CHURCH
HISTORY
St. Joseph Catholic
Church in Cincinnati, Ohio is a direct offspring of Holy Trinity,
the first national parish for German-speaking Catholics in America.
There were no Catholic
churches in Cincinnati during the 18th century. The first Catholic
Church, Christ Church, was established in Cincinnati in 1803 for
Irish Catholic immigrants. When the Archdiocese of Cincinnati was
established in 1821, Bishop Fenwick successfully lured German-speaking
clergy to minister to Cincinnati's German Catholic population and
established St. Mary's in 1840, still located at 13th & Clay
Streets and in 1845, St. John the Baptist, at Breman and Green. In
1846, Archbishop Purcell selected Rev. William Unlerheiner, OFM,
of Saint John the Baptist Church in Over-the-Rhine to organize a
parish that would serve the overflow population of Holy Trinity and
Saint John the Baptist. In March 1846, a 96 x 200 ft. lot of land
was purchased at Linn and Laurel Streets with Rev. John Luers, OFM
assigned as the church's first pastor, thus began the rich history
that is St. Joseph's.
The original church
basement is now the Father Clarence Rivers Hall, which houses the
school cafeteria, conference, meeting, and computer rooms. Please
contact the church office if you're interested in using the Hall
or honoring Fr. Rivers with a contribution.
FR.
CLARENCE RIVERS
Father
Rivers, ordained in 1956, was the first African American priest of
the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He was a preeminent pioneer in bringing
the gifts of the African American expression to life in the Roman
Catholic liturgy. Father Clarence paved the way for liturgical inculturation
and inspired Black Catholics to bring their artistic genius to the
Catholic worship. In 2002, Father Rivers was honored with the Berakah
Award from the North American Academy of Liturgy. Father Rivers started
Stimuli, Inc, a center for liturgical arts, design and publication,
in 1968 to foster a greater synthesis between African American cultural
expressions and traditional European American worship services.
In the introduction
to, "Soulful Worship," Fr. Clarence writes, "The
creation of effective worship is the most important task of the
Church, but
it also the task that the Church in my opinion does lease well."
Father Rivers'
two publications: "The Spirit in Worship: and "Soulful
Worship" challenged and inspired worshipers and liturgists to
seriously examine worship through the lens of African American cultural
frames. Never before had this cultural genre been pointedly mined
for its possible contribution to the worship of the Catholic Church.
For those studying liturgy and music, these are seminal texts whose
insights deepen upon each reading. His recording of "Mass For
the Brotherhood of Man" gave musical footing to the efforts
of all those struggling to be Black and Catholic. It is through
him that many churches with majority Black parishioners began
to dance,
sing, vest and preach in ways familiar to their cultural and
spiritual hearts.
~ National
Black Catholic Congress
