Above: Father Thanh Nguyen holds the ceremonial key to the city as Dr. Joe Pat Hatem, mayor, and his wife, Tish, look on. Photos by Greg and Janet Mintel
SOUTHPORT, N.C. — Father Thanh took possession of the key to the city. The mayor, sporting red Converse sneakers, looked on. Hundreds of parishioners seated under white tents did, too. Father held up the ceremonial, golden key and spoke cheerfully. “If you need a key to the city,” he said with the measured pace of a comedic actor. “Come see me.”
People laughed and clapped, and the moment opened the door to the 85th anniversary picnic for Sacred Heart Parish.
Before the picnic, Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama celebrated 11 a.m. Mass with the community inside the present-day church. The celebration took place Oct. 4 and commemorated the 1941 dedication of the first Catholic church in Southport on the corner of West Street and Caswell Avenue.
The entrance hymn, Lift High the Cross, was sung by those gathered as a Knights of Columbus Honor Guard lined the aisle for the procession.
In his homily, Bishop discussed being open and finding time for silence to allow for understanding. “We can hear a lot of things,” he said. “But listening is different.”
He went on to share that all the members of the congregation were “vines that the Lord chose with a purpose to produce fruit that’s good … the best gift that we have is our own life … Jesus needs each one of us to help spread the good news of his love.”
In his remarks after Mass, Bishop Luis expressed gratitude for the parish, the occasion and those who led the music at Mass. A 13-member choir was joined by musicians who played the harp, piano, organ, flute, trumpet, violin and French horn.
“The best part of this choir is that all of you become part of the choir,” he said to the congregation. “And that is a way for me to touch heaven. There is not a better place to listen to beautiful music, singing for every one of us and hearing the voice of joy. Thank you for that beautiful gift that you are. Thank you for making me the most happy bishop. The love here is so overwhelming.”
At the time the first church building was dedicated in 1941, there were about a dozen Catholic families, according to a letter shared by Father Thanh Nguyen, pastor. One of them was the McNeil family.
“Part of the property on which [the first church] was built was donated by Mr. Gus McNeil,” shared the parish in a history booklet made for the occasion of the 85th anniversary, which noted other original parish families: the Shannons, the Fergus family, Collins, Fodale, Hayes and Wells.
Current parishioner Trudy McNeil Young, 90, was at the anniversary celebration this year and believes she was likely at the original dedication with her father, Gus.
“Trudy is our very, very dearest, oldest member … [she has] a beautiful voice” smiled Sandy Spencer, 80, a parishioner since childhood as well.
Young has many memories of Sacred Heart, including its beginnings as a mission church, her wedding at the original church downtown, singing at Mass with her sister, Sally, and how it was her father’s task to light the furnace at the new church building.
Today’s church building, which is situated on Dosher Cutoff Road and serves 1,700 registered families and tourists, was dedicated in 2003 and is the third building the parish has called home. The second building, also on the Dosher Cutoff property, was dedicated in March 1991 and served 300 families at that time.
Recently a bell that was part of the original church building, which was converted to a home after the property was sold, was given to the parish.
“There was a Mr. Shannon who was very involved with the church [during its early years],” said parishioner Katherine Hufham, who is Young’s daughter. “He and my grandfather were best friends. And he worked for the WB&S Railroad … and that bell came from the railroad in Wilmington and Mr. Shannon gave it to the church, so we were grateful to get it back.”
Bishop Luis, who also attended the picnic and offered the blessing, wrote about the bell in a letter to the Sacred Heart community, noting that its return was a fitting symbol of the holy continuity of those who have served the parish, including 17 pastors, throughout its history.
“It reminds the parish that while times, places and circumstances change, the call to gather as the people of God remains constant,” he wrote.
Parishioner Paul Robinson, who moved from Boston to Southport in 1999 with his wife Dorothy, was chairperson of the Oct. 4 picnic. He began working on the event, which included beach music, hot dogs, hamburgers, sides and an ice cream bar, six months ago.
“The growth has been phenomenal [in the last 27 years] … we planned for six hundred people today. We have seating inside and outside. Everybody was praying with us for the weather,” he smiled, noting that the morning rain stopped just in time for the 1 p.m. picnic. “This is a wonderful parish. There’s so much spirit. It’s a very prayerful parish and very generous.”
Photos
Photos by Greg and Janet Mintel. Click or tap photos to view full images.
