History
Our Nativity Story
Our Nativity Story
The Church of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
It was April 1962 and the Catholic Parishes on the Southeast side of Evansville were overcrowded. Bishop Gimmelsman decided to create a new parish on Pollack Ave. Construction began on October 31 of the same year at a total cost of $385,000.
Many hours of blood, sweat, and tears were put into the construction of the church by many of the charter members of Nativity. September 16, 1963 marked the first day of school and October 20, 1963 the first Mass was celebrated. Bishop Gimmelsman made the official dedication on December 29, 1963.
Pastoral Leadership Through The Years
Fr. Walden Shiffer, Pastor - 1962-1968
Fr. John Foster, Pastor - 1968-1980
Fr. Joseph Ziliak, Pastor - 1980-1987
Fr. Bill Dietsch, Pastor - 1987-1989
Fr. Pat Foster - Administrator and Fr. James Short - Spiritual Leader - 1989-1990
Fr. Henry Kuykendall, Pastor - 1990 to present
Stories To Remember
To alleviate crowding at CTK, Fr. Egloff gave the Bishop $50,000.00 to build a Southside school. The Bishop bought a piece of wet land, good for rabbit hunting. The basement was at ground level so they bought 200 loads of dirt from the Fuquay sewer project at $1.00 a load. The basement flooded several times a year until 1994.
We purchased shrubs from a nursery for $1.00 a shrub, but had to dig them up at the nursery, had to store them for the winter and replant them next in the spring.
The beautiful statue of Mary in front was bought by Fr. Schiffer, in memory of his mother. The Men’s Club remodeled the old farm house and converted into a convent for the 5 Sisters who were the teacher and principle of the school. Fr. Schiffer lived for 2 years in one room with a bath at the end of the school hall, then bought a house on Joyce Ave. He introduced one of the first lotteries in the area. It was the key to our paying our debt and bills. When Fr. Schiffer left he gave the lottery to the high schools. We were never able to pay our bills in spite of constant fundraising until we became a Stewardship Parish in 1993.
