Hapeville Church, School Mark 50 Years Of Faith

PRISCILLA GREEAR, Staff Writer

Published: October 14, 2004

HAPEVILLE—Joan and Tony Walker strolled through the halls of St. John the Evangelist School reflecting on its 50th anniversary theme of grace, gratitude and giving and recalling with thanksgiving how they found their faith and each other there—although they weren’t exactly childhood sweethearts.

“He used to pull my pigtails through grammar school,” said Mrs. Walker, and they never dated in high school.

Years later, it was at one Good Friday Mass at St. John’s that God brought them together, both by this point previously married, to reconnect, Mrs. Walker said. They’ve now been married 19 years.

She explained that her parents and her husband’s parents were among the founding families of the parish and that the parish’s first pastor baptized her. The Walkers were in the school’s second graduating class, and are “so proud” of its progress.

“It’s wonderful to be back, to walk down the halls we used to be little kids in and see all the faces we’ve gotten to know through the years,” Mrs. Walker said. “This is our foundation … We certainly felt (our parents) here today. We feel their spirits and we’re very grateful for them and they sacrificed so much to send us to this school to get a Catholic education. It was truly to pass on the faith.”

They were among the many Catholics reminiscing this cool and grey autumn morning about the St. John’s community at a Mass Oct. 10 marking the 50th anniversary of both the church and school. Archbishop John F. Donoghue celebrated the Mass with some of the former parish priests by his side, including Father Paddy Donaghey, Father Richard Morrow, Msgr. Henry Gracz and Father Steve Yander. Father Jerome Chavarria, CSsR, provincial of the Redemptorist priests who now staff the parish, also attended.

Mercy sisters present who once served there included Sister Carmel Rondinelli, Sister Barbara Smiley Philip and Sister Mary Rita McSorley. They all came back to their roots in the humble brick parish just south of the airport and down from the Ford plant, with its blue and white mosaic of Mary entitled “Queen of the Highways and the Skyways” rising over the interstate.

The liturgy reflected the diversity of the community, as the parish now includes members from several nationalities and the school boasts 14. A girl swayed and danced through the aisles to Nigerian praise music as she held a bowl of burning incense above her head to open the liturgy. Later parishioners from Vietnam, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Cameroon, the Philippines, Haiti and Nigeria, some alongside their children, presented offertory petitions to God.

Anne Marie Tchouaffe of Cameroon wore a silver headscarf and a flowing royal blue cotton gown, as blue is symbolic of Catholicism in her homeland. Her little girls, who attend the parish school, wore handmade long hunter green and black cotton dresses with white lacy bobby socks and patent leather shoes. The choir, with yellow and maroon stoles, sang a festive “thank you” to God in several languages, and the first verse of the closing piece, “We Are Marching,” was sung in Swahili before the brown-skinned Jesus upon a wood crucifix.

In his homily Archbishop Donoghue tied the Gospel reading, how only one of 10 lepers healed returned to give Jesus thanks, to the anniversary event, which was a time to give thanks to God for the parish and all of its blessings.

“It is fifty years of courage, of determination, of work and of triumph that this anniversary extols, and that we now offer as a worthy gift to God in token of our love for Him, for His Son and for one another,” he said. “The word of God has been unchained, released, poured into the life of this community by all who have lovingly taken part—fifty years of priests, sisters, deacons—fifty years of teachers and students—fifty years of the people of God, some now gone but never forgotten, because they live in the communion we share in Christ, a communion that stretches beyond years, beyond death, ever made living by His Body, His Blood, broken and poured out for us—broken and poured out, so that this family, here in Hapeville, could begin a holy work in 1954, and fifty years later, see it remain vital, renewed, ready to be able to meet whatever the future will bring.”

As the one leper returned to Jesus in appreciation for being healed, the archbishop concluded, “Let us never forget, in the pleasure and excitement of enjoying and celebrating the fifty years of what has been done here at St. John’s, to stop and fall on our knees to thank the One who has made it possible.”

