The Feasibility Committee completed their final meeting last month and Fr. Ray submitted their letter to the Archbishop on recommendations for St. Gertrude. We now wait on the Archbishop to decide our fate. We still can pray for the parish and participate in activities to show that we are still an active parish!
We are finally getting the rectory renovated to better serve parishioners since the storm. The Archdiocese has still not made a decision on what will happen to St. Gertrude, so in the meantime, we are using our own funds to renovate the rectory to create a better worship space and attempt to bring Fr. Ray back home. More information coming as progress continues! The phone line is now in place. If you do not get an answer, please leave a message and Fr. Ray will return your call.
The Viability Committee Met on June 21st for another meeting. We were updated by the Facilitators and Fr. Ray who shared that because of our questions posed to the Archdiocese and reflections made by the Archbishop broader conversations across the Archdiocese will be happening in all parishes. Also the Archbishop is calling all priests together in a couple of weeks for a three day meeting. We shared with the Facilitators our success of the past dinner fundraiser. We also shared our upcoming plans which included a movie night, the break down of the Mass at the homily for the next three weeks followed by a two part evening presentation on the Mass, the plans for the upcoming Pot Luck, scripture study night beginning after school begins, wanting to establish a welcoming committee and a fundraising committee. WE told them that daily Mass has begun as well as office hours T, W, and TH weekly. WE also shared that we are getting the food pantry up ad running. And attempting to get a phone line restored in the rectory. Prayer to the Holy Spirit would also be implemented before or after Mass. They were impressed that we had so much planned and on the way in such little time. The committee again pressed the facilitators on key questions and discussed the homework that was given. Many not agreeing with or liking the changes made in the churches presented in the homework links. We agreed that change has to happen and that change is possible if we all worked together for the good of the church. Finally, we began the process of designing Scenarios to present to the Archbishop. Best, Middle and Worst Nothing finalized, but a start. We will meet on our own in the next couple of weeks to dig deeper in each, and then with the facilitators in August to better cement our plans. Please pray for our parish, the members on the committee and the facilitators. This is not an easy task, it is very frustrating and very challenging! We all want what is best for our parish, but we have to be realistic at the same time. The more active we become, the more people are getting involved and stepping up to the plate the better our chance of saving St. Gertrude. If we do nothing but complain, and sit back and expect someone else to do things, we are dead in the water! Rise Up St. Gertrude Family!
We are attempting to get the Food Pantry up and running but need your help. We are starting again from scratch and need everything! Donations are being accepted now for non-perishable food items, toiletries, paper products, seasonings, quick meals such as instant potatoes, Mac and cheese, peanut butter, spaghetti sauce in a can, white beans, red beans, rice, salt, pepper, juices,. Again, any and everything is needed to stock up. Donations can be dropped off at Mass in the boxes. Any and all donations are appreciated!
The committee met for a second time with the Archdiocese Facilitators. We completed and discussed a survey, reviewed data, and discussed frustrations. Next meeting will be a final look at data and what other parishes around the nation in the same situation as St Gertrude have done. Then we will be in the planning for the future stage.
The St. Gertrude Feasibility Study Committee met with Fr. Ray and two facilitators assigned from the Archdiocese on Thursday, March 31st in the Fr. Mac Community Center. After introductions, the facilitators introduced the committee to the process that will be followed in the coming months. The process is an 8 step process that will lead us to the Archbishop making the final decision on the fate of St. Gertrude. The committee was honest and frank on the frustrations, limitations, and lack of support from the Archdiocese we have received as it relates to insurance, FEMA, support, answers to our questions. Now, we have to proceed through this process to show our viability and sustainability as a parish. So, we begin, and will keep you up to date as we go. Next meeting is a look at data including Baptisms, 1st communions, Confirmations, Marriages, Deaths, census info, survey which will be given to the committee members.
St. Gertrude Community is hosting a Work day on Friday April 1 and Saturday April 2 to clean up the grounds, the mess left by the remediation companies, and prepare the rectory as a chapel for Mass since it has electricity and working AC! ALL help is appreciated! Please bring your own movers, weed trimmers, racks, brooms, gloves, etc. Most of our equipment is missing following the gutting of our facilities.
