New Catholic couple says ‘God guided us here’ to St. Rose of Lima Parish and School

Widd, left, Elena and Jamie Lewis pose in a recent photo. The couple were welcomed into the full commmunion of the Church at St. Rose of Lima Church in Franklin on April 19. Elena attends the parish’s pre-school. (Submitted photo.)

By Natalie Hoefer

Sometimes we make decisions in life that seem unconnected. Only in retrospect do we see God’s hand at work, leading us to something better than we could have imagined.

Take Widd and Jamie Lewis. From Widd’s reassignment to Edinburgh through the military, to the location of the home they purchased sight unseen, to the non-Catholic couple’s decision to enroll their daughter in pre-kindergarten at St. Rose of Lima School in Franklin—“the whole ride here was a miracle,” says Jamie.

By “here” she means the couple’s embrace of the Catholic faith.

‘It all just kind of worked out’

Widd was stationed in New Jersey about five years ago when the Army reassigned him to Camp Atterbury in Edinburgh.

With no housing at the base, the couple needed to buy a home. Jamie scoured the online Zillow real estate site for homes as far south as Nashville to as far north as Carmel, Ind.

“I narrowed it down to five, and the one we got was in Franklin not far from Camp Atterbury,” she says.

“We bought it blind. Widd had driven around the area in general, but we didn’t see the house in person. We didn’t know what the street or the neighborhood looked like.”

Not long after moving to Franklin, Jamie gave birth to the couple’s daughter Elena, now 4.

“Even before we had Elena, I talked about going back to the Catholic faith,” says Jamie.

Although she was baptized into her mother’s Protestant faith, Jamie’s Catholic father took her and her siblings to Mass at Christmas and Easter.

“As we got older, we stopped going,” says Jamie. “But I really liked the Masses as a kid, and I always had this desire to go back.”

Widd was baptized and raised in the Baptist faith tradition. But he admits he “had a big break where I wasn’t going to church for a long time.”

Having Elena “inspired both of us to start going to church again,” he says. “We wanted to set a good example for her.”

So, when the time came to look for a preschool for Elena, the couple decided to look for one that was faith-based.

“That’s when we ran across St. Rose,” says Widd.

As it turned out, the house he and Jamie “bought blind” was just a mile from St. Rose

of Lima Parish and its pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school.

“It was a good school for Elena,” Widd continues. “The class sizes are smaller, so [the teachers are] able to focus on each kid and their individual needs as well as the whole group. It’s a very tight-knit community.

“And we liked that it was Catholic. I’d been to some Masses before I met Jamie, and I always liked them. It all just kind of worked out.”

In the spring of 2024, the family enrolled Elena to start preschool at St. Rose in the fall.

‘It felt like a reward for all our effort’

Also that spring, the Lewis family started attending Mass at St. Rose of Lima Church.

“The people were really welcoming,” says Jamie. “The greeters sat and talked with us for a while—it was really nice.”

She also says the parish’s pastor, Father Timothy DeCrane, “was a big help, asking if we needed anything. He really made us feel like part of the church community.”

Elena started preschool in August, and Widd and Jamie enrolled in Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA), with classes starting in September. (Related story: New Catholics at St. Rose of Lima cite school as part of draw to the faith)

“I really liked OCIA,” says Jamie. “I felt like I knew the basics of the faith going into it, but OCIA went way deeper, and the Catechism [of the Catholic Church] broke down every topic we talked about. It was just really awesome.”

The couple also started worshiping at “every school Mass we could, almost every Friday,” says Widd. “I like how the older kids mentor the younger kids at the Masses, and Father Tim really engages with the kids and makes it interactive for them.”

“It’s like we were learning with the kids,” Jamie adds with a laugh.

The couple were received into the full communion of the Church during the Easter Vigil Mass at St. Rose on April 19, both receiving the sacraments of confirmation and the Eucharist.

“Receiving the Eucharist was so meaningful and rewarding,” says Widd. “It was the culmination of everything we learned. OCIA is a long process, and looking back to mulling over the idea of needing to get back to church—it felt like a reward for all our effort.”

Jamie agrees “with everything Widd said. Receiving the Eucharist was a blessing, like I was becoming part of something bigger.”

Being a nurse and of Italian descent, she chose St. Catherine of Siena—patron of nurses and of Italy—as her confirmation saint.

Widd chose St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

“That was easy,” he says. “She’s the patron saint of Alaska and aviators. I’m a big aviator fan, and I lived most of my adult life in Alaska. We even went to see her shrine in Juneau,” he says of the family’s recent trip to Alaska.

‘It’s like God guided us here’

Now that Jamie and Widd are Catholic, they are fully embracing their faith.

“It feels so good to finally be part of the Church!” says Jamie. “I’m still just taking it all in and eager to learn more.”

Widd is looking for ways “to continue learning and also to give back, like joining the choir or becoming [an OCIA] sponsor.”

He says he has a prayer life “that was practically non-existent before. And we pray with Elena every night.”

But mostly, says Widd, “I just like going to Mass. It just feels so good being there. It’s so peaceful.”

Looking back, Jamie sees God’s hand in every step of the couple’s faith journey.

“First Widd was stationed here,” she says. “Then we buy a house that happens to be down the road from St. Rose. Then they had a faith-based preschool when we were looking for one for Elena.

“It’s like God guided us here.” †