Local Black Catholics participate at Bishop Lyke Conference, stressing music and community

Timothy Jacquet, foreground, plays piano for a combined choir from Good Shepherd, Our Mother of Mercy, and St. Joseph in Arlington, during the 38th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Diocesan Memorial Mass at Good Shepherd Parish in Colleyville on January 20, 2024. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)

GRAPEVINE — A strong contingent of African American Catholics from the Diocese of Fort Worth heard discussions ranging from Catholic liturgy to music to the many ways to build community at the 2024 Bishop Lyke Conference in Grapevine.

The Lyke Conference is the nation’s premier Black Catholic liturgical event and was held June 18-22 at the Embassy Suites Hotel. The conference theme this year was "Standing in the Need of Prayer – Reclaiming Our Black Catholic Liturgy."

Named after the late liturgist Archbishop James P. Lyke, OFM, the second of the three Black archbishops in U.S. history, the conference was founded in 2004 as a place where attendees can be trained in meeting the liturgical needs of the Black community, the Lyke Foundation said. The foundation sponsors the Lyke Conference, and its mission is to gather those involved in the liturgical practices within the Black Catholic community each year.

Timothy Jacquet, chairman of Apple Community Development Corp., is the former music director at Our Mother of Mercy Parish in Fort Worth, and he presented a pair of talks at the conference.

Jacquet said the history of African Americans in the Catholic Church is one marked in the struggles of segregation.

"They were marginalized at the turn of the century because of segregation," Jacquet said. He said in the early 1900s, they "really weren't welcome at the parishes, not even in the back pews or back of the church. They had to be outside of the church."

The Black communities then began building their own churches, which is what occurred in his home parish in Houston.

"They actually built a church. Many of them worked for construction companies or the railroads, and they took the old boxcars and took the wood from the boxcars" and built churches, Jacquet said.

Now, the faithful are intentionally working to build a lasting place within the Catholic Church for all.

Donna Renay Patrick, a speaker, author, and current music director at Our Mother of Mercy, attended the conference "to learn more about the Catholic Church style of worship and how I can better serve this community of believers in my capacity as music director."

She said there is a uniqueness to African American Catholic churches.

"This conference is not typical of the average Catholic church. All Catholic churches do not have to be quiet as a church mouse," she said. "The Bible says make a joyful noise, make His praise glorious, make His praise to be heard. The Lyke Conference was full of this type of worship experience."

Patrick said the experience was well worth her time.

"This was my first time attending, and it was one of the best investments of time I've ever made. Others may be surprised by the breaking away from 'traditionalistic church.' They show you how it's done."

Jacquet, in his talk “Filling the Pews: Strategies in Growing Your Congregation,” broached the subject of how to transform a parish into a "vibrant and welcoming community" that thrives through heartfelt connections and exponential growth. He discussed ways to unlock the potential of the times during the year when churches attract the most parishioners and visitors. He talked about those moments as times to foster a culture of genuine hospitality.

In his presentation “Growing Your Parish Collection: God Loves a Cheerful Giver,” Jacquet presented ways to increase the offertory to enable parishes to continue administering the pastoral care and sacramental life of the Church — teaching, sanctifying, evangelizing, and ministering to the needs of the faithful. He discussed how to strengthen parish offertory to bolster ministerial resources and stewardship of the parish and, by extension, the hearts of the parishioners and community outreach.

Jacquet said the needs of the Black Catholic churches are similar to, but in many ways different, from other churches.

“The importance of an event like this conference is mostly it's a liturgical/music conference,” Jacquet said. “Evangelization is really specifically dealing with issues of churches in the African American community. Like many others that have a different need, most of them are smaller churches.”