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Local kickers changing Catholic image in Little Rock

Pope Francis says go find people where they are; Cathedral deacon and rector agree

Published: September 22, 2014         

By Dwain Hebda
Associate Editor

Dwain Hebda

Father Matt Garrison high-fives an opposing player successfully reaching third during a weekly kickball match. Father Garrison anchors The Roman Missals, a team based at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock.

Dwain Hebda

Father Matt Garrison high-fives an opposing player successfully reaching third during a weekly kickball match. Father Garrison anchors The Roman Missals, a team based at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock.

Father Matt Garrison is short on people. Underneath the thumping hip-hop music and amid the fragrant clouds of smoke from a nearby charcoal grill, the rector of Cathedral of St. Andrew is scanning the ballpark horizon for members of his parish team. So far, only three of The Roman Missals have made it out on this sunny fall Sunday. The rules say he’s about five players shy, and the umpire wants to know what’s up.

“You wanna play?” Father Garrison asks the Arkansas Catholic reporter, but is rescued from that idea by hordes of volunteers from other kickball teams who offer to fill out the Missals’ side.

“We played with you guys before, y’all are a lot of fun,” said one woman from the High Ballers. “We got two over here! We’re in!” shouts a member of the Redneck Squirrels from the shade of a nearby tree.

“Let’s go!” cheerfully cries the ump. Dressed in a tutu and fishnet tights, it’s unclear if she means “Play ball” or “Let’s party,” but this being adult kickball, it’s often hard to tell the difference anyway. Rather like it’s hard to tell there’s a ministry going on here amid the silly outfits and the dance-offs at home plate, which is to say that’s precisely the point.

“Pope Francis has told us that we have to go out to people where they are. Well, that’s what we’re doing,” said Deacon Chuck Ashburn, who first suggested fielding a team as a means of reaching 19- to 30-year-old Cathedral parishioners. “We are the only church-sponsored team in the entire league, the first and only. They love us.”

While largely overblown, the rowdy reputation of the 10-year-old Little Rock Kickball Association — particularly here, in the beer-fueled, double-entendre-heavy Laid Back Division — is probably what keeps most churches from fielding squads. Some Catholics, in fact, might find it hard to match the weekly shenanigans with the stateliness and dignity of the Cathedral.

Father Garrison said it is the very lack of pretense team members show that makes them approachable and the kickball team such an effective tool for evangelization.

“We’ve met a lot of people who are fallen-away Catholics and people just looking for a place to go to church,” he said. “We’ve made a lot of friends and we’ve had a lot of people come join us at Mass just to see what we’re about.”

Following Father Garrison’s lead — on this Sunday he’s donned a broad-brimmed straw hat and plays third base relaxing in a lawn chair — team members display an engaging sense of humor and being comfortable in their own Catholic skin.

“Everybody was a little bit reserved about playing us at first, because we were the church team,” Amy Wisniewski said. “But we’re clearly all amazing, so everybody responded really well and it’s very fun. It’s a good way to get to know people and to get our church out there and have everybody realize that we’re still fun.”

You don’t need to look far to see how misconceptions are replaced by familiarity and watch barriers dismantled by humor. Wisniewski and fellow Cathedral parishioner Elizabeth Griffin, clad in Catholic schoolgirl skirts over their gym shorts, enjoy adult refreshments while in the field and trade barbs and laughter with everyone throughout the hour-long contest.

“I mean, yeah we go to church every Sunday, but we can still come out and have fun with the rest of them,” Wisniewski added. “The best part about it is hey, our priest is on our team. And he brings a (beer) growler to the game. So he can’t be all that bad, right?”

The kickball league plays in the spring and fall; The Roman Missals debuted this spring and has already grown from one squad to two. While the original idea was to support an activity for younger parishioners, the team has attracted a cross-section of ages, from early 20s through mid-50s, from assorted parishes across the city, as well as a few non-Catholics.

“It’s great for community spirit and parish spirit,” said Cathedral parishioner Kimberly Bosshart, 41. “It’s actually brought us together. We didn’t know each other before this, now there’s camaraderie, we’re barbecuing, we’re having pizza this afternoon. Otherwise we never would have met one another.”

Friendships made on the field have translated to other unexpected dividends, such as several players helping to launch a new Cathedral young adult group and two members of this year’s RCIA class who say their friendship with team members influenced their decision to join the Church. Both Father Garrison and Deacon Ashburn said it’s made them more effective ministers as well.

“Everybody can see I’m just a real person, a real guy who likes to have fun and it gives us an opportunity to then connect on a different level when we’re in church together,” the 37-year-old diocesan priest said. “They realize, hopefully, that when Deacon Chuck or I preach, that it stems from a real connection.”

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