New church in Danville an answer to prayers

St. Andrew Church finds permanent home

Published: January 21, 2006

By Tara Little
Associate Editor

Tara Little

Father Neil Pezzulo, GHM, pastor of Iglesia Católica de San Andres in Danville, blesses two young parishioners who presented the offering during the dedication Mass Jan. 15.

Tara Little

Father Neil Pezzulo, GHM, pastor of Iglesia Católica de San Andres in Danville, blesses two young parishioners who presented the offering during the dedication Mass Jan. 15.

DANVILLE -- A dream that was nearly 10 years in the making was realized Sunday, Jan. 15. The first Catholic church was dedicated in Danville.

Bishop J. Peter Sartain blessed the new Iglesia Catolica de San Andres (St. Andrew Catholic Church) during the parish's Sunday evening Mass. Pastor Father Neil Pezzulo, GHM, and Fathers Norbert Rappold, Vincent Flusche, Chet Artysiewicz, GHM, Bruno Fuhrmann, OSB, and Dan Dorsey, GHM, concelebrated the Mass. Father Dorsey is a former pastor in Arkansas and now is the president of the Glenmary Home Missioners in Cincinnati.

St. Andrew is the second new church built in less than a year by a predominantly Hispanic parish in the Diocese of Little Rock. Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Glenwood was dedicated on Aug. 21.

In an interview with Arkansas Catholic, Bishop Sartain was asked what these new churches mean for the diocese.

"The rapid development of parishes such as St. Andrew in Danville is another indication of the vitality and growth of the Catholic Church in Arkansas," he said.

Located about 20 miles southwest of Dardanelle and Russellville, the rural Danville has about 2,500 people and only recently gained a Catholic presence when Hispanics began relocating there for jobs -- mainly at the area poultry plants.

"Ten years ago there was no Catholic Mass in Danville," Father Pezzulo said in an interview. "Now we have a church that seats 350 people."

The church is located on a two-acre lot on Route 10 East in Danville. It is described as a "multi-purpose" design, with the main body of the church open to serve as the chapel and parish hall. It includes the sanctuary and sacristy. Off the entrance of the church are the kitchen, bathrooms and storage room.

Though the 1,500 square-foot church is built to seat 350, an estimated 740 parishioners and guests attended the Spanish-language Mass.

"The dedication of the church is the fruition of many years of growth on the part of the community, its enthusiasm for the Catholic faith, and the hard work of all its members and pastoral leaders," Bishop Sartain said in an interview.

The celebration began with an afternoon procession down Route 10 in Danville. An altar server led the way followed by parishioners who took turns carrying a seven-foot crucifix. Candles, statues and a bronze tabernacle were also carried. All the items were later permanently installed in the new church before Mass. A trailer decorated with streamers and balloons displayed a large statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Small children dressed as St. Juan Diego walked with their parents as the group of about 150 sang songs and prayed together.

During the Mass, the bishop delivered a primarily Spanish-language homily focusing on evangelization and humility.

"If we're really going to take up the apostolate of evangelization ourselves and in our parishes, we don't just show the Lord Jesus to one another," he said in English. "We proclaim the Lord Jesus so that people will see him and that we ourselves in so many ways disappear so that Jesus himself will be revealed."

At the end of the Mass special recognition was given to guests Sisters Josita Lopez, OSB, of Jonesboro, and Ann Sullivan, OP, of Adrian, Mich. Along with the late Sister Margaret Sullivan, OP, these women all served in Danville and helped build the parish community.

Father Pezzulo also recognized the three men who built the solid-oak altar, Jim Braith, Pete Reyman and Ron Harris of Waldron.

"This is the altar where your children will receive their first Communion. This is the altar where many of you will come here and profess your vows and get married. This is our table of the Lord," Father Pezzulo said.

Jim Driedric, property services manager for the diocese, said he has been working on the Danville building project since May 2001. The land was purchased in 2003 from the Mormon Church for $35,000. Construction on the new church began in April 2005 and was completed last December at a cost of $515,000, he said.

Primary funding for the church was a diocesan grant from a portion of the estate of Ed Dillon of Little Rock, making it the largest single contribution. Other funding included grants from Catholic Extension Society and Glenmary Home Missioners, a mission appeal by Bishop Emeritus Andrew J. McDonald, St. Andrew parishioners and private donors.

There is also a small diocesan loan to the parish to be repaid over the next several years, Driedric said.

Currently about 150 people regularly attend the weekly Sunday Mass at the young parish."Our average age is probably in the early 30s," Father Pezzulo said.

Previously parishioners attended Mass in an old Pentecostal church that was rented for the last year-and-a-half.

Following the Mass and dinner, Jesus Solis, an original member of St. Andrew Parish, described the first Mass for his community.

He said it was celebrated 10 years ago by the late Father James Brockman, SJ, former diocesan Hispanic Ministry director, in a house in Havana with about 20 people from three families.

The Danville Mass was moved around from homes and a local auto repair shop to eventually a house that was rented for six years until it was sold and torn down in 2003.

Solis and his wife, Maria, have five children ages 20 to 2 and all are members of the parish.

Solis said having the new church "is a blessing for my family."

Alissa Sanchez, of Ola, has been a parishioner in Danville for six years. She coordinated the dedication Mass. She recalled that Bishop Sartain promised her parish a new church when he first visited them four years ago.

"And this was his second visit and we do have a church," she said with a smile.

Sister Josita, who was the pastoral administrator for St. Andrew from 2000 to 2003, reflected on what it meant to her to witness Danville finally get a church.

"It is very difficult to express the joy of actually seeing a prayer come true and to see so many people happy because now they have a special place to spend with the Lord," she said in an interview. "My heart and eyes still fill with the joy of it."