'God Is Good . . . All The Time'
“God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.”
That statement is a perfect way to meet Sister Jane Nesmith, SBS.
Since 1996, she has served as Pastoral Life Coordinator, Liturgical Coordinator and Director of Religious Education at Evansville’s St. John the Apostle Parish. She’ll be leaving soon – off for a few months of rest and a 30-day retreat, then on to other missionary service for the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.
A Philadelphia native, she served in Rayne, Lake Charles and New Orleans, La., and in Seattle, Wash., before accepting a challenge from retired Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger to revitalize the diocese’s predominantly African-American parish.
“Bishop Gettelfinger told me he didn’t want to close St. John the Apostle,” Sister Jane recalled. “But he said he felt like he had no choice – unless someone could re-energize the parish community.
“I was very interested in serving a diocese willing to work with its people like this,” she added. “I had seen five center-city parishes closed in my hometown of Philadelphia; that helped me decide to accept this challenge.”
She did so after receiving permission from her order, which was founded in 1889 by St. Katharine Drexel to serve the poor, especially among African- and Native-American peoples. One needs only to read the first paragraph of the congregation’s mission statement to understand how and why Sister Jane accomplished what she has in Evansville, and for St. John the Apostle:
“As Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, we believe God calls us to be a sign in the world of the power of the Eucharistic Christ to effect unity and community among all peoples.”
“I began by listening,” Sister Jane said. “We had no programs, and there were about 25 people in the pews at the time. I listened first; I wanted to hear where the people thought our future was going. What we have accomplished here is all by the grace of God.”
Look around, and you’ll see that God has been generous with His grace.
She had no staff – until the St. Mary’s Foundation provided funding for an assistant. From that beginning – and with the aid provided by more than $1.5 million in grants over the years, Sr. Jane revitalized the brick and mortar in the parish – and she also re-engaged, nurtured and grew the parish family and its ministries.
“It truly does take a community to build a community,” she said, “and I am grateful to the Diocese of Evansville and the community of Evansville for the support they have provided us.”
She recalled the local engineering firm that donated time and manpower to evaluate the entire parish physical plant. “They showed us what we needed to improve and change in order to save on utilities,” she said, “and we were able to secure grants from multiple sources to fund those improvements.”
Sister Jane didn’t concern herself just with buildings and HVAC systems. While the church and associated buildings got their needed facelifts, she also set about re-engaging the parish and the local community.
“At about the time I started to work on creating a proactive health initiative in the city, God sent us a doctor and her family from Rhode Island. They relocated to Evansville because she accepted a position as an exercise physiologist at the University of Southern Indiana,” Sister Jane explained. “With her leadership, and with only days to spare, we completed the application for a grant from the Wellborn Baptist Foundation that led to establishment of the SOUL Empowerment Program, our proactive health initiative.” St. Anthony Parish relocated its weekend child-care ministry to St. John the Apostle. And Sister Jane started the parish’s Gospel Choir.
“We incorporated a lot of cultural traditions of the African-American people. In many ways, our people revitalized the parish through themselves. The choir is one element of our attempts to provide another ‘face’ for the Catholic Church in the diocese,” she added. “Catholic means universal, and our Church has many faces around the world. We celebrate the cultural diversity of the Church.”
One of St. John the Apostle’s most well-known ministries already was up and running when Sister Jane arrived in Evansville – the Sunday Soup Kitchen. “The Soup Kitchen has been alive in Evansville for more than 25 years,” she said, “and one of the founders still works with us. It is the only place for people in the city who have no place to go on Sunday.’
It, too, has developed its own community during Sister Jane’s tenure. Holy Rosary parish, St. John the Baptist parish in Newburgh and St. Joseph parish in Vanderburgh County assist with this ministry, which is available 52 Sundays a year. Sister Jane also has welcomed support from Evansville’s restaurant community.
“The Cork ‘n Cleaver restaurant donates our meat entree’ for the first Sunday of every month, and they let us decide what they will prepare,” Sister Jane said. “The owner told us that he is happy to support the Sunday Soup Kitchen as a way of giving thanks to God for the many blessings he has received in business.”
Sister Jane has traveled around America as a speaker, and she is quick to talk about a unique sense of community she feels in Evansville. “I’ve not become aware of another city with so many avenues to help the poor,” she said. “I commend the city and the Diocese of Evansville for their efforts.”
She acknowledged the parish’s sadness at her departure, but she continues her order’s call to effect unity and community as she discusses it with parishioners. “I tell them they will come to realize their own strength moving forward,” she said. “They know that changes will be forthcoming as a result of the diocese’s strategic plan. I remind them that together with other parishes in the diocese, we can overcome any deficiencies we might have by uniting resources.
“Our community is well-established here, thanks to God,” she added. “I have talked to them about the fact that we don’t need the kinds of grants we had to have to return our buildings and grounds to where they needed to be. We’ve done that.
“Now, it’s time for them to allow God to continue to build the community as He intends.”