The Ladies Altar Society will host the annual Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday April 10th following the 10AM Mass! Gather your children and grandchildren and come on out for the fun!
Reconciliation Confessions will be available in all parishes from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM on the following Wednesdays during Lent: March 23rd, March 30th, & April 6th. Fr. Ray will hear confessions on the scheduled dates in the Fr. Mac Center.
There will be a parish wide meeting on Feb 23rd in the Fr. Mac Center to provide updates on our parish and to gather input from parishioners! The meeting will begin at 6PM! All parishioners are encouraged to attend!
Info from Last Night's Meeting with the Archdiocese! 1. The Archdiocese is not closing St. Gertrude yet! 2. No Reconstruction is happening because the Archdiocese is waiting on Insurance and FEMA both are very slow processes! 3. We are required to do a feasibility study to determine if it is feasible to continue as a parish. A committee has been established to do this of parishioners. More information is coming. 4. We were told to think out the box, to be less dependent on the priest and archdiocese for our spiritual needs, community needs, family needs and more dependent on ourselves. (we have always been independent). We have build this little parish on our own with little to no help from the Archdiocese! All the grounds and buildings were purchased and built without borrowing money and we always pay our Archdiocese Assessment unlike many other parishes! The key to keeping St. Gertrude alive in the future is for her parishioners to take ownership! True ownership! That means, giving more time in service, money, and prayer! If you are not willing to do this there is no future for St. Gertrude! We are operating in the red right now even with only a few bills and little to no power! So, it is up to YOU, not somebody else! IT's time for you to do your part if you want it to survive! More information will be shared as we begin the Feasibility Study in the coming weeks!
PECIAL MEETING NOTICE! There will be a meeting on Tuesday, February 15th at 6PM at Holy Family Catholic Church in Luling with Fr. Pat Williams and other representatives from the Archdiocese to discuss the future of St. Gertrude Parish. All interested parishioners are invited to attend the meeting. The meeting is being held at Holy Family because of space, power, and restroom facilities.
St. Gertrude received extensive damage from Hurricane Ida! We currently do not have any buildings in operation. Over the past 5 months, we have had our properties gutted and ready for rebuilding. We have no water, no electricity, no gas, no phones or internet! Our Pastor Fr. Ray Hymel is living outside of our parish 30 minutes away. We have only Masses on Saturday at 4PM or Sunday at 10AM if it is not too cold. Should you need assistance, please call Fr. Ray on his cell or if not emergency e-mail or mail you r questions to us. Thanks
While it has been 5 months, We are still waiting on the Archdiocese and the Insurance Companies to settle! We are anticipating a meeting with the Archdiocese within the next couple of weeks and will let everyone know what is happening following the meeting. We know everyone is ready for some decisions and rebuilding but nothing happens quickly! Please pray for the Parish!
Dear St. Gertrude Parishioners, I realize it has been over three weeks since I've updated you, but not a lot has happened both here in Reserve as I recuperate nor in Des Allemands as St. Gertrude's campus awaits restoring, rebuilding, and recovery. First of all, my orthopedic surgeon instructed me on my first post-op visit on Oct 18 that I I have to continue to wear the neck brace for another three weeks, and then, when I see him again on Nov 8, he will probably release me from the neck brace and allow me to drive again. Until such time, I need to continue to limit any activity that would strain or "undo" what the neck surgery has corrected, continue to wear the neck brace, and not drive a car. I've done these for three weeks already, and so I can do it again for another three. Thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. I am feeling quite strong and have been walking and on my feet since the late afternoon of my surgery day on Sept 28. The priests of the Archdiocese received a letter today (Oct 21) from the Archbishop with his update of the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. He informed us that within the next two weeks, all of the reports of the insurance adjusters should be finished and ready for review to show the full extent of damages to the 1400 properties/buildings/structures of our Archdiocese, certainly including our four buildings on St. Gertrude's campus: church, rectory, Fr. Mac building, and religious education classroom building. The archbishop reminded us that this very large number of buildings made the insurance adjustment process much longer and more involved. So, in summary of his letter, archdiocesan insurance will not cover everything, yet houses of worship, churches, and affiliated/related buildings to these churches, are eligible for FEMA reimbursement. But as we all know, FEMA reimbursement is a "bureaucratic and cumbersome process," (Archbishop