By Ruth Cummins
CLINTON – Holy Savior Parish today has more than 300 member families, but its charter parishioners remember how the fledgling church began with 45 dedicated members when it was established in 1966.
The church that serves the Clinton and Raymond communities will observe its 50th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 25, during an 11 a.m. Mass celebrated by Bishop Joseph Kopacz and Father Thomas McGing, Holy Savior’s pastor.
The day’s only Mass will be followed by dinner on the grounds and a dessert reception. It’s a time for current, past and founding members to gather for fellowship and fun, and also to give tribute to the church’s history and members’ contributions to the community, said Allen Scott, who’s heading up plans for the celebration.
“We especially invite our charter members, wherever they now reside, to attend Mass and be honored for their contributions,” Scott said. “They are the foundation of our parish and paved the way for our current presence in the city.”
Holy Savior Parish, one of almost 100 in the Diocese of Jackson, has steadily grown its membership in Clinton and in Raymond, home to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, said McGing, who has served as pastor since 2003.
“Holy Savior’s first home in Clinton was a triple-wide trailer on the existing church grounds, and the first Mass was celebrated at Mississippi College,” Father McGing said. “We’ve come a long way since then. Our parish family continues to expand, and we’ve worked hard to bring together Catholics and non-Catholics in the community. We welcome all to worship with us and learn more about the Catholic faith.
“Our parish has families from more than 10 nations. This makes us truly catholic.”
In the early 1900s, the few Catholics living in Clinton had to travel to Jackson to attend Mass. By the early 1960s, the city of Clinton had grown considerably, and so had its Catholic population.
It was time for the establishment of a parish for the city. Clinton Catholics petitioned the diocese for a parish, established on Aug. 12, 1966, with Father George Uricheck as founding pastor. The first Mass was held in the Mississippi College student union, and the mission church of Immaculate Conception in Raymond initially hosted Holy Savior’s parishioners.
In September 1967, Holy Savior took a major step with the purchase of property at the corner of Old Vicksburg Road and Lindale Street. Adjoining land was purchased in 1968 to accommodate the growing parish. The reassignment of Father Uricheck, however, left Holy Savior without a permanent pastor. Visiting priests celebrated Mass until the appointment of Father Marion Spadini as pastor in the late 1960s.
Under Spadini’s guidance, members planned a new church building. It was dedicated in November 1976 by Bishop Joseph Brunini, and Mass, religious education and social activities could all be held in the same building. It’s now used for meetings and a variety of social events.
In 1980, Father Martin Ruane was appointed the parish’s third pastor. He led remodeling of the rectory and acquisition of the house adjacent to the rectory for religious education classes. A second religious education facility was built to accommodate the growing number of children in the parish. Ruane’s gifts included building the church’s membership through RCIA and shepherding the return of a number of Catholics who had drifted from their faith.
By 1984, parish leaders began the process of building a church solely for worship. Bishop William Houck dedicated the new church designed to seat 750 in 1987. Father Noel Prendergast was appointed Holy Savior’s fourth pastor in 1991 and proposed construction of a new building to house religious education and parish offices. It was a necessary move to consolidate classrooms scattered among three different buildings and the parish office operating out of the rectory.
Bishop Houck dedicated the new building in late 2002, and McGing was appointed pastor in January 2003.  He oversaw major structural repairs to the church in 2004 after termites destroyed portions of the two beams that supported the church roof.  Several months later, Bishop Joseph Latino celebrated Mass and rededicated the church.
Over the years, members have served in church-affiliated organizations including the Altar Society, Catholic Youth Organization, the Golden Oldies senior citizens social group, the Knights of Columbus Council No. 7854 and its associated Ladies Auxiliary, a group for young mothers, and Boy Scouts troops. Religious education classes are held for preschoolers through high school seniors.
As the church celebrates 50 years in Clinton, Father McGing said, its future is bright, and its mission of outreach and service to community is stronger than ever.
“We hope the next 50 years will bring a renewal of faith and continued dedication to our Lord and living our Catholic faith,” Father McGing said.
(Ruth Cummins and her husband Kelly are longtime members of Holy Savior Catholic Church in Clinton, where she serves as an Eucharistic minister and he as a lector. Their two grown daughters, Leigh and Meg, live in Nashville.)

The Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) of Xavier University of Louisiana will host a symposium titled, “Black Lives Matter: Urban Education Matters,” on October 21-22 on the campus of the University in New Orleans. The symposium will be focused on addressing issues of racial conflict and the need for racial reconciliation, the current culture of violence in thecountry and the enduring effects of poverty, especially among those in the African American community.
The symposium seeks to address critical and urgent concerns of the black community and to serve as a catalyst for new solutions and clear actions. It will include, keynote addresses, by Rev. Dr. Frederick D. Haynes, III, senior pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church, Dallas, Tex., and Brittany N. Packnett, executive director for Teach for America in St. Louis and member of the Ferguson Commission. Workshops will delve into issues of urban Catholic education, racism on America’s college campuses, education reform, school to prison pipeline, racial and cultural consciousness, and being young, black and gifted.
General admission for the conference is $65. Online registration and a complete schedule is available at www.xulablacklivesmatter.com/. For additional information call 504-252-0080.
Xavier University of Louisiana founded by Saint Katharine Drexel and the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1925 is the only historically Black and Catholic university in the Western Hemisphere. Founded in 1980, the Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) of Xavier University of Louisiana offers programs in pastoral theology, religious education and pastoral ministry. The IBCS provides an intellectual, spiritual and cultural immersion in the Black Catholic experience for all those interested in or committed to Catholic ministry within the black community.

Shoffner approaches healthcare from spiritual perspective

By Mark Shoffner
This summer, as part of the priestly formation plan while I am in seminary, I spent two months at St Dominic’s Hospital in Jackson. For those not aware, St. Dominic’s is our only Catholic hospital in Mississippi and what a fine gem this hospital is, not only for the level of care which they are able to provide, but also for the Catholic model and example which is lovingly provided and shown to those of all walks of life.
I worked as a volunteer chaplain with the full time chaplains employed there and saw many patients throughout my assignment.
One subject my class in seminary studied in the semester prior to our summer assignment was Catholic Healthcare Ethics. It taught us the use of our faith and reason in making healthcare decisions that affect each and every one of us. We learned about the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services that is put out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and how these directives help us to make health decisions using a well-formed and educated moral conscience.
All Catholic healthcare institutions are required to use these directives so that our hospitals and refuges for the sick are truly embodying the care and concern of our loving Savior, as he is the great physician to all. For Catholics, Jesus’ concern for the sick is of prime importance when carrying out the work of caring for others, but too for caring for our own families and loved ones.
With the great advances in medicine today there are many treatments available to deal with some of our most serious health concerns. As a former full-time Registered Nurse I worked in and around serious illnesses and life or death situations with the best attention to care for the patients and families. Quite often we encounter deep-seated questions about what we are to do when our health takes a turn for the worse or when someone we deeply love has a serious illness.
Questions inevitably arise as to whether we should take advantage of everything the doctor can provide or whether we should withhold some or most treatment and focus on providing a comfortable last few days. This summer I was blessed to experience health care from a spiritual viewpoint rather than a strictly medical lens. Being able to approach the patients and families seeking care in the hospital with the sole intent of bringing the consolation of Christ into this moment of their lives was a memorable experience.
When I was working as a nurse, often situations would arise where I, along with others, would wonder why we were doing a procedure when it was not going to prolong a patient’s life or whether it was okay to stop a treatment because of ineffectiveness. Was it pressure from family? Was it because we did not know what the patient’s wishes were? Was it a lack of someone to rely on to answer the deep moral questions challenging us? It was sometimes these and others which puts a burden on the doctors, nurses and families to figure out just what we should do and whether it is okay to proceed with treatment plans.
At St. Dominic’s I was able to participate in something very special in the medical field and a hallmark of Catholic healthcare, ethical consults. An ethical consult is ordered when a serious question arises about the care of a patient. They are sought as an advising body to guide doctors, nurses, and families especially, in the care of the critically ill to make sure that the care given is in conformity with the Catholic Church’s teaching on the dignity of the person and the responsibility owed toward the person by the directives of Christ Jesus.
The pastoral services director, critical care nursing leadership, the ombudsman (hospital appointed patient advocate), and the nurse providing direct care for the patient gather together to discuss and use these directives to make sure that without any reasonable doubt, the care provided by the hospital is moral, respective of the dignity of the person and helpful to the family in making hard end of life decisions. In a non-Catholic health setting, you will not find the church’s teachings easily integrated into the hospital care.
This was a great benefit for me to see my classroom education being lived out and working in the care of the sick and dying. It is such a blessing to have these people help everyone, not just Catholics, use the laws given to us through nature and the law which Jesus has written upon all our hearts, to provide professional care with a concern for our moral life.
(Mark Shoffner, a native of Greenville, is a seminarian for the Diocese of Jackson, in his third year of formation at Notre Dame Seminary.)