glenmary challenge

t h e m a g a z i n e o f C at h o l i C m i s s i o n e r s t o r u r a l a m e r i C a

Summe r 2012 www.g l e nma r y. o r g

Remembering Father James Patrick Kelly

Tennessee Catholics Led by the Spirit

Coming together to establish first-ever mission communities

Reaching Out to the Imprisoned

2 G l e n m a r y C h a l l e n g e S u m m e r 2 0 1 2 w w w. g l e n m a r y. o rgDONATE NOW

FROM THE EDITOR / Jean Bach

Continuing the founder’s vision

Jean [email protected]

Publisher: Father Chet ArtysiewiczEditor: Jean Bach

Assistant Editor: Dale HansonArt Director: Tricia Sarvak

Staff Writers: Margaret Gabriel, Father John S. Rausch

Planning-Review Board: Father Bob Dalton, Father Dominic Duggins,

Father Gus Guppenberger, Brother Curt Kedley, Patrick McEntee, Kathy O’Brien, Father John S. Rausch

GlEnMaRy HOME MIssIOnERs

GlEnMaRy CHallEnGEThis quarterly magazine has three goals: to educate Catholics about the U.S. home missions, to motivate young men to consider Glenmary priesthood or brother-hood, and to invite all Catholics to respond to their bap-tismal call to be missionary by partnering with Glenmary as financial contributors, prayer partners, professional coworkers and/or volunteers.

Glenmary Challenge is sent to all donors, to U.S. diocesan clergy and to anyone who requests it. (To begin receiving issues, use the contact information below.)

Father William Howard Bishop Glenmary Founder

Founded by Father William Howard Bishop in 1939, this Catholic society of priests and brothers, along with numerous coworkers, establishes the Catholic Church in small-town and rural America. Glenmary is the

only religious community devoted exclusively to serving the spiritually and materially poor in the rural U.S. home mis-sions. Today, supported entirely through freewill offerings, it staffs over 40 missions and ministries in Appalachia, the South and the Southwest.

Glenmary missioners serve in areas where less than three per-cent of the population is Catholic, a significant percentage have no church affiliation and the poverty rate is almost twice the national average. Glenmary is known for deeply respecting the many cul-tures encountered in the home missions—Appalachian, Native American, African American and Latino among oth-ers. Its missionary activity includes building Catholic com-munities, fostering ecumenical cooperation, evangelizing the unchurched, social outreach and working for justice.

GlEnmARy HomE miSSionERSP.O. Box 465618 • Cincinnati, OH 45246-5618513-874-8900 • 800-935-0975www.glenmary.org • [email protected]

© 2012, Glenmary Home Missioners. Reprint permission granted upon request.

Father James Patrick Kelly died on March 22 at the age of 95. In the remembrance of Fa-

ther Kelly found on page 14, Lucy Putnam uses a quote from Father Frank Ruff to illustrate Father Kelly’s impact on the society he loved. Upon learning of Father Kelly’s death, Father Frank simply said, “He was living history.”

Father Kelly served as personal secretary to Glenmary’s founder, Father William Howard Bishop, and was involved in some of the earli-est decisions about where and how Glenmary priests and brothers would serve the home mis-sions.

It’s significant that Father Kelly lived to see the beginning of the three new missions in East Tennessee —two of which are profiled in our

cover story starting on page 9.Father Kelly was a fairly fre-

quent visitor to my office. During a conversation I had with him last summer, I asked his opinion about Glenmary’s plan to estab-lish missions in Union, Grainger and Unicoi counties.

He smiled and said he was very excited. He saw these new missions as a reaffirmation of Glenmary’s missionary aposto-late and a rededication to Father Bishop’s vision of having a Cath-

olic Church presence in every U.S. county. “I think Father Bishop would approve,” he said.

I think Father Bishop, who used maps to il-lustrate home mission need, would also

approve of Glenmary’s association with the 2010 “Religious Congregations & Member-ship Study” (see story on page 7). As the wall map shows, there’s still much work to be done in carrying out Father Bishop’s vision. Thank goodness Glenmary had Father Kelly for all these years as a living reminder of what that vision was all about!

abOuT THE COvER: Brother Craig Digmann (left) visits weekly with Clyde, a resident of Grainger County. Clyde is teaching Brother Craig about East Tennessee. And Brother Craig is helping Clyde achieve a personal goal: read-ing the 1611 version of the King James Bible.

READERS’ ViEWS WElcomE! Send comments to: Editor, Glen-mary Challenge, P.O. Box 465618, Cincinnati, OH 45246 or to challenge@ glenmary.org. Please include a postal address.

3S u m m e r 2 0 1 2 G l e n m a r y C h a l l e n g ew w w. g l e n m a r y. o rg DONATE NOW

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The spirit leads, Missions Come Together Ten months ago, there was no Catholic Church presence in Ten-nessee’s Union and Grainger counties. Today, there’s not only a presence, but three missioners and two growing congregations.

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‘I Was in Prison...you visited Me’The prison ministry effort in Waldron, Ark., is impact-ing lives and offering the Church’s gift of forgiveness.

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141719 Online Contents

More information on RCMS 2010, blogging Glenmar-ians, online giving option and much more.

Partner in MissionRuth Crosthwait gives thanks for Glenmary and for knowing what it’s like to attend Mass every Sunday.

RemembranceWith the death of Father James Patrick Kelly, Glenmary has lost a connection with its founder, Father Bishop.

Then & nowThere are many things a new mission community needs, including a place to gather!

Glenmary news & notesGlenmary staff attend religious education congress, adopters honored, new religion survey released.

From the President / Father Chet ArtysiewiczNew missionary priests’ feet will hit the ground running as they share the Good News in the home missions.