Leaving the Mass, Vera Obidegwu expressed her deep gratitude to God for having won, through a lottery system, a visa to come from Nigeria to the United States, a more civilized society with more job opportunities. She was also thankful for being reunited with her husband this past year who was finally able to join her. She has attended St. John’s since moving here in 1999 and has found a parish home.

“Where I come from, you can’t get to know everyone, but here the community is so small; they cooperate and love each other—no discrimination, no matter what country you’re from.”

In a reception afterward, parishioners had a chance to visit with their former priests and view everything from a video of the ground-breaking for the first church to parish photo albums. According to parish archives, in 1952 East Point, College Park and Hapeville were experiencing growth and development, and the bishop of the then Diocese of Savannah/Atlanta appointed Father George Daly to build a new mission parish for the area, with boundaries including the southern part of St. Anthony of Padua Parish and the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. On April 27, 1952, 400 people attended the first three Masses in the basement of a recreation center. Later St. Anthony’s donated eight and a half acres of land, on which the church and school were built. The school and auditorium/cafeteria were ready for use in August 1954, with the Sisters of Mercy from Merion, Pa., staffing the school. Tuition was $3 per child per month, and nuns wore black serge and starched white linen, teaching up to 50 students in a class. Eventually the school and church buildings were enlarged. In 1966 the archdiocese directed all schools to seek accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

“Gone were the 50-student classrooms and any uncertified teachers. Nuns still wore habits, but they were redesigned, and students discovered their teachers had hair, necks, legs and last names,” noted a parish history article.

In 1983 overflow rooms, offices and meeting rooms were added to the church and cafeteria and a gym was built in 1989. But by 1989 the parish enrollment decreased for the first time as people moved further out of the city and the growth of the airport led to the area becoming mostly commercial. In 1988 Sallie McQuaid became the first lay principal and the parish began seeing an influx of African-Americans. In the late 1990s a Spanish Mass was added to serve the large number of area Hispanics identified through home visitations. The Redemptorists began staffing the parish in 1996. In 2002 the school completed a new media center with a 33-computer lab, and through a gift from the Goizueta Foundation built a state-of-the-art science and math lab.

Father Donaghey recalled how he had his first assignment as a priest there from 1985-87, fresh off the plane from Ireland. It was Christmastime, and the parish immediately embraced him. “From day one I knew I had a family.”

Then there was another memory of which he is constantly reminded: he left the kitchen while cooking to take a distressed person’s phone call, thus causing a fire to break out in the rectory.

Father Donaghey served alongside Father Morrow, who was “thrilled” to return to the parish where he was pastor from 1972-78. Father Morrow witnessed the growing involvement of the laity in parish life and the growth of its Vietnamese community. In those days the priests faced distractions during services but not from cell phones.

“When a plane took off or a train whistled or horns blew on (I-75), it sort of interrupted things.”

So he led a building project to quiet the church by expanding it by 30 feet and having the altar and pews turned 90 degrees.

Sister Carmel Rondinelli, RSM, was also all smiles to be back from Philadelphia at the parish and school she served from 1986-97. She was the last Religious to leave the parish and considers her time there as the happiest of her life.

“When I left I left a big part of my heart here. I feel like this is home for me. I came home for the celebration,” she said. The people are “wonderful, kind and loving and warm. I loved the parish for its multicultural community. It was just beautiful today; the liturgy was just phenomenal—it was so St. John’s.”

She first served as a first-grade teacher and then as director of social outreach ministry, as the parish strove to increase community outreach through staffing night shelters and food pantries.

She is happy to see that the spiritual focus of the school established by the Sisters of Mercy lives on today.

“I’m so proud of the school and Karen Vogtner is a superior principal and leader, very supportive and faith-filled, who is carrying on that Mercy sense of hospitality and excellence in academics and what she’s accomplished in the new facilities is just great.”

Her former first-grade student Marcella Radtke then greeted her, reminiscing on how she and others once spent the night in the convent to help out with Mass the next day. Sister Rondinelli had taught them how to make a perfect bed. Radtke said she made straight A’s in high school after going through St. John’s, and fondly recalled their Christmas pageants.

