The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
Parishioners at St. Bartholomew Church, a predominantly black parish in Little Rock, are looking back on important moments for the parish's centennial this year.
The parish started in 1909 when Bishop John B. Morris dedicated the first church at Eighth and Gaines streets. It was a small chapel converted from a store and doctor's office. Father Fintan Kraemer, OSB, pastor of St. Edward Church 14 blocks away, celebrated Mass there.
The congregation included the only black Catholic Father Kraemer knew, Pleasant Smith, according to archives. Through Smith, contacts were made with other African-Americans. The parish started winning converts among the community, with 31 people baptized the first 18 months by the Benedictine priests.
Divine Word Missionary priests took charge of the parish in October 1910. The parish has been served by the order all but its first year and a half.
Father Richard Zawadzki, SVD, is the current pastor of St. Bartholomew Church as well as Our Lady of Good Counsel Church.
Also in 1910, three Sister Servants of the Holy Ghost, an order of sisters founded by St. Arnold Janssen, who also founded the Divine Word Missionaries, arrived from Techny, Ill., to take over the school from the Benedictine sisters. The school had 30 children enrolled. Classes were held in the church with a curtain separating the students from the tabernacle.
The enrollment grew quickly and a new two-story brick building was erected at 16th and Marshall streets. The church was on the first floor with classrooms and sisters' quarters on the second. One hundred children enrolled when school opened in 1911. A mission school was also opened in the far eastern side of Little Rock. The mission school closed after the families in the neighborhood began moving away.
In 1924 St. Bartholomew Elementary and High School reached a peak enrollment of 367 students, 41 of whom were Catholic. The high school closed in 1964 while the elementary school closed in 1974. The building is now used by Helping Hand food pantry.
A new rectory and church were dedicated in 1931.
By the time the parish celebrated its 50th anniversary, it had recorded 890 baptisms.
Throughout its 100 years, St. Bartholomew Church has been an integral part of the neighborhood and black history.
The church, whose motto is "the church with an open door as well as an open heart," currently has 85 families registered with between 80 and 100 people attending the 9:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, Father Zawadzki said.
On Aug. 20 several members -- Margaret Douglas, John R. Gillam Sr., his sons, John R. Gillam Jr. and Phillip Gillam, Henry Parker and Pearl Herman -- gathered at the church to reminisce about the parish's history and what it has meant to them.
The elder John Gillam, 87, said he has been a parishioner his entire life, receiving the sacraments and getting married in the church and watching his 15 children receive their sacraments and get married in the church.
He said he dedicated his life to the church after retiring from the U.S. Postal Service in 1983. He has been a lector, coach, photographer or whatever was necessary.
Herman said she had spent 78 years in the parish, including her years as a student and later teacher at the school. Her husband, Kirke, is the parish's permanent deacon.
She said she had seven brothers and sisters who also attended, and when her mother died at the age of 99, she was the oldest member of the parish.
Herman said she taught about six of Gillam's children. All her brothers and sisters also went to the school.
"I appreciate having the opportunity to be the first lay teacher here at St. Bartholomew's," Herman said. "I am very proud of this parish."
The parochial school has produced judges, lawyers and many other professionals, she said.
Parishioners feel the parish is more like family than a congregation.
"We had what I thought was the nicest compliment. We had a priest once say, 'You know, you all do not act like church folks, you all act like you are family.' He said we were more like a family than any church he had been at. I thought it was a great compliment because we have shared so many joys and sorrows," Herman said.
Douglas said she converted to Catholicism 37 years ago, but her husband's family had long been a part of St. Bartholomew.
"Everyone here embraced me when I decided to come over from the Baptist church," she said. "Watching the changes, being part of the community, it is family. When you lose one, we all feel the hurt. We have been together for so long, through so many things."
John Gillam Jr. said he had so many memories of the parish.
He recalled attending daily Mass, being proud to be an altar server and volunteering to do whatever was necessary to keep the parish going. He recalled going to the parochial school, the nuns and being one of Herman's students.
"It has been an experience you tend to never forget," he said. "I attended here until my junior year in high school and Bishop (Albert) Fletcher and my dad and some others wanted to integrate Catholic High School and that was in 1961-62. That in itself was a good experience, but I wanted to be in my home school for my senior year 1962-63 and came back and graduated. I have been involved in the church in various activities. My wife and I were married here in the church also."
Phillip Gillam said the parish has made an impact on his family. In fact, his middle name is Bartholomew. He attended through eighth grade and then graduated from Catholic High.
"Growing up I did all the usual things that Catholic young men do, altar serving, working around the parish; there are always things to do, especially in the summer time," he said. "Keeping the grounds maintained, keeping the school painted. I have painted rooms in that school more times than I care to recall. I also was married in this church and my three daughters were all baptized in this church. In fact, my youngest daughter who is a sophomore at Mount (St. Mary Academy) is one of the musicians here. My middle daughter was a church musician as well before she went off to New York.
"This church has been an integral part of my life, not only my spiritual life, but life as being part of a bigger community. It will always hold a special place in my heart for as long as we are here."
Parker said he started attending catechism in 1968 and his children attended the school.
"I have enjoyed every moment. We have seen a lot of priests. There have been times when we have been told that this is going to close because we couldn't get a priest, ... but we have been blessed and it has been a joy.
Parker said he has served in a number of positions, including lector and member of the finance committee.
The parish continues to be recognized by the community, the elder John Gillam said.
The majority of students the school educated were not Catholic. The public schools at that time could not compare to the education offered at St. Bartholomew, he said.
It was the parish's best evangelization tool, he said. The students were influenced, and they in turn influenced their parents who would join the Church. It resulted in 200 baptisms in one year, he added.
Parents sent their children to the school because they knew the children would get a good foundation, Herman said.
The school numbers swelled during the Central High School crisis, Herman said. When the governor closed public schools for one year, a number of the public school students enrolled at St. Bartholomew.
The church has always been home, Douglas said.
"Our children have grown up here, they have gone off for various reasons, but whenever they are home, this is always their home church. They come back to see everybody."
Parishioners have had to face adversity. At times they were ridiculed for their faith, Father Zawadzki said. Because of their hardships and different experiences, they were challenged. They responded by showing their best over the years. In the four years he has pastored the church, he has seen people return to the Church, some who have gone on to other churches, and when they come to visit the church, their respect for it is shown.
"It is something very significant, something they went and learned 'this is my faith,'" he said.
Father Zawadzki said this year the parish had nine celebrate their first Communion and about seven baptisms.
The parish will celebrate its centennial Sept. 4 and 5 with a variety of activities and displays showing the church and school's history in the community. The celebration kicks off with a "meet and greet" at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4. Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Saturday, with Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, followed by a banquet at 1:30 p.m. Parishioners expect many former members as well as a number of priests and nuns who have served at the parish throughout the years to attend.
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