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Father Kelly, Page 14

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Vo l u m e 7 5 / N u m b e r 2

COvER Story

FEaTuRE Story

DEPaRTMEnTs & columNSPrison ministry, Page 15

Religion survey, Page 7

Humble starts, Page 12

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Times of transition enable Glenmary missioners to continue sharing the Good News

FROM THE PREsIDEnT / Father Chet Artysiewicz

Beautiful missionary feet

as spring blends into summer, it’s a time when we experience transitions—not only climatically but also personally,

as we celebrate graduations, weddings and maybe even ordinations. These moments rep-resent transitions in our lives that send us in new directions.

Fathers Cris Adongo and Aaron Wessman experienced such a transition on May 26, 2012, when they were ordained by Bishop William Medley to the service of the Church. Their ordinations ended a long drought for Glenmary—the last priestly ordination we celebrated was in 1999. And are we ever glad the drought is over!

But our excitement is not just because the dry spell has been broken. Rather, we rejoice

because, through the ministry of these young men, more people will have a chance to hear the Good News.

St. Paul writes in Romans 10:14-15: “But how can they call on him in whom they have not be-lieved? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent?” Paul concludes by

quoting from Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring (the) good news!”

If the Depression motto was “Brother, can you spare a dime?” today’s refrain could be “Brother, can you tell me any good news?” The mission Glenmary undertakes is precisely that—sharing the Good News, the Gospel.

During my first year as Glenmary’s presi-dent, I have had an opportunity to visit the areas and the people we serve. A

recurring message I have heard during these visits is, “Thank you for these men and wom-en who minister to us, who walk with us, who care about us.”

One woman, knowing that her parish was ready to be returned to the care of the diocese, remarked, “We know it’s time for Glenmary to leave; we just want to thank you for sending

Father Chet Artysiewicz [email protected]

us this priest.” In a different region I heard, “These women have instilled in us a ‘Yes we can!’ spirit.” In still another re-gion, a family expressed grati-tude for an access ramp that a Glenmary brother built at a local food pantry. And a woman far from her homeland was emo-tional as she talked about her pastor: “He has been for us the father we don’t have here.”

When the feet of Father Cris and Father Aaron hit the ground, there is no question in my mind that they will evoke similar ex-pressions of appreciation as they join their Glenmary confreres and coworkers serving those in small-town and rural America.

Perhaps beyond the specifics of whether Glenmary priests, brothers and coworkers listen to problems, visit hospitals, celebrate baptisms, help build houses or are voices for truth and fair-ness—the overriding reality is simply that those we serve feel “somebody cares about us.”

Glenmary’s charism is not about staff-ing mission churches forever. Rather, our parochial ministry is to gather the

people and form community. When a mission parish reaches maturity, it is returned to the pastoral care of the local diocesan clergy, and the Glenmary missioners and coworkers move on to the next mission areas.

One of my predecessors eloquently de-scribed our missionary charism in this way: “Glenmary goes where it is needed but not wanted and stays until it is wanted but not needed.”

This summer will, indeed, be a time of transition for numerous Glenmarians and coworkers as missions are returned

to the care of their dioceses and our dedicated missioners move on to new apostolates. Your prayers for this process are appreciated.

Thank you for your support as you enable our missioners’ “feet” to bring the Good News to those we serve!

‘Glenmary goes where it is needed but not wanted and stays until it is wanted but not needed.’


p r o m o T i o n

Glenmary staff attend religious ed congressPresence brings awareness, education to wider audience

sPREaDInG THE HOME MIssIOn MEssaGE: Fa-ther Vic Subb talks to one of the 39,000 people who attended the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, Calif., March 23-25. Thou-sands of attendees visited the Glenmary booth staffed by six missioners and coworkers.

[california] Six Glen-mary missioners and coworkers were among the 39,000-plus people who attended the annual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress held March 23-25.

The Glenmary person-nel—Brother David Hen-ley, Pat McEntee, Father Vic Subb, Father Neil Pez zulo, Allison Bar-rett and Tricia Sarvak—staffed the information booth, talked with pas-sersby about mission-ary vocations and Glen-mary’s mission education materials, and answered general questions about the society’s home mis-sion ministry.

“Glenmary’s presence at the congress was very valuable,” says Father Neil, Glenmary’s first vice president.

“We were able to share our home mission charism of serving the South and Appalachia with those on the West Coast. And I think we were able to help expand their understanding of mission and give them

Glenmary news & notes

an awareness of mission areas in other parts of the United States.”

This was the third year that Glenmary has participated in the event sponsored by the Office of Religious Education of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

In the past, Broth-er David and Pat have staffed the booth as a vo-

cation outreach. Pat says in the previous two years they were overwhelmed by the large number of people who stopped by the Glenmary booth.

With representatives from the vocation, devel-opment and communica-tions departments pres-ent, the Glenmary team was better able to share the society’s mission and

ministry with the diverse audience.

“It worked out really well,” Pat says. “Brother David and I focused on those interested in pos-sible vocation opportuni-ties, while others talked about our mission edu-cation materials or an-swered any other ques-tions.”

The Glenmary contin-gent met some Glenmary donors as well as a “hand-ful” of people who knew of Glenmary. But the ma-jority of the visitors to the booth were unfamiliar with the society.

More often than not, it was the displayed map depicting major religious congregations in the United States that drew people to the booth. “It was a great conversation starter,” says Tricia Sar-vak of the communica-tions office.

A raffle gave those who visited the booth an op-portunity to win a col-lection of miscellaneous items from Glenmary missions, including pea-nuts from Bertie County, N.C., and note cards fea-turing the art of Glenmary Father Bruce Brylinski.

“Both the vocation office and the mission education office have fol-lowed up with those who entered the raffle,” says Al-lison Barrett, coordinator of mission education. “It’s been a great way to make connections with people we would have otherwise never met.”

