Three years ago, Fr. Marc A. Noël was assigned to serve the mission church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Forest Hill. Shortly after arriving, the challenge of serving such a large Hispanic Catholic community living in the area was very evident. There wasn’t enough room in the church for all those wanting to attend …
Three years ago, Fr. Marc A. Noël was assigned to serve the mission church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Forest Hill. Shortly after arriving, the challenge of serving such a large Hispanic Catholic community living in the area was very evident. There wasn’t enough room in the church for all those wanting to attend mass on Sunday. The small church hall wasn’t big enough to have catechism for all the children on the same night of the week. The spiritual and sacraments needs of the Hispanic community were enormous. This led Fr. Marc to question, how can the needs of those attending this mission church better be met?
It’s been more than 30 years since the first Mexican immigrants arrived in Forest Hill to work in the plant nurseries. Father Pedro Sierra-Posada, a native of Colombia, South America, visited the nurseries searching for Catholics and began celebrating Mass at the nurseries and in people’s homes.
Father Pedro’s pastoral efforts resulted in challenges to accommodate the spiritual needs of the growing number of migrant workers and their families in the Forest Hill area. Before the formal establishment of the mission, families gathered for the celebration of mass in Spanish at the cafeteria of Forest Hill Academy, a school facility. Mr. Bill Sansing obtained permission to use this facility with the help of Louisiana State Representative, Mr. Clyde Holloway.
When the Louisiana Conference United Methodist Church had a small church for sale, Mr. Sansing mediated to acquire it for the Forest Hill mission church. Various furnishings were donated by other churches within the diocese in order for the mission church to operate: pews, an altar, a tabernacle, kneelers, a monstrance, ambo, sanctuary candle stand and other small items.
Bishop Sam G. Jacobs, through the Development Office of the Diocese of Alexandria, asked for a grant from the Extension Society to help offset the costs of buying this property. Coincidentally, the late Mrs. Rosella Eannelli had left money to the Extension Society to build a mission church with one condition: the mission would be named “Our Lady of Guadalupe.”
The Extension Society gave Bishop Jacobs $12,500 for the project.
The dedication of Our Lady of Guadalupe took place on August 31, 1996, by Bishop Sam G. Jacobs. Fr. Pedro serving as the director of Hispanic ministry for the diocese was appointed to take care of the mission church.
The people quickly outgrew the little church. An extension was added to the church, and still there wasn’t enough room for everyone to fit inside.
As the congregation continued to grow, it was clear they would need a bigger church. A new building was constructed for members of Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in Forest Hill and was dedicated on December 12, 2002 at a Mass celebrated by Bishop Sam Jacobs. This time, the Extension Society contributed $57,500 to the new church, and the Kellogg family provided part of the land on which the church was built. The final cost of the project was $110,000. Much of the work done was performed by members of the community, including laying the tile for the floor and completing the work on the walls and the ceiling. The altar was designed by Fr. Pedro. The metal building initially had enough pews to sit 160 people.
In 2008 Fr. Pedro was assigned as Pastor of St. Martin church in Lecompte and the Mission church of Our Lady of Guadalupe formally became the mission of St. Martin. Fr. Pedro served as the pastor of St. Martin for 6 years while continuing to take care of the Hispanic community in Forest Hill before retiring. Fr. Adam Travis was assigned to replace Fr. Pedro and served in this assignment for 7 years.
The church community in Forest Hill has continued to grow over the years and has been at the heart of Hispanic culture within the Diocese of Alexandria and Central Louisiana for over 30 years. It is a thriving Catholic community of our diocese that continues to grow every year.
Many of the Hispanics who were once workers in the plant nurseries, are now owners of their own successful nursery businesses in the area.
The 7-acre property purchased by Fr. Pedro 16 years ago half a mile down the road was cleared a couple of years ago, leveled and is being developed as the site for the new church.
The Catholic Hispanic community in Forest Hill is in need once again of a bigger church. Imagine going to mass on Sunday and being left standing outside because there’s not enough room in the church. When there are weddings celebrated, Quinceañera masses, first communion, confirmation, mass after the ACTS retreat, all the people attending do not fit in the church. The time has come to build a new church in Forest Hill in the hopes that Our Lady of Guadalupe can become a parish of the diocese of Alexandria one day. There are so many spiritual needs in the community, so many families who seek to receive the sacraments. The only way to adequately respond to all of these needs is to build a new church in Forest Hill and to help Our Lady of Guadalupe develop into a parish.
Our Lady of Guadalupe’s capital campaign, “Leaving a Legacy” for future generations, will begin Aug. 24 and 25 at the weekend masses with Fr. Marc making a presentation on a vision for development and the construction of a new church. The goal is to raise 2.5 million dollars in five years to build a new church. That sounds like a daunting task, but when you think about what it will mean for this church community, to one day become a parish and to have a church big enough to accommodate it’s needs and serve the future generations, what an awesome undertaking this will be to glorify God.
Please consider lending a hand to this church community by supporting the capital campaign. For more information, to make a donation or request a pledge packet, please contact Fr. Marc A. Noël at nsgforesthill@gmail.com. Or you may visit nsgforesthill.org, click on the flag to switch to English, then on the giving tab.
