About St. Francis of Assisi · Greenwood, Mississippi
St. Francis of Assisi Parish is a Roman Catholic mission parish in Greenwood, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta, served by the Franciscan Friars of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province. Founded in 1950 as a mission to the African American community of segregated Greenwood, it is one of the most historically significant Catholic parishes in the state, having been launched by Father Nathaniel Machesky, OFM and closely tied to the Greenwood Movement of the Civil Rights era. The parish sits on Highway 82 East, offers Mass in both English and Spanish, and is listed by the Diocese of Jackson among its parishes. It also operates (or, as of recent reports, recently operated) St. Francis of Assisi School, the Franciscan-founded elementary school that grew out of the mission in 1951.
- Established
- 1950
- Patron
- St. Francis of Assisi
- Rector
- Reverend Hilary Brzezinski, OFM
- Diocese
- Diocese of Jackson (Mississippi)
Why belong here
St. Francis of Assisi is one of the Mississippi Delta's most historically rooted Catholic parishes — a Franciscan mission parish founded in 1950 to serve a community that mainstream churches had overlooked, and the very place where Father Nathaniel Machesky and the lay women of Pax Christi built a school, clinic and outreach network during the Civil Rights era. Today the parish remains bilingual (English and Spanish), celebrates daily morning Mass at 6:15 a.m., offers a Saturday morning confession hour, and gathers for two Sunday Masses — English at 11:00 a.m. and Spanish at 1:30 p.m. — that reflect the changing face of the Greenwood community the Franciscans first came to serve.
Mass times at St. Francis of Assisi
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- Saturday 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Parish Identity and Franciscan Heritage
St. Francis of Assisi is a parish of the Diocese of Jackson served by the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Province, headquartered in Franklin, Wisconsin. The community in Greenwood is one of the friars' longest-running Mississippi missions and the parish takes its name from St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast is celebrated on October 4.
- Diocese: Diocese of Jackson, Mississippi
- Religious order: Franciscan Friars of the Assumption BVM Province
- Patron: St. Francis of Assisi
- Feast day: October 4
- Designated Jubilee Church for the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy (2015–2016)
History: From Blue Moon Café to Civil Rights Mission
St. Francis of Assisi began on December 16, 1950, when Father Nathaniel Machesky, OFM, and Father Bonaventure Bolda, OFM, celebrated the first Mass in a converted juke joint — the old Blue Moon café — on twelve acres east of town. Greenwood in 1950 was rigidly segregated and the parish was created to serve the African American community the city's existing Catholic churches did not. Father Nathaniel, a Detroit-born son of Polish immigrants, walked Greenwood's Black neighborhoods in his brown Franciscan habit recruiting students for a school that did not yet exist.
- December 16, 1950 — first Mass at the converted Blue Moon café
- Founded by Father Nathaniel Machesky, OFM, and Father Bonaventure Bolda, OFM
- Only two Black Catholics in Greenwood at the parish's founding
- First Mass celebrated in a building that had been a nightclub/juke joint
St. Francis of Assisi School
St. Francis School opened on September 4, 1951 with kindergarten through second grade, taught by three Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph from Cleveland, Ohio. Enrollment climbed from 22 to 55 within two weeks, and a new grade was added each year until the school ran through eighth grade. Brother Adrian Kolanczk drove the children to and from classes in a used bus donated by northern benefactors. Three years before Brown v. Board of Education, the school provided African American children in the Delta with an integrated, high-quality Catholic education. By the 2010s the student body had become roughly 30% Hispanic; in 2021 the school and parish together marked 70 years, and in more recent reporting the school closed after more than 70 years of operation due to declining enrollment, financial strain and a sex-abuse scandal.
- Opened September 4, 1951 (K–2)
- Taught by Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph from Garfield Heights/Cleveland, Ohio
- Expanded one grade per year through 8th grade
- Brother Adrian Kolanczk bused students in a donated used bus
- Marked 70th anniversary in October 2021 with bilingual Mass at Leflore Civic Center, Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz presiding
- Student body ~30% Hispanic by the 2010s
The Greenwood Movement and Father Nathaniel Machesky
Father Nathaniel's pastoral work in the trenches of segregation made him the unlikely public leader of the Greenwood Movement, the selective-buying campaign launched in the early 1960s that helped break segregation in Greenwood. The movement boycotted white businesses, won court fights, defeated the incumbent mayor and pressured the city into expanding opportunities for African Americans. His activism alienated some white supporters of the friars' mission, but Father Nathaniel pressed on, and the parish's profile as a center of racial-justice ministry in the Delta is now part of Mississippi's civil rights record.
- Father Nathaniel led the Greenwood Movement selective-buying campaign
- Movement defeated a segregationist mayor and won concessions for African Americans
- Mission and parish became a hub of civil rights organizing in the Delta
Pax Christi and the 'Center Ladies'
In 1951 a white Greenville widow named Kate Foote Jordan — known to everyone as 'Miss Kate' — was received into the Catholic Church at St. Francis of Assisi. In 1952 she founded Pax Christi, a secular institute of religious women, with Father Nathaniel as spiritual director. The 'Center Ladies,' as they were called, wore light blue uniforms, took annual renewable vows of poverty and celibacy, and ran the parish's outreach: a medical clinic and dispensary, a used-clothing store, scout troops, music lessons, and religious instruction at the St. Francis Information Center (originally on Walthall Street, then Avenue I). By the mid-1960s Pax Christi numbered about twenty women, including two African American members.
- Founded 1952 by Kate Foote 'Miss Kate' Jordan
- Spiritual director: Father Nathaniel Machesky, OFM
- Ran the St. Francis Information Center
- Operated a medical clinic and used-clothing store
- Sponsored scout troops, music lessons and religious education
Clergy and Staff
The parish is staffed by the Franciscan Friars of the Assumption BVM Province. The Diocese of Jackson's parish finder lists the current pastor, an associate pastor, and a brother in residence.
- Pastor: Reverend Hilary Brzezinski, OFM
- Associate Pastor: Reverend Aloys Jost, OFM
- In Residence: Brother Craig Wilking, OFM
Anniversaries and Community Milestones
The parish has marked several major anniversaries of the Franciscan presence in Greenwood. In August 2018 the community celebrated 70 years of Franciscans with two Masses (one at Immaculate Heart of Mary, one at St. Francis of Assisi). Three years later, in October 2021, the parish and school held their 70th-anniversary celebration with a bilingual noon Mass at the Leflore Civic Center presided over by Bishop Joseph R. Kopacz, attended by alumni, current families and visiting Franciscan Sisters who had taught at the school.
- 2018 — 70th anniversary of the Franciscan friars in Greenwood
- October 10, 2021 — 70th anniversary bilingual Mass at Leflore Civic Center, Bishop Kopacz presiding
- Alumni and former Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph returned for the celebration
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Father Nathaniel Machesky, OFM (Robert Machesky)1950–onward
Franciscan friar from Detroit who founded the St. Francis of Assisi mission and school; led the Greenwood Movement civil rights campaign.
- Father Kimas of 2021
Pastor around the time of the 70th anniversary celebration; greeted visiting Franciscan Sisters.
- Father Gregformer pastor (before Father Kim)
Former pastor; present at the 2021 anniversary events.
- Reverend Hilary Brzezinski, OFMcurrent
Current pastor per the Diocese of Jackson parish finder.