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[mississippi] Summarizing the message conveyed on the plaques given by the members of Glenmary’s former missions in Eupora and Ackerman, Miss., to the Iowa and Michigan par-ishes that have adopted them for over a decade is very simple: Thank you for loving us.

“We really just wanted to let them know how much it has meant to us to be connected with them,” says Sister Alies Thérèse, the former pastoral co-ordinator of St. John Neumann

A D o p T - A - m i s s i o n

Iowa, Michigan adopters honoredFormer missions deliver simple message: Thanks for loving us

(Eupora) and St. Mark (Acker-man). St. John was returned to the pastoral care of the Diocese of Jackson in February 2012 and St. Mark was turned back in May 2011.

The parishes honored were St. Joseph the Worker in Dubuque, Iowa, and Blessed Sacrament in Midland, Mich.

The parishes adopted the respective missions through Glenmary’s Adopt-A-Mission (AAM) program, which matches established parishes throughout

the country with Glenmary mis-sions.

Sister Alies says part of what she tried to do with the leaders of the two adopting churches was to show that the mission communi-ties didn’t just want to receive.

“We shared back and forth,” she says. “Their people got a sense of mission and our people got a sense of connecting with the larger Church.”

In addition to helping finan-cially, members of the adopting parishes visited Eupora and Ack-erman and Sister Alies visited Iowa and Michigan, which helped the relationships grow. The Iowa parish also did “whatever was needed” to make sure the annual summer program for youth in Eupora happened for the last five years. And, once the Ackerman mission was returned last year, the Michigan parish switched its support to the Eupora mission.

“That’s the great thing about this program,” Sister Alies says. “It can be anything from a basic com-mitment of financial assistance to as much involvement as a parish wants.

“Both parishes were tremen-dous to us,” she says. “Their finan-cial and prayer support helped impact lives.”

THanKs: Sandy Radke of St. Joseph the Worker Church re-ceived the parish’s plaque in person at the February closing Mass for St. John Neumann. Joining her are Bishop Joseph Latino of the Diocese of Jack-son (left) and Glenmary Father Bob Dalton.

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All information is strictly confidential. This information is not legal advice. A future donor should seek the guidance of a qualified estate and/or tax professional to understand the consequences of a gift. Glenmary gift annuities are not issued in Alabama or Hawaii.

For a no-obligation, sample calculation contact: Susan Lambert, Planned Giving Officer • 800.935.0975 • [email protected]

A Glenmary Gift Annuity yields the same fruit,

year after year!

Your Gift AnnuitY Benefits include:

• Guaranteed income for you or for you and a loved one (minimum age 55)

• Partial tax-free payments over life expectancy

• Fixed rate of return

• Income tax deduction at time of gift

• Capital gains tax savings for an annuity funded with appreciated securities

• Membership in the Father Bishop Legacy SocietyAnd, most of all, through your legacy gift, you will be part-nering with Glenmary in our home mission ministry!


G l E n m A r y r E s E A r C h C E n T E r

‘Religious Congregations & Membership Study’ releasedData collected on Catholics in the United States shows shift in U.S. Catholic population

[chicago]According to the data collected for the 2010 “Religious Congregations & Membership Study” (RCMS), the Catholic population in the United States continues to shift from the historically Catholic Northeast to the urban areas of the West and South.

The rural South, the loca-tion of the majority of Glen-mary missions, continues to be the least Catholic region in the country.

The 2010 RCMS, a county-by-county enumeration of re-ligious bodies in the United States, is the latest in a series of every-10-year studies conduct-

RElIGIOus FaMIlIEs MaP: The Glenmary Research Center (GRC) is distributing this wall map, similar to the one produced in 2000, that depicts the major religious families in the United States. The Catholic population (shown in the dark blue) of 58.9 million is three times that of the second-largest religious body, the Southern Baptist Convention (shown in the dark pink). The 28-by-38-inch map can be obtained by contacting the GRC.

ed at the same time as the U.S. census. The study was released on May 1 in Chicago.

The Glenmary Research Center (GRC), which served as publisher of the previous four studies, continued to fund the collection of the Catholic data.

In addition to showing a shift in the Catholic population in the Northeast, the Catholic data also indicates, on the surface, a 5 percent decrease in the overall U.S. Catholic population since the 2000 study.

Cliff Grammich, who col-lected the Catholic data for the GRC, says it’s difficult to draw absolute conclusions when

comparing the two studies be-cause the methodology used to gather data for the 2010 study differed from the 2000 study.

The data for the 2010 study was gathered directly from all U.S. parishes and missions, giv-ing what Grammich terms “a more realistic and accurate pic-ture of Catholics who are recog-nized and affiliated with specific church communities.”

MORE InFORMaTIOn: read more about the rCms 2010 and the Catholic findings by visiting www.glenmary.org/rcms2010. Contact the GrC at 800-935-0975 or [email protected].

glenmary news& notes c o n t i n u e d


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Grass-roots initiative promotes Christian understandingWomen of Glenmary’s Scottsville, Ky., mission take active role in cooperative effort

ExTEnDED FaMIly: Brother David Henley (above) served as translator for a new mother during a checkup for her baby, Wilson, at a Beaver Dam, Ky., doctor’s office in 2006. Now Glenmary’s vocation director, he revisited the family in March 2012 and met the now five-year-old Wilson (inset). Ties Glenmar-ians and coworkers make with those they serve are strong, Brother David says. “We all have very large extended families!”

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[kentucky] The Women of Faith initiative in Scottsville, Ky., started in 2009 as a grass-roots, ecumenical effort to bring together women’s groups from local Christian churches.

The goal, says Del Hall of Glenmary’s Scottsville mission, has been to gather periodically to talk and pray about their shared Christian values and ways they can act on those values.

Del, an organizer of the Cath-olic mission’s group involved in

Women of Faith, says the wom-en’s missionary group at the First Baptist Church initiated the idea and invited other con-gregations to participate.

