The Altar Guild dresses the altar in the hangings appropriate for the season and sets up candles, silver, linens, and the elements of the Eucharist, according to the priest's requests. This group is also responsible for cleaning and maintaining the silver, linens, vestments, and hangings. All Saints' is governed by a 12-member vestry, elected to three year terms. From this group, a Senior Warden is elected to act as a liaison between the congregation and the Rector, as well as assisting the Rector in the church's business. The Junior Warden oversees the maintenance of the church and Rectory and their grounds. The Vestry meets monthly. Vestry members rotate serving at the two Sunday services, and the vestry member serving at each week's 10 a.m. service also straightens up the kitchen after coffee and closes and locks the buildings. A Vestry retreat each year gives members an opportunity to get to know one another, as well as develop a plan for the coming year. The Vestry is assisted in its' work by the following committees: The Cemetery Committee oversees the columbarium located in a small entryway at the rear of the sanctuary. Spaces are available for purchase by parish members and may be used for non-members remains. Between Morris Hall and the office building is the Darlene Marshall Memorial Garden where Parishioners' ashes may be scattered. The Buildings and Grounds Committee assists the Junior Warden in planning and executing maintenance and general upkeep of All Saints' grounds and buildings. The Long Range Planning Committee looks at issues confronting All Saints', develops long-range solutions and plans, and makes recommendations to the Vestry on them. The Stewardship Committee plans and carries out All Saints' annual stewardship campaign. Time, treasure and talents are the definition of stewardship at All Saints', and members are encouraged to contribute in any or all of these categories, in thanksgiving for the blessings which they receive from God. The Greenberg Scholarship Committee oversees the distribution of scholarships to eligible college students.. Community Outreach All Saints' allows a variety of community groups to use its buildings for meetings. These groups include: Infancy to Independence (I to I), a parent/child structured playgroup. This lively group meets each weekday morning and one or two afternoons, as well as holding periodic special events on Saturdays and evenings. Recovery groups, including Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon. Jazzercise classes. All Saints' also supports two local food banks through donations of canned goods and the Battered Women's Shelter, with donations of clothing and household goods. The Building Building a church is not an easy task. People care about their churches and have strong opinions about them. A church must function well as a liturgical building and also as a symbolic structure for those who worship there. At the beginning, All Saints' members decided to build a church for the parish, rather than to please critics. We were fortunate in our choice of an architect, Fr. Nelson Longnecker, who concurred with our intentions. Our plans began with conversations with many parish members about their expectations and the church's needs. These conversations revealed a widespread and justifiable concern that a new church might be too large, too cold, overpowering, or otherwise wrong for us, even though most agreed about the need to build. These discussions determined part of the architectural program. The building should be simple and warm, keep to a human scale, use established conventions creatively, and be - in short - a place in which this community could feel at home. It was also clear that being able to see and hear were more important to people than questions of appearance. The next step was to analyze the liturgy and our manner of celebrating it very carefully. We determined that the building should be planned around its liturgical centers: the font, the lectern, and the altar; that it should be suitable for all the services of the church; that it should have a certain flexibility but not be marked by a spirit of improvisation; that a good traffic pattern was critical; and that it should be at its best when it was in use. Practically, we also needed a building which was easy to maintain, and one with good natural lighting and ventilation, to give some control over the ever-rising costs of maintenance and utilities. The result of these considerations was a modern building with a traditional floor plan. As Fr. Morris said at the consecration of the building, "On the whole, it seems generally agreed that we got what we said we needed, and that what we needed was also what we wanted." In 2002, we purchases the vacant property adjacent to our parking lot, to be held for future expansion. At this time, it provides a pleasant green space for picnics and games. Our buildings serve us well, but the Church is more than buildings; it is a community of faith which reaches out to bring and be the Good News of God's love in Christ Jesus to the world. We pray for the grace to do that effectively.
|
