WITH THE OPENING of Lake Pontchartrain Causeway’s second span in 1969, following completion of the original span in 1956, the population of the Northshore began to swell. And Covington’s Christ Episcopal Church was growing as well. The original chapel, built in 1846, now sits beside the larger main church, established in 1967 to accommodate an ever-increasing number of parishioners. Further expansion continued with the addition of Parish Hall. Later, mission-related expansion began with the establishment of Christ Episcopal School in 1984, “fulfilling our mission from God as a minister to the young,” as stated by the Reverend L. Stephen Holtzhalb III, then rector of the church. In 1991, Father Steve, with the support of the Christ Church vestry, announced to the congregation and the world that, “with the aging of America, and of St. Tammany Parish, we must step forward now to fulfill our mission from God as a ministry to the elderly.” Soon after that, Father Steve and Jack Lohman, a vestry member with a keen interest in establishing the thoroughbred industry in St. Tammany Parish and an equally strong interest in creating a continuing care facility for the elderly, began researching and visiting communities that had adopted the intergenerational model of ministry, involving education and guidance for the young and care and comfort for the elderly, delivered in contiguous facilities. “We were particularly interested in such a model in Bucks County, Pennsylvania,” Father Steve recalls. “We learned quite a bit from that visit.” There were many site visits, amidst ongoing research and discussions of possible locations for a continuing care facility, all, as a friend put it, “on their own dime.” Eventually the efforts of this dedicated pair created an undeniable momentum. And public attention began to focus on the need they espoused. The following item appeared in the New Orleans Times-Picayune on April 11, 1991: “By now it is hardly a secret that St. Tammany Parish is high on national lists as a preferred location for retirees. A recent issue of USA Today again ranks St. Tammany as one of the better places in the nation for retirement.” In June of 1991, the Christ Episcopal Church
A Story of Perseverance and Faith
Christwood Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary vestry adopted the name Christwood and established a corporation as the sole owner of the community. The first board of Christwood included John Lohman, executive director; the Rev L. Stephen Holzhalb, president; Pamela D. Freeman, vice president; Virginia H. Carlson, secretary; Harbert G. Gregory, treasurer; Elton Arceneaux, Anita G. Barfield, Ann M. Butts, Ronald Cambre, Claude Duet, Judge Frederick S. Ellis, Thom Franklin, M.D., Suzanne Graham, Gerald Heep, John R. Mayer, Ralph Menetre Jr., Lucy Rausch, Russell Rudolph, Clinton W. Shinn, Esq., and Raymond Tremont. Many long-standing St. Tammany residents will recognize more than a few of those names. The vestry also authorized a $100,000 mortgage of Christ Church to initiate the fundraising efforts that would follow. In a letter to parishioners and the public, Father May-June 2021 89