“All the local churches have women’s missionary groups,” says Del. “The plan was to get us together to communicate be-cause of our common Christian faith. The groups have taken turns hosting meetings, and it’s been a very good, interesting, laid-back experience.

“We talk about our basic Christian beliefs and the im-portance of God in our lives. We also pray and discuss how we can put our faith into action.” The host church is responsible for the program, food and pub-licity. And a social activity—games, for example—is often part of the meeting.

Father Dennis Holly, pas-tor of Christ the King mission in Scottsville, says this effort is unique because “it’s not orga-nized by the local ministers and it involves church members get-ting together on their own for this ecumenical purpose.”

Women from Catholic, Bap-tist (two congregations) and Methodist churches have all participated. Del says that at one early meeting the women “created a prayer intention list for our local area. We all took the list back to our churches for continued prayer.”

Later, the Catholic women sponsored Glenmary Father Frank Ruff as the speaker dur-ing the 2011 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. The next group invited a Methodist Episcopal pastor to speak on a related theme. This group also orga-nized a collection of shoes for the people of Haiti.

In addition, the Women of Faith have assisted with local ecumenical worship services.

Father Dennis thinks this ef-fort can have a beneficial spill-over effect on other community members, too. And Del adds, “I think that it’s helped bring peo-ple in our area together and has increased our understanding of one another.”


COvER Story

The Spirit is at work in two of Glenmary’s newest missions, bringing local folks together and leading them as they establish the first-ever Catholic communities in Union and Grainger counties in East Tennessee.

Story and Photos by Dale Hanson

MulTIPuRPOsE usE: The storefront church buildings serve as the gathering spaces for Masses, social events and classes. Father Steve Pawelk (top) greets members of the May-nardville mission following a Sunday Mass, and catechists lead religious education classes in the Rutledge storefront.

TogeTherc o m i n g

god was busy here before we were,” says Glen-mary Father Steve Pawelk, in reflecting on what’s happened in Union and Grainger counties in East Tennessee since Aug. 12, 2011. That day, he and Brother Craig Dig-mann drove into the Union County seat of

Maynardville to establish the first-ever Catholic presence in these counties. Brother Joe Steen arrived in September to complete the mission team.

“Brother Craig and I came with a folding ta-ble and chairs, sleeping bags, air mattresses and some personal belongings,” Father Steve says.

But soon, two Glenmary storefront missions had sprouted up in these rural Appalachian counties, where fewer than 1 percent of the popu-lation are Catholic and over 18 percent live below the national poverty level.

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta mission in May-nardville (Union County) and Blessed John Paul II mission in Rutledge (Grainger County)


have become gathering places for two very grate-ful, enthusiastic, involved Catholic communities that didn’t exist 10 months ago.

“Our being here was part of God’s plan,” Father Steve says. “The people like to give credit to me, Brother Craig and Brother Joe. But what’s been hap-pening here is because of the people’s faith and the Holy Spirit working in their lives. My greatest prayer is to stay out of the way of the Spirit.”

Father Steve and Brother Craig held organizational meetings for Catholics in both counties soon after they arrived. “Many said our arrival was the answer to years of prayers,” Father Steve says. “Several people were near crying tears of joy.”

Local folks are still learning about Catholics. Be-fore the missions started, many didn’t know there were Catholics in the counties other than Latino Catholics in Grainger County. While some people have been less than welcoming, the majority—in-cluding some ministers and congregations in both

counties as well as Union County’s mayor and Cham-ber of Commerce—have befriended the new Catholic communities.

During the early days in Union County, the mis-sioners held two BYOC (“Bring Your Own Chair”) Masses in their rental home’s carport. The Catho-lic congregation also used the worship space at the local Methodist church on several Sundays. And in Grainger County, monthly Spanish Masses were cel-ebrated at the agricultural building.

In late September, a storefront in Maynardville (a former storage shed and hot dog stand) was rented to serve as the mission’s first church home. Brother Joe, using his extensive construction experience, led the

renovation with help from many mission members. Then on All Saints Day (Nov. 1), members of the

Maynardville mission community celebrated the first Mass in their newly finished space and a second storefront was rented in Rutledge.

A few days later, with much renovation to come, members of the Rutledge congregation cleaned their new space and gathered for the first time for weekend Masses.

Janet Thrower, a lifelong Catholic and member of the Rutledge community, says she feels “more holi-ness in this [storefront] building than any other church.”

Today, each growing community celebrates two weekend Masses. In Union County, about 50 people attend English Mass and 40 attend Span-ish Mass; in Grainger County, about 25 people at-tend English Mass and 80 attend Spanish Mass. And each mission has a midweek bilingual Mass

that has helped unify the people. To attend Mass in the past, these Catholics had to drive 35-75 minutes, one way, to churches in neighboring counties.

Father Steve and the Rutledge mission community are also exploring how they can best serve the Span-ish-speaking migrant workers employed each year, May through August, at Grainger County tomato farms. An additional mission Mass could be added during those months to accommodate the increased number of Catholics.

Faith formation programs for youth and adults are also thriving in both missions. “The desire for the sacra-ments is over-w h e l m i n g ,” Father Steve s ay s . A n d the Knox-ville diocese has provided “ w o n d e r f u l support,” in-cluding on-site teacher training to help mem-bers of the C a t h o l i c communities become cat-echists.

M i c h a e l C a tt a f i , a M a y n a r d -ville mission member, says, “It’s great to be a real part

MIssIOn TEaM: Father Steve Pawelk, Brother Craig Digmann and Brother Joe Steen (from left) take a team approach to their ministry in Union and Grainger counties. They gather together three times a day for prayer, a practice they say has helped reap many blessings for them and their ministries.

HElPInG HanDs: Brother Joe, us-ing his construction skills, remod-eled the two storefront buildings and has now turned his attention to helping local residents in need with building projects like this deck.


of this church and help it start from nothing and flourish.”

