![]() A SHORT HISTORY
OF
No one knows when the first Catholics moved into Alexander City. We know that there were some few circuit-riding clergy who worked between Birmingham and Columbus during the nineteenth century. But for the longest time there were neither churches nor resident priests along the road that eventually became US Highway 280. The first priests to serve in East Alabama were the Vincentians, who set up headquarters in Opelika in 1910. We don't know by what means, but the Vincentians in Opelika came to know that there were Catholic families in Alexander City, and on Easter Sunday, 1945, Father Bartholomew O’Malley, C.M. (still hale and heart today at age 88), assigned to Opelika, celebrated Mass in the home of Mr. And Mrs. T. W. Tilton, of Lake Hill in Alexander City. Among those who attended this celebration who are still members today were Marie Carlisle, Judy Davis, and Ellen Voss. Father O’Malley came here from time to time, saying Mass in various locales (even, for a time, in a hall used by the Ku Klux Klan) until finally the Vincentians, under the leadership of Fr. John Hild, C.M., the pastor of St. Mary’s, Opelika, and the Superior of the Vincentians, purchased a home at the corner of North Central Avenue and Parks Street. The home became the location of St. Thomas Chapel, the foundation of the present parish, which was officially established one year later. From its 13 families in 1945, St. John the Apostle (so renamed when the present Church was dedicated in 1960) has grown today to 145 families in Tallapoosa and Coosa Counties. There have been three significant growth factors in the parish. First of all, the children and grandchildren of the original thirteen families continue to be a vital part of parish life. The growth of industry in our area and the phenomenon of the Lake Martin recreational and retirement development has created a second period of growth in the parish. The third phase of growth has just begun. In the last eight years the Hispanic immigration that began forty years ago in California and Texas, as well as in the industrial North, has come to our area. St. John’s has started to respond to their needs, the first Church of any denomination in Alexander City and in Tallapoosa and Coosa Counties to offer Mass and pastoral services in Spanish. The first phase of growth saw the pastors Fr. John Cody, C.M., Walter Menig, C.M. (twice–for a brief period in 1955 and again in the middle 70's), Vincent Loeffler, C.M. (one of three brothers from the same family), Joseph Hill, C.M., John Tumelty, C.M., and Edward Rouse, C.M. An interesting
note of this first period was the relative youth of the pastors and, on
the other hand, their vast experience. The oldest pastor at the time
of his assignment here was Father Rouse–66 years old. All the rest
(except Father Menig on his second tour) were under fifty, and Father O’Malley
and Father Cody were both under forty. Three of our pastors, Fr.
Loeffler, Father Hill, and Father Menig, were missionaries in China expelled
with the foreign Vincentians in 1952.
At the end of this first era of our history came the changes in the Church and in our world. The first Mass in which English was used was celebrated in Alexander City on November 29, 1964, by Fr. Tumelty. Now, lay people became more and more involved. The late Peter Calabro and Lewis Wendling were the first lay lectors and Eucharistic ministers, and both held leadership positions on the Parish Council. Marie Carlisle and Judy Davis made the first banners used in the parish, and fashioned the first funeral pall. The social upheavals that accompanied the push to integration touched gently upon us. Because of our Church’s location at the edge of one part of the Alexander City African American community, our pastors had always been generous in assisting people in their need. We are proud that some of our members showed leadership and helped integration begin to happen here. It was a banner day for our parish when we had our first members of African descent. Fr. John Nicholas, pastor for 18 years (1979 until his death on May 4, 1997), oversaw the melding of the new arrivals with the established families of the parish. Besides serving as pastor, Fr. Nicholas was the Superior of the Vincentians in east Alabama for an unprecedented 12 years (1984-1996--Rome gave special permission for his last three-year term), and he oversaw the establishment of a new thrust of the Vincentians (back to their roots) for the service of the materially poor. The stable Vincentian presence in Clay County, traditionally a part of St. John the Apostle Parish, is just one of the many legacies he leaves to us. He added the third Mass late Sunday morning, bought the building that is the home of the Father Nicholas School of Religion, gave us our first (small) parking lot. But the physical buildings are no match for the spiritual edifice he built among us. Fr. Robert Stone, C.M., 47 years old, arrived in Alexander City on July, 1997. He moved forward the beginning of a building project begun in Fr. Nicholas’ last months, as the parish seeks the space it needs for religious education, for fellowship, and eventually for worship. He began the weekly Mass in Spanish, sought to serve the needs of our Vietnamese families, and, under the inspiration and impetus of the late Rosemary Chandler, began the first Brown Bag program for the feeding of the elderly poor. His special eye was for the disenfranchised in any way. He had the privilege of bringing into ministry Rev. Mr. Paul Mark Sullivan, a parishioner, ordained permanent deacon on December 2, 2000. Fr. Bruce Krause, CM, 46 years old, born in Mobile, AL, a native son of our Vincentian sister parish of Holy Family, Lanett, AL, and presently priest-in-charge at St. Mark’s, Ashland, will assume the pastorate in addition to his other duties in September, 2001. With a doctoral degree in rural ministry from Emory University, experience in setting up the Lazarus Ministries in Opelika and Phoenix City, and his role as a regional Spiritual Director for the St. Vincent de Paul Society, he will bring to our parish highly crafted and honed organizational skills and a love for the poor. St. John’s is developing lay leadership. St. John’s is working to deepen even more its spiritual roots. The hunger for God that the media talks about today St. John’s experiences in greater weekend attendance, in wider participation in Bible Study, in a significant number of adults who seek full membership in the Catholic Church, and in our 36 children who attend the Fr. Nicholas School of Religion. All this is simply a way to solidify all that for the future. Fifty three years of parish life tells us how blessed we are. At St. John’s, named after the “beloved” disciple whom Jesus loved, members motivate each other to treat all as the beloved, so that everyone can know the love that God has for them in His Son, our Savior. Our Summer Mass Schedule
ST. JOHN THE APOSTLE
CATHOLIC CHURCH
Office/Rectory:
256-234-3631 FAX: 256-234-3789
Father Bob with
two of the children who have just received their first Communion.
Special Announcement Below is a picture
of our dream.. It is our new church. We have the land and lots of labor
but are in the process of raising the funds for the new church. If you
would like to donate to our cause, Please contact Father Bob.
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