By any measure, it takes plenty of strength and faith to survive the impact of two World Wars, economic setbacks from the Great Depression and several recessions, as well as persistent racism and segregation.
The St. Rita Catholic Church family apparently has strength and faith in abundance, because it has seen itself and the community through nine decades of challenges and developments.
The parish will celebrate its 90th anniversary this week with a series of special events ranging from a community fish fry on Friday May 15, a dance on Saturday, May 16 and special mass on Sunday, May 17.
“It is definitely an honor and a privilege for St. Rita to be called by God to serve him and this community over the last 90 years,” said Father Eusebius Mbidoaka, pastor of St. Rita. “This is a celebration not just for St. Rita, but for African-Americans in Indianapolis and the community at large. It is saying we have come this far, and we invite everyone to come and join us as we celebrate.”
The parish will continue to host special events each month throughout the year as part of its anniversary celebration.
St. Rita was established by the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 1919 as one of the city’s few predominantly African-American Catholic congregations (along with Holy Angels and St. Bridget.)
In the 1920s the young parish was confronted by a revival of the Ku Klux Klan. At the time the organization was based in Indiana and included tens of thousands of Hoosiers paranoid about the arrival of more African-Americans, immigrants and Catholics. The Klan became so powerful that its allies took over the state government and St. Rita, being both Black and Catholic, had to walk carefully in its infancy.
Like other churches in the local archdiocese, St. Rita stood firm until the Klan’s decline and knew that if it could survive the Klan threat its faith and unity would keep it strong in the face of other challenges.
Indeed, by the 1950s the St. Rita family had grown significantly and established a successful grade school praised by observers within and outside the Catholic community.
In the 1970s and 80s St. Rita was known for its exciting and innovative outreach events. Many people who were young at the time remember church sponsored activities and parties, sometimes held at the former St. Peter Claver Center.
“It’s fantastic we have been able to survive all these years with the obstacles we have faced,” said Maurice Guynn, St. Rita’s oldest living member.
Guynn and his wife Bernice have many fond memories of their experiences at St. Rita, including a visit in the 1960s by a popular African priest from Tanzania and his entourage, who interacted with church members and people in the neighborhood.
“It’s a blessing we’re still here,” added Guynn, who was born in 1923 and baptized that same year by the church’s first pastor, Father Joseph Bryan. “We have made it through it all, bad times and good times, by sticking together with perseverance and prayer.”
Today St. Rita is handling difficulties faced by numerous churches: Potential members are being attracted by new nondenominational Protestant churches and the troubled economy is straining limited resources needed to pay for church operating costs and repairs to its fellowship center.
Mbidoaka, a native of Nigeria, has been the pastor of St. Rita since 2007, and would like to help the church expand its outreach ministries, engage youth and take an active role in the revitalization of the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood.
Ordained in Nigeria in 1999 and educated in Belgium, Mbidoaka arrived in Indianapolis in 2005 as a sacramental minister at Holy Angels Catholic Church.
Spiritually, Mbidoaka’s goal is to help St. Rita and the Christian faith in general maintain a strong sense of relevancy in the everyday lives of people in the 21st century.
“The church should be the mouthpiece of society, but today society has become the mouthpiece of the church; the church is bending to society,” said Mbidoaka. “More people are accepting trends they see on TV and what they hear from new age psychologists instead of following time tested teachings of God and the church. The challenge for me and other pastors is bringing people back to the word of God as the foundation of their lives.”
What a difference
90 years make!
1919
President:
Woodrow Wilson
Pope:
Benedict XV
Best selling car:
Model T Ford
Entertainers:
Bert Williams, Ma Rainey, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson
Black leaders:
Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells
2009
President:
Barack Obama
Pope:
Benedict XVI
Best selling car:
Toyota Camry
Entertainers:
Will Smith, Beyonce’ Knowles, Rick Ross
Black leaders:
Barack and Michelle Obama, Al Sharpton,
Tavis Smiley
Anniversary
events
Friday, May 15
Old fashion fish fry and “Remember When” event
Noon to 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 16
Kids Fun Fest – 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Black and White Dance – 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. (inside gymnasium)
$15 at door, $120 for table of 10
Sunday, May 17
Thanksgiving Mass
Celebration and brunch –
10 a.m.
All events are held at St. Rita, 1733 Dr. Andrew J. Brown Ave. For more information call (317) 623-9349.