T he Glenmarians say they take a team approach to their ministry. “We live together, pray together three times daily and discuss our experiences. Our prayer is the root of our blessings,” says Fa-ther Steve. All three have been actively involved in ministries and outreach in both mission counties.

“We support one another and keep each other fo-cused,” Brother Joe adds. With major worship-space renovations almost complete, he’s now doing more outreach in the larger community—starting with construction of a deck for a wheelchair-bound local resident. “Brother Joe has done great work, and he brings joy wherever he goes,” Father Steve says.

He describes Brother Craig’s outreach as “phenom-enal,”—especially his home visitations to Catholics and non-Catholics. Brother Craig also visits senior centers, nursing homes, a local high school and more. “I like to walk with people in their struggles and offer hope,” he says. “Being part of this team establishing new missions is like a dream come true for me.”

The team’s ecumenical activities include praying regularly with ministers in both counties, as well as praying monthly with Union County ministers and community members to help end substance abuse and other social problems in the county. “We’re all looking at the counties and doing our best to discern what God wants us to do,” Father Steve says.

The presence of these two mission communities is impacting the lives of many local residents. For instance, during Christmas Mass at the May-nardville mission last year, 81-year-old John Stefanski received first Communion and confir-mation.

“I was baptized and raised Catholic, but I never received the other sacraments and hadn’t gone to church in a long time,” he says. “I thought it was too

late, but Father Steve said I could take classes with him. Now I even play harmonica in the music minis-try—so I feel like I’m helping the mission get going, too. I feel good about being Catholic.”

For Sara Armistead, who has multiple sclerosis and is partially homebound, the Rutledge mission is an an-swer to her prayers. A convert, she was welcomed into the Church on Easter 2012 when she received her first Communion and confirmation. But she actually started studying the Catholic faith independently three years ago and began praying, “Please, God, send me a church.”

She describes the mission community as “a loving family,” and says “the Glenmarians bring such joy. On Easter, my daughter said she’d never seen me so happy.”

major goals for a mission’s first year, according to Father Steve, are for people to feel at home and needed—and to be active in ministry and fellowship. And that’s happening in both counties. “Our mission members seem genu-inely happy to be here, to be involved and to

take on more responsibility.”Looking to the future, the missions “need to find

more ways to be yeast in the larger community,” he says. Members of the Grainger County mission cur-rently help with quarterly government food distri-bution to people in need. In Union County, involved Catholics from Boy Scouts to civic event organizers are now being identified in the local newspaper as Maynardville mission members. “We’ll just keep praying and looking for ways to reach out to others.”

Maira Creech, a member of the Maynardville mis-sion, offers her own simple, heartfelt prayer about her new Catholic community: “Thank you, Lord, for Glen-mary.”

sTOREFROnTs: Soon after the Glenmary team ar-rived in the mission counties, two storefront build-ings were rented to serve as the first church homes for the Catholic communities that didn’t exist 10 months ago.

unIFyInG: Father Steve celebrates a midweek bilingual Mass in each of the two missions. These Masses bring together the English- and Spanish-speaking Catholic communities.

TO lEaRn MORE: Follow Father steve’s blog at www.glenmary.org/blogs.


Restaurants, funeral parlors and homes serve as worship spaces

THEn & NoW

Humble beginnings

W hen a Glenmary missioner calls together a Catholic community in a county where none has existed

before, one of the tasks involved is finding somewhere for the community to gather. In a rural county, it can be difficult to find a place that is available, affordable and large enough to hold liturgical celebrations, re-ligious education classes and other events.

Until a permanent space can be found, a temporary space is often used, such as a community center, funeral home, hotel dining room, empty storefront or even a shelterhouse at a local park. Where a com-munity begins isn’t important, though. What’s important is that it begins to set down roots from which to grow. In the past seven decades, Glenmary missioners have tended the roots of over 110 mission communities, some of which came from the humblest of beginnings.

1954: A former diner in Blue Creek, Ohio, served as the Catholic chapel in Adams County. The Glen-mary priests from nearby West Union began celebrat-ing Mass in the county in 1954, and eventually St. Joseph mission was established. The mission was returned to the pastoral care of the Archdiocese of Cin-cinnati in 2000.

1968: A trailer with a makeshift walkway served as the first home for the members of the Catholic chapel in Hazlehurst, Ga. Soon after, in 1974, a new church was built for the growing congre-gation and dedicated to the Good Shep-herd. The mission was returned to the Diocese of Savan-nah in 1991. Since then, the church has been remodeled and enlarged. (See back cover.)

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1992: The first Mass in Greene Coun-ty, Ga., for the community that would become Christ Our King was celebrated by Father Chet Artysiewicz in George and Mildred Stiffler’s kitchen in October 1992. The first public Mass was held on Nov. 1, 1992, at a local Episcopal church. Father Chet also pastored the mission in neigh-boring Putnam County, where the first Mass was held the following January at a local Presbyterian church. Father Chet carried all the essentials for Mass—chal-ices, hosts and missalettes—in a large blue Tupperware container. Because the two missions grew rapidly, they were returned to the care of the Archdiocese of Atlanta in 1996.

2003: The members of Our Lady of Guadalupe mis-sion in Sand Hill, Ga., began gathering in Long County in 2003. Initially, a tent served as shelter for Masses and fi-estas. Eventually, an open-air shelter was built. That struc-ture was used until 2006, when a prefab metal building was donated and assembled to serve as worship and gathering space. In 2010, the growing community added a new parish hall, built under the leadership of Brother Vir-gil Siefker.

2012: Since September 2011, Father Tom Charters and the mem-bers of the newly-formed Catholic Community of Unicoi County have been meeting for Sunday Mass at the local Elks Club. The East Ten-nessee mission community is close to finding a permanent space for their church home in the county seat of Erwin. But until that time, they will continue to meet at the Elks Club amid the shimmering curtains, drum set and mounted elk named Elmo!

