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Our Nativity Story
Since the spiritual needs of the faithful
living in the parish of Our Lord Jesus King and the Most Holy Rosary,
Evansville, In., cannot be properly attended to because of the size of the
respective churches and schools within each parish, I hereby divide the
territories and erect herewith the new parochial Church of the Nativity of Our
Lord Jesus Christ in the City of Evansville, IN.
Most Reverend Henry J. Grimmelsman
Bishop of Evansville, April 14, 1962
From these beautiful words was our parish born. The growing
blue collar neighborhoods of the southeast side of Evansville were
overwhelming the existing parishes of Christ the King and Holy Rosary.
Timeline
| April 14,
1962 |
Nativity erected as a parish 1st
boundaries north to Washington Ave. (400 families), then north boundary
changed to Covert Ave. (250 families) |
| October 31, 1962 |
Construction began (total cost -
$385,333.00) |
| September 16, 1963 |
First day of school (260 students in 7
grades); 5 Benedictine Sisters |
| October 20, 1963 |
First Mass; first server Mark Scheller
; first Baptism Joseph Grotte |
| November 10, 1963 |
First Communion class 47 children |
| November 28, 1963 |
First Marriage Robert Weber & Tamarra
Minnette |
| December 20, 1963 |
First Funeral Mass Margaret Kalinnowski |
| December 29, 1963 |
Formal dedication: Celebrant Bishop
Grimmelsman; Arch priest Msgr. Niehaus; Deacon James Lex; Sub deacon
Joseph Ziliak; M.C. Rev. Robert Deig and Frater Colman Grabert; Sermon
Msgr. Thomas Clarke; Servers Steven Lasher, John Taylor, Joseph Zimmer,
Mark Scheller |
| February 21 1965 |
First Confirmation 83 children |
| June 1977 |
Mel Lasher became a Deacon |
| May 1987 |
Church renovated |
| October 1993 |
Debt finally paid off |
| October 1998 |
Celebrating 35th anniversary with picnic
and storytelling |
Nativity had the first Parish Council in the
Diocese and one of the earliest Parish Pastoral Councils.
Nativity now has 313 families 730 members, 252 stewards (80%) and 61
wandering sheep.
Pastoral leadership:
Fr. Walden Schiffer, Pastor April 14, 1962 1968 (died March
1999)
Fr. Charles Pfeiffer, Associate pastor
Sr. Marcia, Principal;
Teachers: Sr. Kathleen, Sr. Norberta, Sr. Benita, Sr. Michaeleen, Ann Graham,
Larry Scheller, Larry Luig;
Fr. Steve Lintzenich helped while still in the seminary,
In between Pastors, Frs. Koch and Niehaus served as interim pastors.
Fr. John Foster, Pastor October 1, 1968 November 13, 1980 (died in
his sleep)
Fr. Joseph Ziliak, Pastor December 1, 1980 July 14, 1987
Fr. Bill Dietsch, Pastor July 14, 1987 December 1989
Fr. Pat Foster, Administrator December 1989 July 1990
Fr. James Short, Spiritual Leader December 1989 July 1990
Fr. Henry
Kuykendall, Pastor July 14, 1990 present
Sr. Jane McConnell Pastoral Associate September 1, 1991 1998
Sr. Rosanna Dorn Pastoral Associate March 1, 1999 2001
Fr. Claude Burns, Associate Pastor - July 1, 2004 - 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. Purchased
shrubs from a nursery for $1.00 a shrub, but they had to be dug up at the
nursery, they had to be stored for the winter and replanted the next in the
spring. The beautiful statue of Mary in front was bought by Fr. Schiffer, in
memory of his Mother. The Mens Club remodeled the old farm house and
converted into a convent for the 5 sisters. 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.
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