LEONARD GRAY

PHOTO 1: St. James Methodist Church traces its origins to 1862. (Staff Photos by Leonard Gray) HAHNVILLE – One of St. Charles Parish’s oldest Protestant churches is continuing its mission of outreach and ministry in a building of old Hahnville – St. James Methodist Church. The Rev. Joseph W. Wilson Sr. has only been assigned to this pastorate since June, but already his mark on the tiny church has been considerable. Also associate pastor of Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in New Orleans, Rev. Wilson came to his job the long way. “I started out at Xerox Corporation,” the 53-year-old Wilson said, 22 years ago, as a service engineer. After several years working at Xerox, he decided to seek a bigger income and went to law school, becoming an attorney. “But God’s agenda didn’t agree with mine,” he acknowledged. In 1995, as he put it, “God put a call on my life and to pursue the ministry.” After his religious studies, the New Orleans District of the United Methodist Church assigned him to St. James. “This is new to me,” he said of St. Charles Parish, his only prior exposure being business trips to Waterford 3. He still works full-time with Xerox, but doesn’t practice law. “I try not to practice too much,” he said with a smile. His arrival at the church was a happy one. “I was pleasantly surprised,” Wilson continued. “It didn’t meet my expectations of a rural country church.” What he found instead was a small, yet active congregation, representing between 25 and 30 households, to which he added his wife, Debra, and their two sons. The church itself was established in 1862 on the old Fashion Plantation which belonged to Civil War general Richard Taylor.

PHOTO 3: Choir practice at St. James Methodist Church centers around 13-year-old Kyle Roussel, including standing from left, Emelda Smith, Denisa Collins, Martha Gordon and Deborah McCray. Though Taylor lost his plantation because of the war, the church continued to thrive and, in 1875, relocated to its present location in Hahnville, just after former Gov. Michael Hahn laid out the town named for him. There the church remained for the next 90 years, until 1965’s Hurricane Betsy knocked it down. It was rebuilt months later and remains, a monument to determination and God’s will, Wilson said. St. James Methodist Church continues to impact lives, and few people affect lives more than Tarzie Mae Rosette, 89, the congregation’s eldest member. “The church means my life to me,” she related. Her gentle, good nature is a beacon to the younger members, including her own children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was first baptised when she was 12 years old and has been with this church since she was 34 years old. Ever since her husband, Hurley Rosette Sr., died 30 years ago, she has turned her energies into being a comfort to her fellows. The church added its own choir in the late 1980s and, though they lost their musician six months ago, 13-year-old Kyle Roussel has stepped into the breach, playing piano for choir practices and for services. Church secretary Jeanne Pierre Johnson is now the official keeper of the church’s archives and counts more than 50 pastors for the church’s history of nearly 140 years. Services are 11 a.m. on Sunday, with confirmation classes at 10 a.m. On Wednesdays, a prayer service is scheduled for 6 p.m., followed by a Bible study class at 6:30 p.m. Choir rehearsals are on Thursday evenings.