Mission in Dumas faced with changing demographics DUMAS -- Holy Child of Jesus Church in Dumas is a long way for two men who met at a pilgrimage in Mexico, to see one another again, but meet they did.
'Assigned' seats, familiar faces make church feel like home MARIANNA -- All was going well during Mass in the small parish of St. Andrew Church in Marianna, but the pastor couldn't figure out what felt different. It took a moment before the former parish priest grasped the problem: No one sat where they usually did.
Horseshoe Lake mission first served farmers at harvest time Built in 1964 on donated farm land, St. Mary of the Lake Church in Horseshoe Lake originally served farmers only during crop season. Now with eight to 10 full-time-resident families attending year-round, the tiny congregation swells with lake visitors during the summer.
Supporting the parish in Marked Tree is a family tradition MARKED TREE -- St. Norbert Church has always been a mission of a larger parish. It has never had many members, and its resources have always been limited. So when the original church, built in 1949, had to be torn down in 1981, Randy Shinabery feared it would not be replaced.
Catholics gathered for 26 years before building a church McCRORY -- B.J. Breckenridge, 81, like many of his fellow parishioners, has been a lifelong member of St. Mary Church. His grandparents, Ben and Mary Starman, moved to the McCrory area in 1914.
Grady Catholics keep church tidy although no more Masses GRADY -- Dorothy Russell, 78, is a life-long resident of Grady and a fount of information about Blessed Sacrament Church. "Grady started out as a Catholic community," she explained. "My grandfather was among the first parishioners. And according to my research, the first family to live in Grady was the John S. Hall family and they were Catholics."
Parishioner can detail long history of mission in Foreman FOREMAN -- Sacred Heart Church in Foreman has a storied past, steeped in church and secular history. Most of the 30 or so people who attend 9 a.m. Sunday Mass in the brick-and-frame building on Bell Street know the history, which dates to the dawn of the Diocese of Little Rock.
Clay County church supports larger Catholic community CORNING -- The Catholic church in Corning has a certain glow. Sunlight filtering through one or more of four cruciform stained-glass windows, depending on the time of day, captures part of the intensity.
Business donated land in 1901 for first church in Hartford Mary Radley and family have a second home in Hartford. They share it with at least 22 other households in Sebastian County, some hailing from nearby Huntington, Hackett, Mansfield and Greenwood. More are welcome, especially children.
Young church in Ashdown deals with dwindling attendance ASHDOWN -- The roughly 30 active members of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton understandably have mixed emotions about the pending appointment of a new bishop for the Church in Arkansas. (January 26, 2008)
These stories were published beginning January 26, 2008.