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EaRly HIsTORy: In 1951, Father Kelly (sec-ond row, second from left) was among those who attended the First Glenmary General Chapter with Father Bishop (first row, left).

a REMEMbRanCE / Lucy Putnam

Father James Patrick Kelly, 1917-2012

Glenmary’s ‘whiz kid’

Father Kelly was dedicated to the home missions and Father Bishop’s vision

I first met Father James Patrick Kelly soon after I was hired as Glenmary’s archivist nine years ago. During my first week on the

job, he stopped by my office and, after gesturing toward the floor littered with piles and piles of boxes filled with documents, he politely asked whether I would be able to “make any sense of this mess.” I assured him that I would.

He proceeded to ask about my background, my education and what made me qualified to serve as Glenmary’s archivist. I thought to my-self: “Am I being re-interviewed? Who is this guy?”

After our first meeting, Father Kelly became a frequent visitor to my office. (Unlike other Glenmarians who are commonly addressed us-ing their first name—e.g., Father Mike—Father Kelly was “Father Kelly” to everyone!) He would often check in to see how things were going and present me with questions in need of research.

He always had a project or two in process and three more churning in his mind. He was meticulous. I learned very quickly to use documents from the archives to backup any answers I provided him!

A missioner for 67 years, Father Kelly died on March 22, 2012, at the age of 95. Father

Frank Ruff, upon learning of Father Kelly’s death, simply said: “He was living history.”

Living history, indeed. A native of Sydney, Ohio, Father Kelly was one of the first men to join Father William Howard Bishop’s then-fledgling soci-ety in 1945.

After his 1948 ordination, Father Kelly was appointed assistant pas-tor of Glenmary’s mission in Norton, Va. Later that year he was recalled to Cincinnati to serve as Father Bishop’s personal secretary—a temporary, six-week assignment. Six weeks stretched into five years! He served as Father Bishop’s right-hand man until the founder’s death in 1953.

While serving as secretary, Father Kelly was elected Glenmary’s trea-surer, a position he held for 20 years. Over the years, he also served as professor of missiology at Our Lady of the Fields Seminary, as well as director of the Glenmary Research Center and of the mission office.

He received his first pastorate in 1975 to Syl-va, N.C. Five years later he became pastor of the Gate City, Va., mission, where he remained until 1985, when he became a senior member and returned to Cincinnati.

Two years later, he once again answered the call to serve as treasurer. He retired a second and final time in 1991.

a lifelong learner, Father Kelly didn’t slow down in retirement. In fact, I think he became busier than ever. His many proj-

ects focused on the home missions, on how to help further Father Bishop’s vision into reality, and on his family.

The oldest of nine children, he enjoyed plan-ning and attending family reunions for his large extended family and editing The Kelly Konnec-tion, a family newsletter. (Father Kelly’s brother Tom eventually entered Glenmary and became a Glenmary brother.)

Father Kelly also enjoyed traveling and hiking. He was in his 80s when he achieved

FaTHER JaMEs KElly: A link to Glenmary’s founder.

Continued on page 18

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i was in prison...You VisiTed me

T he day after celebrating his first papal Christ-mas Mass in 1958, Pope John XXIII left Vati-can City to visit the inmates at Rome’s noto-rious Regina Coeli prison. When he arrived he explained his visit to the prisoners: “You

could not come to see me so I have come to see you.”

Glenmary missioners and coworkers have seen the prison industry grow in mission areas over the past decade. County jails have expanded and now house more state and federal prisoners. For-profit prisons have also been built to help house the estimated 2.2 million persons who are incarcerated in the United States.

But even before the prison boom, Glenmary missioners and coworkers—just like Pope John—were answering the call to minister to those cut off from society and imprisoned in local, state and federal prisons that dot the South and Appalachia.

Glenmary priests, brothers and coworkers count those living behind bars as members of their mission counties. Through prison ministry outreach,

members of this often forgotten, marginalized population are receiving spiritual guidance and the life-giving gifts of the Church.

By Jean Bach

since last November, Kathy O’Brien and Mar-tin Baza of Glenmary’s St. Jude mission in Waldron, Ark., have spent almost every Mon-day night visiting inmates at the Scott County jail.

The old county jail housed only county in-mates. And because the Catholic population of the county is so small, Catholics were rarely pris-oners. But now that more out-of-county prison-ers are housed there, that’s changing.

The seed for the ministry was planted when a mission member met a Catholic prisoner at the recently opened 76-bed jail. The inmate said she’d like someone from the Catholic Church to visit her. The ministry opportunity was presented at a parish meeting, where it received approval. After getting permission from the sheriff, the ministry was born.

“What’s so special about this idea is that it came from our own parishioner who saw this need


‘I know God must still love me because he sent...Martin to visit me’

Although the jail in Scott County, Ark., is not a for-

profit facility, private prisons and detention centers are a growing industry throughout the South, and the Catholic bishops of the South continue to call for—and work towards—ending the proliferation.

Glenmary Father Les Schmidt has been involved in this issue for over a decade. He serves as adviser and liaison to the Catholic Committee of the South, a network of bish-ops, church workers, Catholic laypeople and grass-roots or-ganizations working for social change in the modern South through the use of Catholic so-cial teaching.

during the 2011 annual meeting sponsored by the com-mittee, ending for-profit, private prisons was one of four issues that participants said demand-ed action in the coming year.

In 2002, the bishops of the South also began the process of writing a series of eight pastoral letters on aspects of the crimi-nal justice system. The letters were a follow-up to the U.S. bishops’ statement, “responsi-bility, rehabilitation, and res-toration: A Catholic perspective on Crime and Criminal Justice,” adopted in November 2000.

