St. Joseph parishioners preserve their landmark Gretna church

Story and photos by Beth Donze, Clarion Herald; "before" photos courtesy of St. Joseph Church, Gretna

Two years ago, the exterior of St. Joseph Church in Old Gretna and its adjoining 99-foot bell tower were showing some major signs of aging, Louisiana style.

Erosion of the church’s outer layer of protective sealant had allowed water to seep into stucco walls, decorative columns and magnificent relief work, causing deep cracks when the trapped moisture would alternatively expand and contract.

The wet environment had created another problem – widespread blooms of algae on church walls that pressure-washing alone couldn’t fix.

Today, the 1927-built St. Joseph Church, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is gleaming once again, courtesy of a $1.2 million capital campaign to restore its entire exterior.

“Thank God it’s finished,” said Father Gary Copping, St. Joseph’s pastor since 2017. “With any old structure, there are always things that need to be done. I am very proud of our parishioners, who all came together for this project. Some people dug into their pockets; some donated time; some donated food to our fundraisers.”

Relief work pops now

The renovation – the first complete exterior overhaul in the building’s 93-year history and the first time its outer shell had been touched since minor repairs were made in 1979 – wrapped the structure in scaffolding for about six months. First, the old sealant was removed and fissures on the building’s nubbly skin were filled in and textured.

“It’s such a tall church that we didn’t see the full extent of the damage until we got up there – there was a lot of hidden stuff that we didn’t know about until we got the scaffolding up,” Father Copping said. “There were things that were, amazingly, hanging on by a thread. Some of the statues were cracked off and some of the finials on the bell tower were separated from the structure.”

The exterior was repainted a lemony beige, and a deeper hue in the same color family was applied to make its white relief work “pop” even more. Finally, the church was resealed using a product Father Copping hopes will protect it for decades to come. Fortunately, the church’s massive terracotta-tile roof was in excellent condition and did not need attention, he added.

“When you’re entering the church, the ‘Ecce Homo’ (‘Behold the man’) relief work above the main door really is the eye-catcher – it depicts the head of Christ with the crown of thorns, tilted to the side in anguish,” said Father Copping, speaking of his favorite feature of the church’s Sixth Street facade.

Creative fundraisers

The church building is the third to grace the 1857-founded parish, now formally known as St. Joseph Church and Shrine on the West Bank. Of the $1.2 million price tag, $875,000 was raised through parishioner giving and fundraising events led by the restoration committee and supported by St. Joseph’s 500 registered families. Miraculously, $60,000 was raised during the COVID-19 lockdown alone, Father Copping said.
 

Creative fundraisers mounted during the campaign’s first year – before the pandemic canceled most events in 2020 – included sales of food at Gretna’s Lundi Gras celebration and Gretna Fest, garage sales, raffles, dinners, a dance and a chili cookoff the parish hopes will become an October tradition.

Cookbook a big seller

More than $44,000 of the restoration funds came from sales of a 2018 parish cookbook, featuring recipes from parishioners, former and current restaurants, city of Gretna officials and first responders, and every priest and deacon who served at St. Joseph Church over the last 40 years.

The cookbook, copies of which are still available, is entitled “The Mother Church Cookbook” – a nod to St. Joseph’s status as the mother church of 14 Catholic parishes covering the west bank of Jefferson Parish. One cookbook section contains nearly 50 recipes prepared annually for the parish’s massive St. Joseph Altar.

“Our altar is arguably the largest in the state,” said Helen Williams, chairwoman of the finance and restoration committee, describing the complimentary spread of Spaghetti Milanese, four types of vegetable casseroles, fried catfish, bread, cake and beverages served to 1,500 to 2,000 visitors.

With this year’s altar canceled because of the pandemic, the parish donated altar food it had already prepared to “Food for the Front Lines.” Thousands of cookies and dozens of casseroles were delivered to area firehouses, West Jefferson Hospital and St. Joseph Apartments, Father Copping said.

Inspired by late pope

To keep parishioners abreast of their fundraising progress, a red ribbon was raised on a church banner of the bell tower labeled in increments of $25,000. During the Oct. 17 vigil Mass, Father Copping raised the ribbon to signify that state tax credits awarded for the preservation of historic buildings had given the campaign a $208,000 boost. Father Copping thanked parishioner, preservationist and finance council member James Rolf for leading this part of the campaign.

Father Copping said a nighttime prayer, famously said by Pope John XXIII, bolstered him throughout the restoration effort: “God, this is your church. You take care of it – I’m going to bed.”

“I basically restructured John XXIII’s prayer and prayed: ‘St. Joseph, you are the universal patron of the church; you’re the particular patron of this church; you pay for the repairs – I’m going to bed,’” Father Copping said. “So, with the help of St. Joseph, our dreams have come true. He came through by encouraging the parishioners to do their part and help us get the tax credits!”

To inquire about the parish cookbook, call the church office at (504) 368-1313.

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