New Catholic church cherishes its roots

Monday, December 3rd, 2007 at 2:45 pm

Bishop presides at dedication of modern home for traditionally black parish

Etheldreda Guion came to Durham a newlywed in 1963, a Catholic from New Orleans looking for a new parish. She visited Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in downtown Durham, which she learned was for whites.

Black Catholics, they told her, went to Holy Cross, a small stone church across the street from N.C. Central University, which then was known as the N.C. College for Negroes. Guion began attending and soon found that the small church boasted such a devoted following that parishioners refused to let it be closed.

Holy Cross is now the last traditionally black Catholic parish in the Raleigh diocese, which covers the eastern half of the state. But the church’s quaint stone home has been replaced with a modern building of brick and pine a couple of miles south on Alston Street.

The need for a new home was evident Sunday morning, when Bishop Michael Burbidge presided over the new church’s dedication. The 420-seat church holds five times as many people as the old church, and it was standing room only on Sunday.

“All I can say is, it’s just an awesome, awesome sight,” said Guion, a parish council chairwoman, as she waited for the dedication to begin.

The church dedication was Burbidge’s first since he was appointed bishop of the Raleigh Diocese in June 2006.

Holy Cross stayed true to its traditions, with the choir belting out gospel-style renditions of hymns that had parishioners clapping in rhythm. Chuck Davis, who founded an African-American dance group in Durham, dressed in traditional West African mudcloth and pounded a kenkeni drum as he led the congregation into the new church.

Humble origins

Holy Cross’ beginnings trace back to a Christmas Day Mass celebrated at the dental office of Dr. Norman Cordice on South Mangum Street in 1939. A beauty parlor also served as a home for Durham’s few black Catholics until the church opened in 1952.

The parish began scouting for a new location five years ago. By then, NCCU had already purchased most of the old church’s 20-acre site. Guion said council members feared that the university would take the rest under eminent domain if they did not sell it first.

The new church cost about $3.5 million, with roughly a third of the money raised from members and others in the community. Among its features are a stained-glass window above the main entrance that depicts a wide, leafy tree. A large chunk of the old church’s original stone wall serves as the backdrop behind the altar