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

In Heavener the Word Is Out: 'We're Here'

Father Neil Pezzulo, pastor of two missions in Arkansas as well as the mission in Heavener, Okla., talks to a group about the struggles faced by members of the Heavener community.

The blessings were many on a recent Sunday morning in Heavener, Okla., as over 100 people gathered for Mass in Sacred Heart Chapel. Billy and Maria Butts, the Catholic missioners who provide a pastoral presence in Heavener, were grateful for the blessing of the larger-than-average crowd. They even found a blessing in the strategically placed buckets that were catching the rain coming through the leaky roof.

It was obvious at that Mass that the roof needs to be replaced, but the mission is struggling so funds aren’t readily available. The blessing can be found in what is available—the desire to raise the funds needed and the willingness of the community to work together for their church.

The idea of a carnival was presented as one way to raise the needed funds. Now the community is busy planning all the details. The day will feature children’s games and pony rides, a dance contest and music. “And Father Neil is donating a TV that we’re going to raffle,” Maria says. Father Neil Pezzulo, based in Waldron Ark., is the pastor of this mission parish. “We’ve also asked other people for donations and everyone is really working hard,” Maria adds.

The carnival is just one of the activities that is helping revitalize the Heavener church and Heavener itself. Prior to the arrival of a chicken processing plant a few years ago, Heavener was a dying frontier town. Now hundreds of workers, most of whom are Spanish-speaking, make up the town’s population.

Billy and Maria have served the mission since April 2003 when a collaborative effort between Glenmary and the Diocese of Tulsa was arranged. Prior to the official collaboration, Glenmary informally served Heavener, a town of 3,000, from its mission in Idabel, Okla. Today, Father Neil travels 35 miles from Waldron, Ark., to say Mass on the second and fourth Sundays of each month.

Before Glenmary took on the mission, Mass was limited to once a month. Maria believes that the increased number of Masses is responsible for the increased size of the congregation. “Before, we would only have about 30 people come each week, but the numbers have gone up—God has blessed us!” Maria says.

Father Neil’s fluency in Spanish is another reason for the increased numbers, according to Maria. People are learning that they no longer have to travel the 35 miles to Fort Smith, Ark., to find a pastor who speaks their language.

The mission is growing in many positive ways. A parish council is in the developing stages in Heavener, Maria says. Several parishioners have been invited to serve in an interim capacity and plans call for a council election to be held in November. “We had to postpone the election when we started the planning for the carnival,” Maria says, noting that the leaky roof won’t wait!

Marguerite Summers, a catechist hired by the diocese, conducts CCD classes with volunteer teachers every Sunday morning for 30 to 35 elementary and junior high students. Classes are held in the church where curtains are hung to make individual “classrooms” for each grade. Marguerite is helping three students prepare for Confirmation; four will receive their First Communion on Dec. 12, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe receives the prominence one might expect in a Hispanic community, Maria says. “The First Communion class will lead the procession, right behind the Blessed Mother, and we’ll say the Rosary as we process. After Mass, we’ll celebrate with mariachi.”

Shortly after the celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Sacred Heart community will begin posadas, the celebrations that commemorate Mary and Joseph’s difficult journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. (Posada is the Spanish word for “lodging”)

“We’ll have processions from house to house,” Maria says. “Then, before Christmas, we’ll have a novena and end with the Rosary at the church.”

There is little interaction between the Hispanic and Anglo communities in Heavener, Maria explains. She and Billy hope to be able to bridge that gap by extending invitations to the entire community for celebrations such as the posadas and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“Word is getting out that we’re here and we’re going strong,” Maria says. “ I’m lifted up when I see people coming to church!”