Center has new leadership, new location at St. Rita
When Father Ed Feuerbacher, other pastors and lay Catholics at several north St. Louis parishes came together in the 1970s to start a ministry to support Black Catholic spirituality and culture, they asked other dioceses what they were doing.
Turns out no one else was doing it.
In a letter to then-Cardinal John J. Carberry, pastors conveyed that Black Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Louis were seeking a space that would include opportunities for spiritual and leadership development and where they could preserve their cultural experience of faith.
In 1978, the St. Charles Lwanga Center went from an idea to a reality.
“Black Catholics were saying when they would go to retreats, the retreats didn’t speak to them,” said Joyce Jones, director of the archdiocesan Office of Racial Harmony and Black Catholic Ministries. “It didn’t focus on the things that were happening in their day-to-day lives. This whole thinking of a space where culture can be preserved has been with us since 1978.”
More than four decades later, the center, named after a Ugandan saint who was martyred with 21 others for their Catholic faith, has remained a mainstay in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, evolving its ministries to the needs of the present.
Over the years, activities have included pastoral care, prayer ministry, sacramental preparation, Bible studies and youth ministry activities. It also hosts annual events, including a Mass commemorating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Model of Justice Awards program and a Testimonial Dinner and Celebration.
In December, the center, which receives support from the Annual Catholic Appeal, moved from its original location in the Penrose neighborhood of north St. Louis to St. Rita Church in Vinita Park, with an eye on expanding ways of interacting with parishes in the archdiocese’s three vicariates.
A fine arts program launched in the spring with a new children’s choir and will eventually include piano lessons, liturgical dance and African drumming to preserve Black worship styles. Other new programs include a healing ministry in partnership with the Catholic Renewal Center and scholarships for Black Catholic studies.
Danielle Harrison was hired as full-time manager of the center, which now falls under the umbrella of the Office of Racial Harmony and Black Catholic Ministries. She was encouraged in her formative years by some of the center’s earliest leaders to develop her role as a lay leader in the Church. It’s been a full-circle moment coming into the new role, she said.
“We’re looking toward the goal of offering quality formation and education, not only to Black Catholics in the archdiocese, but people who want to know about Black Catholic spirituality,” Harrison said.
Sister Thea Bowman often explained that “I’m authentically Black and truly Catholic,” Harrison said. “So they’re not diametrically opposed, but that it enhances our worship — Catholic and universal. This is a space that encourages us to build that part of our culture that can contribute to the universal Church.”
A group of women talked at the St. Charles Lwanga Center in September 1980. The St. Charles Lwanga Center has been ministering to Black Catholics since 1978.
An open house and blessing held in March included a listening session, in which participants heard an update on the work of the local implementation team for the National Black Catholic Congress, and had small group discussions on topics including faith formation, social justice, youth and young adults, mental health and wellness and leadership development.
Gloria Green, who served as a program coordinator and later as director in the 1990s, said the center has played an instrumental role in bolstering Black Catholics and their parishes in the archdiocese for decades, and she hopes that support will continue well into the future.
“We needed something that touched our lives,” where Black Catholic voices are represented in the life of the Church, said Green, a member of St. Peter Claver Parish. “I think they’re going to go further and do more, and maybe the dream that Father Feuerbacher had will come to life.”
Ugandan martyrs
The St. Charles Lwanga Center commissioned local artist William Murphy to create several pieces of artwork featured in the center’s new location at St. Rita Church in Vinita Park.
A three-part wood carving featuring St. Charles Lwanga Center and the Ugandan martyrs is featured in the main gathering space, and another carving of the saint was prominently placed in the entryway.
In his research on the Ugandan martyrs, Murphy said he discovered how courageous they were in giving up their lives for the Christian faith. Charles Lwanga and 21 companions were burned to death in 1886 for refusing to renounce their faith and comply with the corrupt and unchaste demands of King Mwanga of Uganda.
“I was reading their stories and everything about the harsh realities they went through,” said the member of St. Peter Claver Parish. “They were filled with God, even more than the missionaries who instilled them with Christianity. God favored them by empowering them with a tremendous amount of faith.”
