St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church in Robstown, Nueces County. In the early twentieth century, German and Moravian families were migrating into the Robstown area to farm.

Among them were Czech-speaking Catholics, and they had a problem. A real problem. There was simply nowhere in the area that could offer them spiritual services in their native language.

Father Joseph Klobouk was serving as pastor of St. Boniface Parish over in Corpus Christi, but for many years, worship services had to be held in a local home or in communities nearby. Think about that.

A congregation of faithful people, passing around the collection plate in somebody's parlor, year after year, just to hear the Word spoken in the tongue they knew. Now, that kind of patience is its own kind of devotion. Then came 1924, and with it, a turn of fortune.

A former Methodist church building sitting at East Avenue B and Second Street was purchased, finally giving Slavic Catholics a place to call their own. They named it after St. John Nepomucene, a saint well beloved among Czech-speaking Catholics, and it became a mission of St.

Boniface Parish. Various priests served the congregation over the next decade, and then in 1934, a newly-ordained priest named Father George Steven Scecina was appointed the first resident pastor of St. John's.

He was also named pastor of St. Frances of Rome Mission Parish in nearby Agua Dulce, where he served from 1934 to 1961. And Father Scecina, well, he was not going anywhere.

He would remain pastor of St. John's for forty-nine years. Forty-nine.

In 1937, a new church was built and furnished right on this site, costing seventeen thousand, five hundred four dollars and thirty-nine cents. Now someone kept very careful books. A rectory was added the very next year.

Father Scecina kept building. In 1945 he had a convent and school constructed near the church, staffed by nuns who came all the way from Indiana. The school grew steadily, and by 1951, St.

John's was teaching classes from elementary school straight through high school. In 1955, the first senior class walked across that stage, all thirteen of them. Before the high school closed its doors in 1970, more than three hundred and twenty students had graduated from those halls.

Grades one through eight continued on at the original site until 1986. Father Scecina had shepherded this congregation from a borrowed parlor to a full parish school, and he lived to see it all. He died in 1988.

St. John's church continues to serve the Robstown area to this day, a community built one purchase, one building, one graduating class at a time.

What the marker says

In early twentieth century Robstown, German and Moravian families migrated to this area to farm. Czech-speaking Catholics could not find any places of worship that could provide spiritual services in their native language. Father Joseph Klobouk served as the pastor of St. Boniface Parish in Corpus Christi, but for many years worship services were held in a local home or in nearby communities. A former Methodist church building on East Avenue B and Second Street was purchased in 1924, finally giving Slavic Catholics their own place of worship. It was named after St. John Nepomucene, a popular saint among Czech-speaking Catholics. It became a mission of St. Boniface Parish. Various priests served over the next decade, until 1934 when newly-ordained Father George Steven Scecina was appointed the first resident pastor of St. John's as well as pastor of St. Frances of Rome Mission Parish in nearby Agua Dulce (where he served from 1934 to 1961). Father Scecina would remain pastor of St. John's for the next 49 years. A new church was built and furnished on this site in 1937 for $17,504.39, with a rectory added the next year. Father Scecina had a convent and school built near the church in 1945, staffed by nuns from Indiana. By 1951, St. John's taught classes from elementary school to high school, graduating its first senior class of thirteen students in 1955. More than 320 students graduated from high school before it closed its doors in 1970. Grades one through eight continued to be taught at the original site until 1986. Father Scecina died in 1988. St. John's church continues to serve the Robstown area.