History of St. Anne Parish

 

The following information was taken from Tasting the Goodness of the Lord, a recipe book commemorating the 70th Anniversary of St. Anne Parish in 2007.

 

Humble First Mission

It was 1916 during the height of World War I. His Holiness Pope Benedict XV reigned. Most Reverend Bishop Thomas Sebastian Byrne of the diocese of Nashville, determined that St. Joseph parish and its pastor, Father James, P Whitfield, should supervise a mission chapel in East Memphis for Italian truck gardeners and their families. A vacant store front was located on Southern Avenue where Father Whitfield send his assistant, Father Pietro Jachini. Father Pietro said Mass in Latin on Sundays at 8:30 a.m., however, sermons were in Italian as were confessions. The little mission chapel, boasting about 50 members in 1917, had a short stay with St. Joseph parish, as well as with Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Byrne had decided the location of the mission put it rightfully in Sacred Heart parish where Father Louis J. Kemphues was overseer while Father Pat Mahoney served as pastor.

 

St. Sebastian- The Second Mission Church

Within the year of its opening in 1917, the mission church had risen to 125 members and was growing every day. Father Mahoney knew it was time to move on, and luckily found a lot at Goodwyn and Carnes. He hired Pat and Edward Barry to build him a church, a modest wooden building. Father Pat Mahoney gave the church its name as a memorial to the late Bishop Thomas Sebastian. Membership was now at 150. Thankfully, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth showed up every Sunday to teach the children catechism. The sisters, with their beautiful spirit, began serving the Memphis area as early as 1882.

 

In those days, Father Mahoney lived at St. Peter Orphanage as there was no rectory, but it didn't keep him from coming out regularly to his little mission parish. He took a deep personal interest in his flock and his sentiments were returned by a grateful parish. Then in 1929, St. Sebastian lost its beloved pastor, Monsignor Mahoney. He left a legacy of great memories for his little mission church. Monsignor Louis H. Kemphues of Sacred Heart took over the mission church once again, however most baptisms, funerals and weddings were held at Sacred Heart while First Holy Communions were still held at the mission.

 

In 1933, Bishop Alphonse J. Smith appointed Father Merlin Kearney as pastor of St. Sebastian. Father Kearney arrived full of energy and went to work redecorating and adding seating to the fast growing mission church. But in 1934, the bishop was badly in need of a pastor at St. Patrick's church in South Nashville. Off goes Father Kearney and back goes St. Sebastian to Sacred Heart where now Monsignor Kemphues appointed his assistant, Father Edward Dolan, to continue the good work that Father Kearney  had begun. Finally in 1937, Father Thomas F. Nenon was installed as pastor of St. Sebastian on the feast day of St. Sebastian. It was a momentous assignment for all concerned.

 

Bishop Adrian enlarged St. Sebastian's territory by reducing Blessed Sacrament's. The new boundary lines, assuming that St. Sebastian was the most easterly, now included: Central Avenue on the north, to Lamar (Highway 78) on the South, and East Parkway on the west.

 

Please check back. More history will be added. The last update was 4/5/09.