This article originally appeared in the June 2004 Boost-A-Month Club Newsletter

Celebrating a New Church In Sand Hill

Deacon Tony Barbour (front) distributes Communion during a recent Mass under the tent on "the property" in Long County, Ga.

On Easter Sunday, more than 250 people gathered for Mass with Glenmary Father Brian LaBurt in Sand Hill, Ga. They had two reasons to celebrate: the resurrection of the Lord, of course, and the fact that so many were there to worship under the temporarily constructed 30-by-60-foot tent.

“We’ve never had a crowd that large before,” says Glenmary pastoral associate Deacon Antonio Barbour.

The primarily Hispanic congregation that met in Sand Hill on Easter Sunday regularly worships at Glenmary’s St. Jude Church in Glennville, Ga., pastored by Father Brian. But when a large crowd is expected for feasts or great celebrations, the word gets around: “We’ll meet at the property.”

Because the St. Jude congregation has outgrown its church, 4.35 acres were bought in Sand Hill (10 miles south of Glennville) in Long County to provide a closer Church presence to the Hispanics who have settled in the area. Soon a prefabricated 30-by-62-foot building will be placed on “the property,” replacing the tent.

“My main focus is reaching out to the Hispanic community, especially the unchurched,” Tony says. His efforts have resulted in a steady increase in the number of people in the congregation. On any given Sunday, over 100 people attend the 1:30 Spanish Mass at St. Jude.

This congregation numbered less than 20 members only 10 years ago. Today, Tony says, it is growing into an “evangelizing parish” that will serve as the foundation for a Catholic faith community in Long County where, until the tent-raising in April 2003, there had never been a Catholic church.

The Hispanic population in South Georgia has exploded over the last 10 years as migrants arrived and stayed to work on farms, in poultry factories and in construction. They are putting down roots in the area.

“They’re attending local schools, and I can see our congregation doubling in two to three years because of that growth,” Tony says.

“You can see the hand of God in the whole thing from the very beginning,” Tony insists. They were able to obtain the property in Sand Hill assessed at $30,000 for only $13,000. Then they received a donation of the prefab metal building—if they could pay to move it—a service Tony has obtained through a parishioner for a cost of only $1,200.

The interior accoutrements for the church are being furnished through the generosity of two churches in the Diocese of Steubenville, Ohio: All Saints Church in Blaine and Our Lady of Angles Church in Barton. Glenmary was contacted by the administrator of the two parishes, which closed in 2003, and asked if there was a need for such items as pews, vestments, a tabernacle and a baptismal font.

“All of it was free to us,” Tony says. The parish even received assistance with the shipping costs involved in delivering the church goods to South Georgia. The sacramentals are currently stored in a climate-controlled warehouse (courtesy of the company that employs a St. Jude parishioner) awaiting arrival of the building any day.

The presence of Glenmary missioners and the growth of the community is responding to attempts of Protestant churches to draw Hispanics into their congregations, Tony says. “Their roots are in the Church,” he says of the traditionally Catholic Hispanic families.

Although the Sand Hill Hispanics, many of whom are from Mexico, feel a deep loyalty to their faith and the Church, many have never been catechized, Tony says. “In 1979 I did mission work in north Mexico, and met priests who served as many as 30 villages. So people seldom saw a priest.”

The Long County Hispanics are becoming “sacramentalized,” Tony says. Catechesis is also happening. About 60 children are enrolled in CCD classes which are taught in English or are bilingual depending on the students’ mastery of English.

Tony provides translation services for parishioners who are still learning English, and has helped families communicate with the local schools, welfare agencies and even a car dealer who has a reputation of charging exorbitant interest rates to people who don’t understand English.

But Tony can see that as Hispanic families become more familiar with American culture they will become more acclimated to life in South Georgia.

He sees the community shifting in ways similar to the way the Hispanic community changed when he was growing up in south Texas.

“We had three separate groups in Texas: Hispanics, Anglos and blacks,” Tony remembers. “And we didn’t mix much.” But now, Tony says, there is a lot of change and assimilation in his hometown—the same kind of change and assimilation that he expects to see in Georgia as time goes on.

As that assimilation happens, the Catholic Church—thanks to Glenmary—will also become part of the community, ensuring that the faith is passed on to coming generations.