One Parishioner’s Memories from Both St. Luke’s Groundbreakings
For longtime parishioner Melissa Thibodeaux, being present at both of St. Luke’s Church groundbreakings, the first in the 1960s and the second in 2025, has been a deeply meaningful reminder of how faith endures through generations.
“I don’t remember so much about the first groundbreaking except that it was very, very exciting and my family was there,” she recalled. “My mom sang in the choir, so I’m sure she was there in her robe, and my brother, sister, and I were with my dad.” At that time, the family lived in Broadmoor, and she remembers traveling down Airline Highway to Old Hammond Highway to reach the church on Jefferson Highway, a drive that marked the beginning of what would become a lifelong relationship with St. Luke’s.
Though she and her siblings don’t recall many specific details from that first groundbreaking, her memories of growing up at St. Luke’s remain vivid. “When the church was first finished, we used one of the old buildings for the parish hall,” she said. “I sang in the children’s choir with Dr. Dart, and during Lent we would perform for the Lenten suppers in that parish hall. I still remember some of the songs we sang.”
Her connection to St. Luke’s deepened over the years. She began her first teaching job at St. Luke’s in 1977, married there in 1986 with her reception in Pope Hall, and celebrated her daughter’s baptism there the following year. When her parents died, Bishop Jenkins preached at their funerals, and their ashes were placed in the Columbarium, another thread binding her family to the church community.
“I’ve seen St. Luke’s grow and expand all along the way,” she said. “When I came back to teach again in 2002, I was there when the last two original buildings were torn down for construction of the new offices.”
When the devastating fire struck in 2024, she was visiting her daughter in Birmingham. “I couldn’t believe it. I cried,” she remembered. “While I don’t recall much about that first groundbreaking day, I have so many memories of growing up there.”
Returning for the second groundbreaking, she reflected on all those years of worship, work and growth. “I thought about growing up there, about how much the landscape has changed since that first groundbreaking, and how glad I was to be there.”
As construction begins on the new church, her hope remains grounded in faith and community. “I hope the new church will be completed in a timely manner and that it will bring in many new members, especially young families with children. I’ll be excited to worship there when it’s completed.”