In the pastorals, the south-ern bishops question whether private prisons protect the rights and dignity of inmates. When “prisoners become units from which profit is derived,“ they write, “there is a tendency to see them as commodities rather than as children of God.”

For-Profit Prisons

For more information, visit www.glenmary.org/crim-inal-justice and read the southern bishops’ pastoral letters or contact Father les at [email protected].

and followed up on it,” says Kathy, who serves as administra-tor of St. Jude.

She meets with the women prisoners and Martin meets with the men. They pray using the English and Spanish Bibles the mission provided, they discuss the Sunday Scriptures and they have a Word and Communion service.

Non-Catholics are often in-cluded in the groups, too. “This ministry is for anyone who needs it,” Kathy explains.

But for Catholics, reconnect-ing with the Church is especially powerful and meaningful be-

says in the future he hopes “to show the community what a posi-tive life the Church, Martin and God have put into my heart.”

Kathy says she also noticed a profound change in some pris-oners after Glenmary Father François Pellissier began hear-ing confessions at the prison a few months ago. Father François is the sacramental minister at St. Jude and administrator at St. Andrew in nearby Yell County.

One woman was “visibly changed” after receiving abso-lution, Kathy says. This inmate has been transferred to a prison in Oklahoma, but she sent Kathy a postcard thanking her for the change the ministry made in her life. “She must have used ‘thank you’ five times on the postcard.”

Johnnie, another inmate, says he was scared when he went to prison three months ago. But with Martin began visiting him, his fears eased.

Though not Catholic, John-nie attends the weekly Commu-nion services and says it’s a time when he can “actually relax.” He also reads the Bible with Martin. It’s helping him “understand the right way to live. I now under-stand that I need to live for God and for God alone.”

Johnnie, who is from Wal-dron, has also shown interest in becoming Catholic. Martin hopes to walk with him through the RCIA process, beginning while he is in prison and con-tinuing the journey after he is released.

w hen the Waldron mission is returned to the pastoral care of the Diocese of Little Rock in June, the prison ministry will continue with

Martin and two women volun-teers taking the lead.

“The Spirit continues to do wonderful things here in Wal-dron,” Kathy says.

PRIsOn OuTREaCH: Kathy O’Brien, Martin Baza and Father François Pellis-sier work to ensure the prisoners in the Scott County jail have the opportunity to connect with the Church.

cause through that connection, they can often find healing in the sacraments.

T he impact Kathy and Martin’s visits have had on prisoners varies. Kristofer, 25, who is Catholic, has been in jail for nine months. He says Mar-

tin’s visits have given him hope. “I know God must still love me because he sent a man as caring and loving as Martin to visit me and to teach me God’s ways.”

In prison for narcotics distribu-tion and jumping bail, Kristofer

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Houston mission member reflects on experience of being Catholic in Mississippi

A lifelong journey of faithPaRTnER In MIssIOn / by Father Bob Dalton

For many years, Ruth Agnes Crosthwait, 86, and her family were the only Catholics who lived in Houston, Miss. Recently, she talked with Father Bob Dalton, who serves as sacra-mental minister to Glenmary’s Immaculate Heart of Mary mission in Houston, about her journey as a Catholic in northeast Mis-sissippi and the role Glenmary has played in that journey.

In 1926, Ruth Agnes Carty’s baptism as a five-day-old infant involved an arduous journey. The priest came by train from

Columbus, Miss., to the whistle-stop cross-roads community of Pheba. There, his jour-

ney continued by car over dusty dirt roads for the last dozen miles to St. Patrick Church in the “Irish Colony” in northeastern Clay County.

Memories and an old cemetery are all that remain of that small wood-en church built in 1895. Before the church was built, hearty immigrants with names like Murphy, O’Rourke, McNulty and Cos-grove met in homes for an occasional Mass when a priest

happened to be traveling through the area. For almost 50 years, Mass was celebrated

only on the fifth Sunday of a month. Even so, the faith was strong among these farm families. Two women from the community joined the Sisters of Mercy in Vicksburg—Sister Regina Cosgrove and Sister Mary Joseph Cosgrove.

Gradually—as often happens in rural America, even today—the close-knit Catholic community began to decline

as people moved away, families died out and

others drifted away from their faith.Among those who moved was Joseph Carty,

Ruth Agnes’ father, who saw better schools and more opportunities for his family in the county seat of Houston, 15 miles away. No Catholics had ever lived in Houston before the Cartys arrived. Suspicious of this foreign religion, the local com-munity gave a very chilly welcome to the family.

The turning point came when a prominent citi-zen, Mr. Hill, who owned the hardware store on the courthouse square, made it known that any man who wanted a chance for a better future for his family was welcome in Houston.

First Communion preparation for young Ruth Agnes meant a lonely separation from her family for three weeks for two

successive summers. She traveled 40 miles to West Point to stay with Baptist relatives while she studied with Sister Regina and Sister Mary Joseph. The two women religious gathered to-gether Catholic children each summer to prepare them for the sacraments.

During those early years in Houston, Ruth Agnes’ family had to travel 20 miles by car to St. Theresa Church in Okolona, where Mass was offered on the third Sunday of the month by a priest who traveled by train from Tupelo.

The roads weren’t paved, and often deep mud made the family’s trip an adventure—or even im-possible. Since fasting after midnight was part of the discipline to receive Communion, the first meal of the day for the family was eaten after they arrived home, usually about 2 p.m.

After Ruth Agnes and Curtis Crosthwait mar-ried, they made their lifelong home in Houston.

“As a young married woman, I lived near the back of a Baptist church,” Ruth Agnes remembers. “I would look out on Sunday morning and see ev-eryone attending services, and I wondered what it would be like to be able to go to church every Sunday.”

After a pause and a little laugh, she added: “Curtis had a car, but it was Baptist like him and didn’t go to Mass!” For the last 12 years of his life, though, Curtis did attend Mass with Ruth Agnes. He converted to Catholicism shortly before his death.