Aymond's words) and probably will not be as fast as we would like. So all of our fellow parishioners around the archdiocese and our neighbors in the Houma-Thibodaux diocese, have to be patient and let the process move as it will because we can't do anything about it, and impatience will only make us miserable and not speed things up. Faith, hope, perseverance, and prayer are the keys to our well-being. With that being said, we cannot let rumors, hearsay, or speculation from anyone bring us to make final decisions or conclusions about the future of St. Gertrude parish, or any other parish, for that matter. It is entirely too premature to do such "prediction" because all vital information that is necessary for such decisions is not ready for the decision-makers. Speaking of "decision-makers," the vitality of a church parish depends on BOTH the involvement of its parishioners AND the pastor, not one OR the other, but BOTH together. Involved, engaged, and active parishioners cannot uphold and support a parish with a non-involved, non-engaged, non-active pastor, just as an involved, engaged, and active pastor cannot uphold and support a parish with non-involved, non-engaged, and non-active parishioners. The pastor AND the parishioners work together, never separately, in a healthy, vibrant parish, no matter how big or small the congregation. So just because St. Gertrude's has a small congregation at this time, that doesn't mean that Hurricane Ida has destroyed the FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE of St. Gertrude's parishioners along with our four heavily-damaged buildings. We the people of St. Gertrude's are always the decision-makers: we can make a premature decision that the future of St. Gertrude's is dark "because we are so small," or we can make a prudent decision that we don't know enough right now to make an informed decision on St. Gertrude's future, and that each parish and congregation is unique and worthy of consideration and value. What I have just said I applies not just to now, in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, but it applied to St. Gertrude twenty years ago, ten years ago, five years ago, as well as now. St. Gertrude parish is made up of people and their pastor together, all working in building up the Body of Christ among us, doing whatever it takes to keep the community vibrant and vital, not only financially, but spiritually, with both these responsibilities not falling on a chosen few, but on ALL who make up the parish community of St. Gertrude the Great in Des Allemands. St. Gertrude the Great Church parish has had to take a good hard look at the regular contributions of its parishioners for several years now, and every contributor has to reallze that, as times change, so does the contribution amount need to change in order for St. Gertrude to be a vital and vibrant Catholic community that has the financial resources to be self-sufficient and to meet the spiritual needs of its members. Prior to Hurricane Ida, St. Gertrude Parish had no debt - at this minute, we still have no debt - but the damage caused by Ida is comparable as if the entire A/C & heating in the church has to be replaced next month or the entire plumbing system in the Fr. Mac building or the religious education building needs to be brought up to current building code as soon as possible. The reality is is that all our buildings because of IDA now have major problems that require major financial expenditures, and even with insurance and FEMA, we will have to put out money that we didn't have to put out because we are currently debt-free. But being debt-free doesn't mean that we are free from unexpected financial situations like ordinary equipment breakdowns or from extraordinary "breakdowns" like Hurricane Ida. We were not guaranteed that we could go on and on for months or years without having to use our savings, and we were and are currently using our savings to cover ordinary expenses well before Hurricane Ida. Bottom line: St. Gertrude parish (before Hurricane Ida) could not just continue to go on indefinitely with the income we currently took in, and now, with the damage of Hurricane Ida that will certainly bring additional expense, even after insurance and FEMA monies, the parish will have an additional financial obligation, and presently, there are no more financial cutbacks to make in our budget unless we have a volunteer (unpaid) secretary, a volunteer (unpaid) religious education director, and possibly, a volunteer (unpaid) pastor, and disconnect the one landline we have, and have minimal internet service, to list a couple more financial cuts. And I'm not exaggerating. So the future of St. Gertrude's is not the Archbishop's decision, nor my decision as pastor, but your decision as the parishioners who support the church parish by your regular participation, regular attendance, and regular financial support. It's all three of the above, not just one - participation, attendance, and financial support - on a regular basis - that sustain a parish, and St. Gertrude parish is in need of all three to continue to be a vital parish community. I have spoken to the Archbishop personally a number of times in the days immediately following Ida andup until now, and there is no talk at all between us about no future for St. Gertrude, but again, that decision doesn't come from him or me. It comes from all of us, and we all have to decide what is best for all of us. If St. Gertrude's parish is to continue, can we, who make up the St. Gertrude community, rise to the challenge of supporting it by attending, participating, and giving financially? Only we can answer this question. I know this has been a lot to take in at this time, but our current parish situation is a reality, and we have to face it in a realistic way. Hurricane Ida has dealt us a blow, but, with God, anything and everything is possible. More later, Fr. Ray
