James P Lyke was fist
assigned to St Thomas
Catholic Church in Memphis,
TN,where he participated in
the marches for garbage
workers led by civil rights
leader Dr Martin L King Jr.
At that time, he was pastor
in a controversial matter
in which St Thomas parish
was being merged with a
black parish of the city,
St Augustine Catholic Church, where he was affectionately called Father Jim. After white
flight, St Thomas became
a predominately black parish and was named by
Ebony Magazine among the
prestigious black churches
in Memphis.