St. John’s student government members and its vice president Mai Bui also attended the event, as the school provided food for the reception. Bui believes she is very prepared for high school.

“I know my friends here will remain my friends for a long time. The academics are really challenging. I have to push myself.”

On the student council she has been working to hold mock presidential elections this November. They also hope again this year to raise money for persons with leukemia. Student body secretary Lauren Barry spoke of the “awesome” enhancements to the curriculum through the Goizueta Foundation additions, which have enabled students to do more science experiments than before. Barry said her sister also attended the school, and that her family lives 45 minutes away.

“My Mom’s been driving here like 15 years—we’re in love with it.”

Attendees strolled into the school that connected to the parish hall/school cafeteria to find pictures of themselves on the walls or in a Power Point presentation. In the entry area was a tapestry with the Mercy sisters’ charisms, along with a display of musical instruments from many countries, like the Guatemalan marimba and the Swiss alphorns. Vogtner, who has worked at the school for 16 years, first as a teacher and technology coordinator and now as principal, and who also graduated from the school, pointed to some crosses along the main hallway featuring cutouts of every student from different years and to the candle which, during this anniversary year, they’ve lit while praying for those in the community facing illness.

“Jesus is at the core of what we do here. His everlasting love, it never changes,” she said. “Our motto of reverence, respect and responsibility really speaks to what we do here. It’s Christ first and excellence in academics.”

The school’s anniversary celebration began in January with a reunion party, followed by a parish mission, an international picnic and a Marian prayer service, where students said decades of the rosary before images of Mary from various countries. They’ve discussed the theme of grace, gratitude and giving, and their responsibility to give to the larger community through service projects like collecting items for the Advice and Aid Pregnancy Problem Center down the street and making sandwiches for homeless shelters.

She then passed through the media center to the dark computer room, and as the 33 computer screens glowed she explained that they help with everything from doing research to making graphs for science projects. The networking system, which includes Internet access, has been extended to all classrooms and has enabled them to integrate technology throughout the curriculum.

“The media center is a hub for everything that goes on in the community. The media and science lab has been a wonderful success. It allows pre-K through eighth grade to go in for hands-on science labs,” she said.

The Goizueta Foundation also is providing scholarships to 20 Hispanic students this year. They also have a cultural enrichment teacher who helps to bring cultural appreciation into all subjects. School families share their heritages, as did the woman from Cameroon, Anne Marie Tchouaffe, who spoke to children about the traditions and culture of her homeland.

Experiencing that diversity in the parish has been a joy for St. John’s pastor Father Glenn Parker, CSsR, who is amazed by all the different languages he hears as people come to Mass. They try to have all ethnicities represented in parish life.

“We make sure every voice is heard at the table. We have representatives on the parish council to make sure people’s voices and needs are heard from different groups,” he said. “If someone can recognize something at Mass that touches their heart, if I can hear my own culture or language somehow I should know I’m important … We try to foster that atmosphere in the parish.”

The event was also deeply meaningful for brothers Kevin and Dennis Fitzgerald, lifelong members and school graduates who wore pins identifying themselves as anniversary committee members.

They, too, felt the presence of their parents, who were founding members. Kevin, an avid cyclist, dashed back to a bike festival in Newnan after the reception. He developed his love of the sport at St. John’s, as he biked to school about five miles in order to avoid the wait time he would otherwise endure taking two buses.

“I only had three crashes, and they never involved cars, only pilot errors,” he said. “When you were a Catholic school student, you studied very hard and (waiting for buses) ate up time,” he said.

Fifth-grade teacher Joy Spangler was pleased to see such a successful event for the whole school and parish community and enjoyed seeing the many former students and families who have moved away.

“St. John’s has always been home away from home. I’m originally from New Jersey, and I’m always so thankful we have this community to raise our children up into. It’s always been a supportive, warm, Spirit-filled community,” she said. “I love the diversity. We’ve all learned so much from each other in the diversity, yet we have the common thread of our love of Jesus and church life.”