Eventually, a few other Catholics moved

Ruth Agnes Crosthwait


to Houston, and Mass was offered occasion-ally in the homes of local residents until a small A-frame church, consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, was built in 1954.

In 1965, Glenmary took on the missions in both Houston and Okolona. Mass or Word and Communion services were celebrated each week-end, and she finally began to realize her dream of attending church every week.

Ruth Agnes commented thoughtfully on Glenmary’s plan to leave Immaculate Heart of Mary mission in the summer of

2013.“I felt bad after I learned that Glenmary was

leaving next year,” she says. “Then I realized that I was being selfish. What Glenmary missioners did for me, they can do for people in some other area like Houston.

“They taught me everything I know about my

faith. They helped me become a Eucharistic min-ister, gave me the confidence to be a lector at Mass and trained me to lead Word and Communion ser-vices. I was even appointed to the Diocesan Pasto-ral Council in Jackson. Some of those who I served on the council with thought I was a radical, but I taught them that it is a different experience being Catholic here in rural northeast Mississippi.”

Today, Ruth Agnes is homebound. She has limited mobility and uses a wheelchair or walker to get around her house.

“I miss going to church and I miss my friends there, but I really appreciate the Eucharistic ministers who bring me weekly Communion,” she says.

Her journey of faith, which began in the Irish Colony decades ago, continues today. The dream she had so many years ago became a reality. The Catholic Church is present in Houston, Miss.

JOuRnEy OF FaITH

his goal to hike to the summit of Tennessee’s Mount Leconte.

His firsthand knowledge of Father Bishop and the early years of Glenmary were invaluable to me. I always knew where to turn for an

answer—and, as he was an Irishman through and through, I always got a good story, too!

He told me stories of flying in a tiny prop plane to visit donors with Father Clem Borchers as the

GlEnMaRy’s ‘WHIz KID’

pilot. On one such trip, they got lost as the sun went down and had to make a blind landing in a field. He told me how he and Father Joe O’Donnell dug, by hand, the grave for Father Earl McGrath, the first Glenmarian to die.

He talked about the early missioners updating Father Bishop’s No-Priest-Land map by hand, the building of the first seminary in the 1950s, the opening of new mission territory in the 1940s and the return of the first missions to the pasto-ral care of their respective dioceses. He excitedly told me about the start of the Glenmary Research Center and the pride he felt every time the center published a new religious census.

One story Father Kelly told me focused on how he came to Glenmary. A seminar-ian for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, he

asked Archbishop John McNicholas if he could visit Glenmary. The archbishop warned him if he left, he would “burn bridges” behind him, because the archbishop would never take back a man who left the archdiocese’s formation program.

When Father Kelly left the archbishop’s office, he said he prayed. Later that week, Father Bishop accepted him on the spot, telling a fellow mission-er, “We could use a whiz kid like him.”

The bridges he burned lit the way for him to make an indelible mark on Glenmary’s home mis-sion ministry and countless Glenmarians and co-workers over the decades—including me.

InvaluablE REsOuRCE: As archivist for Glen-mary, Lucy Putnam relied on Father Kelly for an-swers and insights. And he never failed to deliver.

Continued from page 17

Continued from page 14


DEPaRTMEnTs

t h e w e b s i t e o f C at h o l i C m i s s i o n e r s t o r u r a l a m e r i C a

online contents

WHaT’s nEW

Glenmary Welcomed in unicoi County, Tenn.Father Tom Charters and Brother Tom Sheehy have been welcomed by enthusiastic residents of Unicoi County. They arrived last September to establish a Catholic Church pres-ence in the East Tennessee county. glenmary.org/welcomed

How to HelpA gift of appreciated securities, including stocks or bonds, is an easy way to make a gift. glenmary.org/stocks

Glenmary FarmJoe Grosek thanks spring volunteers and shares news from Vanceburg in his Vanceburg View. glenmary.org/april-view

Research Center View additional maps based on the Catholic data collected for RCMS 2010. search: glenmary.org/rcms2010

Follow blogging GlenmariansCheck out the blogs of new-mission pastor Father Steve Pawelk, vocation director Brother David Henley and senior member Father Charlie Hughes. glenmary.org/blogs

unicoi County

Jason Muhlenkamp

FEaTuRE sTORy

Thankful Convert Inspired to Give backSarah Smithwick says she’s never been happier—and she owes it all to Glenmary! She’s determined to give back some of what she has received. glenmary.org/smithwick

sarah smithwick

Mapping Catholics

vocationsNovice Jason Muhlenkamp reflects on his formation journey as he prepares to take his First Oath. glenmary.org/journey-oath

w w w.glenmary.org

Commission on JusticeFind a variety of social justice and ecological resources as well as links to helpful Web sites. search: glenmary.org/coj

scan to visit this page online

Catholic M

issioners to Rural A

merica

Glenmary Home Missioners P.O. Box 465618 Cincinnati, OH 45246-5618www.glenmary.org

NoNproFIT orGANIZATIoN

U.S. postage pAId

Glenmary Home missioners

Glenmary’s former mission in Hazlehurst, Ga., is growing! On Feb. 11, 2012, members of Good Shepherd Church rejoiced as their newly expanded 4,500-square-foot church building was rededicated at a

Mass celebrated by Bishop Gregory Hartmayer, OFM, Conv., of the Dio-cese of Savannah. Following the Mass, members in traditional Mexican cos-tumes danced to the rhythms of guitar and accordion. It was standing room only at weekend liturgies before the expansion. Glenmary established the mission in 1967, and a mobile trailer (see page 12) served as the gathering space from 1968 until a new church was built in 1974. Glenmary turned the mission back to the Diocese of Savannah for continued pastoral care in 1991.

GlEnMaRy GlimpSe / Former mission grows

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