The tight-knit community at St. Gertrude the Great Catholic Church will celebrate Easter together this year, and the hope is that this continues for the year after and the one after that, and so on.
But nothing is guaranteed – it’s been a struggle for the Des Allemands church, one only compounded since Hurricane Ida and COVID-19.
In 2022, the Archdiocese told parishioners that the church would undergo a feasibility study to see whether it is viable for the parish to remain open. St. Gertrude Pastor Fr. Ray Hymel said it isn’t likely the church will receive an answer to that question until at least the summer.
“The decision isn’t up to us,” Hymel said. “We’re waiting for the Archdiocese to give us that answer. There are 15 other churches in the Archdiocese in the same situation.”
According to Hymel, the church’s attendance has steadily been in decline for more than a decade, and the Archdiocese study was on the way regardless of Hurricane Ida. Ida left the church significantly damaged. Insurance and rebuilding costs have set the church parish back greatly, and in fact its facilities are still not back to use: it largely has one truly operable building, where it is able to hold its weekly mass.
“We have an outdoor pavilion that lets us be self-sufficient for things … but no bathroom facilities, or kitchen facilities. Our numbers are lower, staff as well … we can’t do what we were doing before with our cooking fundraisers,” Hymel said.
Chief among those fundraisers is its largest annual fundraiser, the three-day Louisiana Catfish Festival, which has been sidelined for three years because of Ida and COVID-19. The event provides the great bulk of funding for the church and has long been a very popular outing for families in St. Charles Parish.
The plan was to bring it back in September of 2021, but rising COVID-19 cases spoiled that. In 2022, Ida spoiled any comeback thoughts.
The festival was established in 1975 by Rev. William McCallion as a fundraiser for St. Gertrude. The church was set to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the festival in 2020, but pandemic cancelled that celebration. To make up for lost revenue – the festival brought in an average of $40,000 a year – local parishioners including Catfish Festival organizer Sheena Candies pivoted to organizing craft fairs to keep the church afloat. The plans were to hold a one-day festival with no rides but with the traditional fair foods and bands prior to the cancellation.
Hymel said the festival is in limbo for now, hinging on the Archdiocese decision – planning a festival of that scale wouldn’t be viable with so much uncertainty surrounding it.
The question the Archdiocese is attempting to answer is whether the church parish can support itself financially and whether the size of its congregation justifies continuing on.
“It’s a big red flag if you don’t have enough parishioners … if you don’t have enough people to do things or support the parish,” Hymel said. “The Catfish Festival has been a very important cultural event since 1975, but it can’t be the only means of support … it’s not just a question of financially keeping the doors open.”
The good news is the church’s attendance has not starkly declined since prior to Ida. But more of a factor has been the community-wide decline for Des Allemands over the years, something shared by many other towns locally.
“It affects the Catfish Festival in a major way. Between 1975 and 2005,there was a much bigger population, but not anymore,” Hymel said.
In lieu of the Catfish Festival and other cooking fundraisers, the church has turned to craft fundraisers to make ends meet.
The upcoming Easter Egg-stravaganza vendor and craft show is one such change-up made by the St. Gertrude brain trust. Featuring crafts, prizes and a 50/50 raffle, the Easter Egg-stravaganza is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 23 at 17292 Highway 631 in Des Allemands. Covered and non-covered vendor and craft booth spots are available starting at $30 while garage sale booths are also available. For information about vendor opportunities and applications, one may contact Sheena Candies at 985-520-1541 or sheenacandies@icloud.com.
The church has been able to restore a few longtime traditions through all of the difficulties. In December, the St. Gertrude community held its annual veteran memorial service where area residents come together to recognize and honor those who passed in the previous calendar year. That was also a practice that had been relegated to the sidelines over the past two years due to COVID-19 and Hurricane Ida.
A full room’s worth of residents were in attendance recently, eager to bring the event back for the first time since 2019. Thirty-one names were called out and honored at the service, which recognized all known veterans who have passed over the years it was not held.
As St. Gertrude awaits news on its fate, Hymel said the best way parishioners can help is to continue showing support.
“We’re a very tight-knit community,” Hymel said. “The congregation that still gathers with us is very faithful, loyal and supportive. Continuing that and keeping us where we are right now helps tremendously.”
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