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Happening ... in the Local Church
Parish Portrait:
St. Joseph, Lebanon
A warm and compassionate
family of faith, the people of St. Joseph
in Lebanon care deeply for each other
and the world beyond as ...
'The Word of God springs to life here'
 Founded
in 1862, St. Joseph Parish in Lebanon today numbers about 530 families
in its close-knit community. Parishioners embrace their call to care for
each other and reach out to the surrounding community and beyond. “The
people really live out the Gospels, and I see it,” parishioner Barry
Crist says. “For me, the people of this parish really bring the Word
alive.” |
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 St.
Joseph Parish in Lebanon, founded in 1862, is home to about 530 families
today. (Photos by Lisa Wilson-Cotillier) |
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| One of the church’s Stations of the Cross. | Pastor Father Tim Kroeger greets parishioner Shirley O’Neal before Mass. “The parish has a great mixture of people,” Father Kroeger says. | A place of prayer before a statue of the Blessed Mother. | |
 Parishioners
gather in the social hall after Mass for coffee, doughnuts and
fellowship. |
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| Jim and Karla Kouns: “We’ve always felt welcomed here.” | Katherine Garst: “I love this parish. It has been my life.” | ||
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| The Gothic-style church was constructed in 1901. | Catechists Barry Crist, left, and Dan Lamar tune their guitars before an RCIA session begins. | The cornerstone of the present church. | |
By Lisa Wilson-Cotillier
The Catholic Moment
LEBANON —
After one and a half years as its pastor, Father Tim Kroeger said one word
truly sums up St. Joseph Church … and that word is “family.”
“The parishioners are very close, and very caring toward one another,” he said.
Located at 411 E. South St. in this Boone County community of 13,000, the parish was founded in 1862. The present Gothic-style church was constructed in 1901. Diocesan priests served the parish until 1927 when Bishop John Noll invited the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists) to care for the congregation’s 60 active families.
A school was built in 1947, and the Sisters of St. Joseph, Tipton, served there until it closed in 1969. Today the school building serves as the parish life center, with offices, classrooms and a hall to serve the congregation’s 531 families.
Fund raising is under way to build a new church on the same site. The cost is estimated at $4 million.
“The parish is not just a part of my family, it is my family,” said Al Hodgens, longtime parishioner and Grand Knight of the Knights of Columbus. “It has been a big part of my life and my family’s life since we moved here.”
“For me, the people of this parish really bring the Word alive,” said parishioner Barry Crist. “The proclamation of the Word of God springs to life here. The people really live out the Gospels, and I see it. I see people become Christ to one another. The Gospel is proclaimed and I see its transformative power in people’s lives.”
“The people here live out the Gospel,” said Dan Lamar, a parishioner for more than 30 years.
“I came into this parish with my first wife, Connie, and I baptized two children here,” he said. “After Connie’s death, this is where I found comfort. The people of this parish really embraced me and helped me through one of the most difficult times of my life.”
“We have found what we’ve been looking for”
Parishioners are active in several activities and ministries, reaching out to one another and serving the community.
“When Father Tom Metzger (now pastor at Our Lady of Grace, Noblesville) was here, he developed an outreach to the poor, and that has been carried on here,” Father Kroeger said. “He also laid the groundwork for ecumenism, and our parishioners have been very active in that as well.”
For instance, during Lent, parishioners meet with local Lutheran and Episcopal churches for a prayer service and soup supper. They also gather donated household items each year to send to Telemacaborba, Brazil, where Sister Rose Martin ministers to the local people.
“The parish has a great mixture of people, too,” Father Kroeger said. “We have young people, elderly people, married and single people. We have a very active Lifeteen program, and we also have the Edge program for our middle-school students. Parents are very supportive and very involved. Every Tuesday we celebrate Mass at a nursing home in the community. It is a wonderful opportunity for our parishioners who attend daily Mass to connect with those who are there.”
The family feel and the kindness of the parishioners attracted Jim and Karla Kouns to the parish.
The couple attended Mass several times with friends, and have enrolled in RCIA at the parish to become Catholic.
“We’ve always felt welcomed here,” Jim Kouns said. “The people are very warm and compassionate, and I have the deepest respect for Father Tim.”
He added, “Karla and I needed something more in our lives, and here, we’ve found a sense of peace.”
“We have found what we’ve been looking for,” Karla Kouns said.
The parish has gone through a lot of transition over the last five years, with several pastors, but today parishioners are looking toward the future. To date, they have donated more than $1.5 million for the new church building that will replace the current church, which seats only 200 people.
Father Kroeger cited the current church’s small size and the parish’s continued growth as reasons for the change.
“We are in the very beginning stages of planning,” he said. “My focus the first year I was here was just to listen to the people because there has been so much change here over the last few years, I needed to let the people of the parish know that I am here to stay. Just a few months ago, I appointed a building oversight committee and they will begin to address the many questions that will arise as we move closer toward construction.”
For more than 55 years, St. Joseph Parish has been home to 87-year-old Katherine Garst. Each Sunday after Mass, she stays to pray the rosary.
“I love this old church,” she said. “It holds a lot of memories for me. I especially love the high altar and the stained glass windows. I think they are beautiful.”
Recalling her son’s baptism at the parish more than 50 years ago, she said, “I love this parish. It has been my life.”