Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, April 19, 2001
Mews
The Southern Cross, Page 3
“That Little Church in the Country”: Saint James the Less Parish, Savannah
Rita H.
DeLorme
r o look at Mont
gomery Cross
Road in Savannah
today is to see a
*m~. fb, S broad expanse of
* * • W road with consid
erable commercial
development going
on. There was a
time when those
who tooled down
Waters Road
toward Montgomery encountered a
house at the end of the road, necessi
tating a turn. A left turn took the
traveler to a small white church,
descended from a military chapel ob
tained from Hunter Army Air Field.
At the time, the Mayfair Subdivision,
close by the present Church of Saint
James the Less, was still “the Brown
Farm,” a place in which lawbreakers
did their time. A scattering of local
families had homes in the area and
prominent among these was the Von
Waldner family which, earlier, had
operated a dairy farm on nearby
property . '
Saint James, the new mission pa
rish, established in 1950 and formal
ly dedicated in 1951, was linked with
the Benedictine Fathers who came
from Sacred Heart Church to conduct
services. Getting the converted cha
pel to its site near Hayner’s Bridge
had been no easy task. The building
required dismantling before it could
be moved “because of the heavy
growth of trees between Hunter Field
and its new site” (The Bulletin, Sep
tember 22, 1951). Father Terence
Keman, OSB, was named priest in
charge. The site of the new chapel
was a one-acre tract located near the
Crest Hill subdivision with a fron
tage of over 300 feet on the new
Montgomery Road, bounded by Hay
ner’s Creek. Father Terence blessed
the ground on which the new church
would stand, on August 25, 1949,
shortly after acquisition of the land.
Father John D. Toomey and the 1958 First Communion
class at the original Saint James Church.
The first Mass to take place in the
chapel was the midnight Mass cele
brated by Monsignor Joseph E. Moy-
lan, vicar general, on Christmas Eve,
1949. A September, 1951, news arti
cle in The Bulletin described the for
mal dedication of Saint James by Au
xiliary Bishop Francis E. Hyland of
Savannah-Atlanta, on September 3,
1951, and added that “erection of the
new church was made possible by
the generosity of Mrs. Barney
Diamond and the late Marmaduke
Floyd.”
The Missionary Sisters of the Im
maculate Heart of Mary, who contin
ue to staff Saint James School today,
were present at the formal dedication
of the church in 1951 and were again
on hand for the dedication of the new
Saint James Church and School in
1961 with Bishop Thomas J. Mc
Donough officiating. Father John J.
Cuddy acted as master of ceremonies
for the occasion and Father E. Perot
Fiero assisted. Singing at the dedica
tion were the Saint James boys’ choir
under Sister M. Josina, IHM, and the
parish choir directed by Jack Ahem,
with Julie Miller and Mrs. James
Morel playing the organ. The Saint
James Home and School Association
provided a meal for local orders of
sisters before the ceremony and
another meal afterwards for clergy
from Savannah and elsewhere.
When Saint James the Less was
established as a parish in 1956,
Father John D. Toomey was trans
ferred from Sacred Heart Parish,
Milledgeville, to serve as its first
pastor. Though Saint James was a
new post for him, Father Toomey
was known to many of his parish-
, ioners. He had acted as counselor to
some of them at Camp Villa Marie in
Savannah for several summers and
had served at various churches
throughout the diocese. He was
named a Domestic Prelate with the
title of Right Reverend Monsignor
by the late Pope John XXIII in
November of 1960. Under his leader
ship and the leadership of subsequent
pastors, the little church at
Montgomery Cross Road continued
to grow. Eventually, the highly-
respected school could not accom
modate all the students who wished
to attend it. In 1990, under Father
John A. Kenneally, pastor, a new
sanctuary facing Montgomery Cross
Road was built for Saint James. The
new facility, with a seating capacity .
of 900, also included a day chapel, a
choir room and a lobby which could
hold 450 people. At this time, the old
sanctuary was converted into a parish
center and gym for the school. With
a brick exterior and a wooden-deck
interior, and a stained glass window
depicting the symbols of the Holy
Trinity, the new Saint James Church
was impressive, blending both con
temporary and traditional design.
Both Saint James Parish and Saint
James School flourish in their 21st-
century setting, providing religious
care and educational instruction for
the considerable population which
has shifted in their direction. Current
pastor and associate pastor are
Fathers Kenneally and Joseph A.
Smith, respectively. Parish member
ship totals 2,000 families.
Saint James School, which opened
in August, 1956, with an enrollment
of 215 students, currently has an
enrollment of 575 and accommodates
students in pre-school, pre-K,
Kindergarten and classes 1-8. As
enrollment has grown, so has the
school plant. Construction of the
upper school, with eight classrooms
and cafetorium in 1960 was aug
mented by addition of two class
rooms and a fine arts room in 1983.
Following the 1994 completion of
(Continued on page 11)
One Faith...One Family
Buena Vista: Saint Mary Magdalen Mission
4 4T ocated half-way between
J—/Americus and Columbus (61
miles), Saint Mary Magdalen Mission,
Buena Vista, has a brief history. It
began as a mission of Saint Mary's,
Americus. Father Lawrence A. Lucree
offered Mass in Marion County on a
regular basis at the Silver Moon
Country Music Hall in 1994. About
eight people attended. Outside the
Music Hall was a field in which near
ly 200 young Guatemalan men would
gather for soccer, none of whom could
be persuaded to attend Mass. Later,
Mass was offered in the Fellowship
Hall of the First United Methodist
Church. In time the English-speaking
numbers increased slightly and, from
time to time, a few Guatemalans also
attended. The offertory collection was
barely enough to pay the rental for the
Fellowship Hall.”
—From One Faith... One Family,
p. 219
One Faith ... One Family:
Diocese of Savannah 1850-2000
A 350-page commemorative book NOW IN PRINT
Order form
Name:
Address:
City:
Phone:
State:
Zip:
Parish:
Please send me copies of One Faith... One Family @ $30 per copy.
Enclosed is my check for $ for copies, plus for home
delivery (@ $8.00 per copy, if desired; otherwise books will be sent to your
parish office).
Return form to:
Catholic Pastoral Center
601 E. Liberty St.
Savannah, GA 31401
This commemorative book is also on sale at: ’ ver Booksellers, 326 Bull
Street, Hannah Banana Bookstore, 4515 ttabt am Street, and Saints &
Shamrocks, 309 Bull Street, all in Savannah.