Dear Parishioners, The St. Gertrude parish church campus is clear of mostly all the debris, but the buildings continue to be dried out and gutted at this time. The grassy areas and the festival grounds are still in a state of "mess" due to all the trucks and vehicles that have cut up and rutted the grounds. The disaster response company has secured the back gate with a lock of their own to secure the property from Old Spanish Trail, and, so even I don't have access to that key nor access via a vehicle to the back property, and there is no reason at this time for anyone to have to have access by way of the back gate. I inform you all of this because I want to emphasize again that all of the St. Gertrude buildings, with the exception of the "Catfish shed," are unusable and uninhabitable at this time due to severe rainwater intrusion of Hurricane Ida. As of today, the religious education building, the Fr, Mac building, and the church are being gutted, and the gutting of the rectory will begin probably this week. Maria Matherne has taken care of removing all the important church files, records, and all other vital office contents, and I have removed important and vital items from the sacristy and the church, and they are stored in two units of the Paradis Mini Storage. I have had to remove all of my personal belongings to my mother's house in Reserve where I will be staying indefinitely. With that being said, NO Masses, prayer services, or gatherings, are being held on the property for safety reasons at this time. St. Anthony's and Holy Family in Luling are certainly nearby options for Mass, along with St. Mary's and St. Hilary's in Raceland. But that doesn't mean that St. Gertrude's is a closed or suppressed parish just because we can't use the church or the hall or gather on the campus right now. We still have financial obligations even though we can't have Masses, funerals, CCD classes, and hall and pavilion rentals for quite a while. We are still a parish community even though we have suffered this devastating blow. So I gently remind you again to please continue your contributions, especially at this time when we need it most, even though you are temporarily attending Mass elsewhere. Parish financial support still applies for us and for all parishioners of churches that have been badly damaged. Again, please mail your envelopes to 17292 Hwy 631, DA, LA 70030 and they will be safely delivered by the post office. PLEASE DO NOT USE the mail slot at the rectory because no one is there to receive them at this time. Thank you all very much for your attention to this matter. Lastly, I will undergo surgery for cervical (neck) spinal stenosis this Tuesday, Sept. 28 at East Jefferson Hospital, and will have to wear a neck brace/collar for six weeks and will not be able to drive for about the same length of time. I will spend my recuperation time at my mother's in Reserve. After a couple of weeks, if you would need to speak to me about an urgent matter involving St. Gertrude parish, you may call me on my cell phone at 504-442-9299. For emergencies and/or if you need the services of a priest, please call Holy Family, St. Anthony's, or Holy Rosary, and they will be able to help you. Since nothing will be happening at St. Gertrude's for a number of months ahead at least, this is a good time for me to have this surgery and time for recovery. I am glad that covid and Hurricane Ida didn't delay this surgery since my doctor told me that I needed to have surgery sooner than later. Let us continue to put our faith, hope, and trust in the Lord Jesus - with God, all things ae possible. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us! St. Gertrude the Great, pray for us! Fr. Ray Hymel
New Rectory Hours In the future, Maria will be in the rectory on Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 am to 2 pm. If you require a date or time beyond this window, please leave a message for Maria on Option #1 and she will get back to you.
St. Gertrude has weekly Adoration on Thursday in the Mornings following 8AM Mass for approximately 1 to 1 1/2 hours in the Chapel! We also have Monthly Adoration at night on the First Thursday of the Month at 6PM with Confession, Music, followed by Mass! Join us for the hour of power, for Jesus is the powerhouse! He is all that we need.
Beginning this week, Maria will be at the rectory on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 9AM to 3PM. Monday’s will be devoted to records and financial books. As always for emergencies you should call the rectory any time or day for assistance from Fr. Ray or Maria.
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