Glenmary Missioners leave Arkansas after 49 years

Churches in Danville, Waldron and Ratcliff returned to care of diocese after missionary order works in their area for nine years

Published: June 16, 2012

By Phyllis Hemann
Associate Editor

Father Francois Pellissier, GHM, celebrated First Communion Mass May 5 at St. Jude Church in Waldron with 15 children. The Glenmary Home Missioners have been working to build up the sacramental and religious education programs in the church since 2003.

Catholics in rural Arkansas bid farewell to the three remaining Glenmary Home Missioners June 10, as the order leaves the state.

Two Glenmary priests, Father Don Tranel, GHM, and Father Francois Pellissier, GHM, and a lay missioner, Kathy O'Brien, oversaw three missions in Arkansas.

Father Pellissier served as temporary administrator and sacramental minister at St. Andrew Church in Danville and as sacramental minister at St. Jude Thaddeus in Waldron. Father Tranel was the first resident pastor at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Booneville and sacramental minister at St. Anthony Church in Ratliff. He also served a mission in Oklahoma. O'Brien was the pastoral administrator at St. Jude Thaddeus in Waldron.

Where are they now?
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The Glenmary order, based in Cincinnati, came to Arkansas in 1963 and worked at Our Lady of the Ozarks Church in Winslow with a satellite of St. John the Evangelist Church in Huntsville. They served at these first missions until 1975.

The order's commitment to an area is long-term, as Glenmary either shepherds a fledging mission congregation or establishes one in the area. They were founded in 1939 to bring a Catholic presence to "No Priest Land, USA," which was the one-third of the United States where there was no priest. Today, they serve "areas where less than 3 percent of the total population is Catholic."

After years of working with the church, parishioners and the community, Glenmary returns the mission to the local diocese when it is fully developed according to their goals.

"Our job is to work ourselves out of a job," O'Brien said.

They work on nurturing the church, evangelizing by inviting people to worship, ecumenism by working with the local community (which often does not understand Catholicism), social justice issues and Catholicity by connecting the local parish to the other Catholic churches in the area and to the diocese.

Oftentimes, O'Brien said the mission churches are isolated and they help them establish ties to the larger Church.

"Our role in Glenmary is to be the sower of the seed. When we leave, we hope and pray that the seeds flourish and grow. It is up to the people themselves if they continue what we started and find new seeds," she said.

Since they came to Arkansas, Glenmary has returned six missions to the Diocese of Little Rock: Holy Cross Church in Crossett, Holy Spirit Church in Hamburg, St. Mark Church in Monticello, Our Lady of the Ozarks Church in Winslow, St. Luke Church in Warren and St. John the Evangelist Church in Huntsville.

After June 10, the organization no longer serves Arkansas and Oklahoma, pulling back the territory that they cover in an effort to maximize their resources.

"It's not that there's not work for Glenmary in Arkansas. The larger picture is that Glenmary needed to be closer and not spread themselves so thin. If there was a need and sufficient personnel, it would be possible to return. Right now we have to pull closer together to have more support," said O'Brien, who has worked for Glenmary since 1974.

It is bittersweet for the missionaries, especially since leaving the missions in Arkansas comes earlier than normal.

"Ordinarily, we have guidelines we must meet before we return a mission to the diocese," Father Tranel said. "We're close to meeting those here, but not fully. God has blessed us and Booneville has really grown in six years."

The Catholic community in Waldron has grown since 2003, said O'Brien, who came to the community in 2004. When Glenmary started working at the mission in Scott County, there were only five to six children participating in the parish religious education program. Now there are around 100. They have twice as many people at Mass with Father Pellissier and a vibrant teen program.

"One thing I will miss is my youth group. I've done this for 40 years, and I am still amazed by the people. The Hispanic kids were so open to anything. They had so little experience of faith. Now they are leaders," O'Brien said. "We'll miss each other."

The youth group made a difference in the children's lives, she said. Historically, the Hispanic children were dropping out of high school and not graduating. In May they had 10 teens graduating this year and 10 expected next year.

Part of the work O'Brien did with the youth was establishing trust with them and their parents. It took four years before the parents would allow their children to go to diocesan events.

"I hope they continue to grow and be involved in the community," she said. "This church literally sits on a hill that looks over the town. They have to let the light shine and be hope for the community. They have a mission to go and spread the Gospel in the community."

Booneville also has a vibrant youth group. They won a diocesan award in both 2010 and 2012 for best small-parish youth group at the state youth convention. The Masses there are also standing room only.

O'Brien has been assigned to work in Unicoi County in East Tennessee where Glenmary recently began working to establish a Catholic church. Father Pellissier is working in Georgia and Father Tranel has been assigned to work at the offices in Ohio.

As missioners they know the time to leave will always one day come to the communities they serve, yet it doesn't make it easier to leave and start anew. It's just what they do.

"It's not about the big numbers for us. When you bring people in church, you do it one at a time," Father Tranel said. "We make ourselves available and approachable. It is about quality time and being with the folks. I have a passion to be in the rural areas and out-of-the-way places and ministering to those people without. To be Church is a privilege as opposed to a convenience. Our people embrace it and walk the talk."

Where are they now?

Glenmary priests and brothers who worked in Arkansas had a big impact on their parishes and communities. Here is an update on some recent missioners.

Father Dan Dorsey was a well-known pastor in Monticello until 1999 when he was named the first vice president of the Glenmary Home Missioners Executive Council. He served two terms as president of the council from 2003 to 2011. Now he is the director of Glenmary's novitiate program for students, which is based in Cincinnati.

Father Vic Subb served in Crossett in the 1990s. Today he is the director of candidacy and post-novitiate at the Glenmary House of Studies in St. Meinrad, Ind.

Father Neil Pezzulo came to Arkansas in 2000 to serve in Crossett and Hamburg and in 2003 he established a Glenmary presence in Waldron and Danville. He left Arkansas in 2011 to be the first vice president of the order.

Father Chet Artysiewicz worked in Monticello from 2000 to 2006 and moved to Bertie County, N.C., in 2010. He was elected president of the order's executive council in 2011.

Brother David Henley worked for a short time in Waldron. He is now the vocations director for the order.