Welcome

            The faith family at St. Edward is small but very family-oriented with a close, welcoming feel.  Youth, young adults, families, and seniors interact with socials each quarter and coffee and doughnuts once each month following Sunday morning’s Mass for all members of the faith family. 

Children from three years of age through the twelfth grade have lectionary-based religion classes each Sunday following Mass from September through May.  A week-long Bible School is held each summer for children through the sixth grade.  Older teens are encouraged to participate as aides.

The choir is always seeking new members for the group which sings on Sunday and all special services.

An RCIA group meets most of the September through May cycle on Sunday at 6 p.m. in the Church Center.

The Altar Society is a loosely knit group who meets every other month for a formal meeting but is constantly working to maintain the Sanctuary and the physical body of the church.

Spiritual Programs

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament followed by Mass is offered each Friday afternoon.  During Lent and Advent, a Penitential Service for adults and youth is offered.  A mini-retreat is held for a weekend during Lent.

Organizations

See above for Altar Society. 

Altar Servers do not have an organization.

            Choir

History

            Located in the far northeastern portion of the Diocese of Alexandria, St. Edward Church traces its origin to the humble St. Agnes Chapel built at Millikin’s Bend in 1855. Millikin’s Bend, a once thriving steamboat center and headquarters to three Federal generals during the Civil War, is known today only by historical markers in Madison Parish.  According to the church’s first formal historical record compiled by the Reverend Robert M. Maure, pastor of St. Edward from 1939-1954, St. Agnes Chapel was built by Honore Morancy, a gentleman planter and art connoisseur, who with his brother Emile and sister Victoria had escaped to the United States from a Santo Domingo native uprising. When this first chapel was destroyed by flood waters from the Mississippi River, it was rebuilt sometime between 1882 and 1885 along the levee within two or three miles of its original Millikin’s Bend location. Around 1911 this chapel was dismantled and moved to a location on Highway 65 in Tallulah. St. Agnes Church, as it then became known, was served from Lake Providence with masses twice a month. During the infamous 1927 flood this small white frame church withstood six feet of water within its walls to thrive during the following years and grow in membership. On October 19, 1936, Father John C. Vandegaer became the first residing priest for St. Agnes Church making it possible for members to celebrate mass on each Sunday and holy day. The parish of St. Agnes was formally established on October 25, l936, with the formal installation of its first pastor on November 26, l936. After Father Vandegaer’s three years of faithful service, Father Robert M. Maure came to St. Agnes as pastor in l939, and within a few years of his arrival, the location of St. Agnes Church was deemed too small for the future development needed by this time to serve the needs of the parish.  On January 15, l947, Father Maure purchased land on Highway 80 in Tallulah and began the building of a new church and rectory. The new church facing the picturesque Brushy Bayou that flows through Tallulah was named St. Edward and was dedicated by the Most Reverend Charles P. Greco on October 3, 1948.  In 1980 under the leadership of Father Louis Voorhies, St. Edward added a new parish hall. St. Edward, today, is considered to be one of Tallulah’s most beautiful landmarks. Although the Catholic population in Tallulah has traditionally been quite small, St. Edward is growing with many new members from other denominations who have been drawn to RCIA and full participation in the Catholic faith. From its beginnings as an humble chapel in a location that today is just a dim memory, St. Edward has evolved into a dynamic, energetic parish with an abiding commitment to reach out to and serve its members and all people of the community of Tallulah.  

Pastors of St. Edward Church

1936-1939         Reverend John C. Vandgaer

1939-1954         Reverend Robert M. Maure

1954-1956         Reverend Bernard F. Maguire

1956-1961         Reverend William Hopp

1962                 Reverend Connors who tragically died in a rectory fire

1962-1966         Reverend Richard Lombard

1966-1968         Reverend Joseph Montelbano

1968-1970         Reverend B.A. Scallan

1970-1975         Reverend Gillis Boyer

1975-1978         Reverend John Gayer

1978-1980         Monsignor Mathew J. Scanlon

1980-1987         Reverend Louis Voorhies

1987-1990         Reverend Terry Edward Allen

1990-1994         Reverend Silvan Watterkotte

1994-1996         Reverend Ignatius Eckelkamp

1996-1998         Monsignor Patrick Murphy