The following story first appeared in the Summer 2002 Glenmary Challenge.
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Bible Schools Rule!

Glenmary missions have long operated summer Bible schools. This year two missions—one in Tennessee and one in Arkansas—cooperated with Presbyterian neighbors to witness Jesus’ words in Luke’s gospel: “Let the children come to me..., for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.”

Father Neil Pezzulo reads Bible stories to Crossett Bible school students to begin the day. A verse from Proverbs served as the theme for each day’s activities.

Holy Cross Church in Crossett, Ark., has been hosting a summer Bible school for “forever,” says this year’s volunteer director Pat Hubbard—or at least for the 26 years she has been a member of this Glenmary mission.

Times have changed from those early Bible schools. Instead of creating Bible school activities and lessons from scratch, the theme for this year and the week’s activities were all included in a Vacation Bible School kit. Included was the promotional poster proclaiming, “You Otter Be There!”

Another change from those early Bible schools is the cooperation between the Catholics and the Presbyterians of Crossett. Glenmary Father Neil Pezzulo and the Rev. George Worthman merged their resources and ideas into a week of Christian learning and fun in early July.

“It’s a matter of working together on a broader basis,” Rev. Worthman says of the ecumenical effort. Without such cooperation, the small Presbyterian church wouldn’t be able to hold a VBS with the “six or seven kids” who are part of their 90-member congregation, he says. The same is true of the Catholic church which has 110 members.

So, the Bible school was a “chance to consolidate our resources at the local level to fulfill common goals,” he adds. Those common goals included providing an atmosphere that facilitates learning about Jesus and Christianity as well as having fun.

“By combining the Bible school, we’re sending a message to the kids that we’re all on the same team,” Father Neil says. “We’re sending a message of God’s universal love for everyone, no matter what denomination they happen to be. Actions speak louder than words sometimes.”

Each day began with a Bible lesson from the Book of Proverbs, and the activities of the day were centered around that lesson.

With both Father Neil and Rev. Worthman holding offices in the local ministerial association, it’s guaranteed that this is not the last time the two churches will team up. Interfaith cooperation is necessary in small-town America where congregations, on their own, have neither the personnel nor finances to run programs.

Both Catholic and Presbyterian children attended the week-long event. But, adds Crossett’s pastoral associate Eleanor Henley, children whose denomination wasn’t known or asked about also showed up.

“The bottom line is the kids came and had fun,” Father Neil says. “The kids never made a distinction between denominations and neither did we.”

One of the challenges the organizers faced was finding ways to keep the three-year-old group busy and entertained. This is the first year activities were planned for this age group—and it was a little more difficult than anticipated for volunteers to capture their attention.

Glenmary candidate Austine Duru got into the act. He spent his summer working with Father Neil in Crossett and became one of the Bible school volunteers. He painted a special mural for the Bible school. It was so popular, the local Episcopal church asked him to create one for their August Bible school!

A few weeks earlier, Father Neil and organizers teamed up for a Bible school at Holy Cross’s satellite mission in nearby Hamburg. The congregation in Hamburg, although small, is predominately Hispanic.

“We hosted a group of teens from Jesus the Good Shepherd in Dunkirk, Md., for the Bible school in Hamburg,” Father Neil says. “They did an awesome job as teachers and helpers for the week, and the children who participated had a great time.”

The kids didn’t seem to mind the heat and humidity of southeastern Arkansas in July, but the organizers noticed. “Yeah, it was hot,” Rev. Worthman says, “but we had a great time despite the heat and so did the kids. It was worth it."

Madisonville, Tenn: School Bus From Heaven
By Paul W. Witte

Pastoral coordinator Paul Witte explains the crucifix to the mostly Hispanic participants in Madisonville’s Catholic Bible school. The school’s goal is to familiarize children with Catholic culture and lead them to a greater understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Catholics in our rural county in Tennessee (Monroe County) than English-speaking ones. It’s a phenomenon that has occurred over the last 10 years—just the same length of time that our Glenmary mission, St. Joseph the Worker, has been established. I estimate the number of Spanish-speaking people, most from Mexico, to be at least 1,000—and the numbers seem to be increasing.

It is a challenge for a new Catholic community like ours to minister to our Mexican brothers and sisters. We’re approximately 120 English-speaking Catholics in a county that is Southern Baptist, United Methodist, Presbyterian or Pentecostal.

Most Mexicans, when they first arrive in the United States, confuse these churches with a Catholic church. The children go to Protestant Bible schools during the summer months and they invariably refer to the experience as “going to Mass”—even though they went to a Baptist church.

We decided in the summer of 2001 to have a Catholic Vacation Bible School which was held for two days. This summer we expanded to three days.

Thanks to the goodness of our brothers and sisters at the Fork Creek Presbyterian Church, we held the school at their church both summers. The Presbyterian minister, the Rev. David Campbell, arranged for one of his parishioners, who owns and drives school buses, to transport the children. Several of the Presbyterian women also pitched in, organizing tables of used clothes to give away.

Several factors led us to our decision to hold the Bible school at Fork Creek. First, our church is still unfinished and we do not have the space configuration to hold such an event. Second, Fork Creek is conveniently located near the Hispanic communities whereas our church is 11 miles away. Third, the provision of having a school bus pick up the children was providential.

Several parishioners from St. Joseph the Worker, under the leadership of Marion Leudemann, created and carried out our program. We made sure the participants understood that we were Catholic and what it meant to be Catholic. (We knew that holding the classes in a Presbyterian church could cause confusion, but we also knew it was a great sign of the ecumenical cooperation that could happen.)

Our emphasis was twofold: to familiarize the children as much as possible with our Catholic culture and to lead them to a greater understanding of who Jesus Christ is and what it means to be his follower. This year the children all made rosaries and learned some of the basic Catholic prayers in English.

We conducted the school mostly in English—with Spanish liberally interjected when needed. Though the children know English from school, they responded much better to the Scripture read in Spanish. While Spanish is still their native tongue, they are rapidly becoming fluent in English.

After dismissal from individual classrooms, all the children assembled in the chapel. There we prayed and I sprinkled holy water and used incense, being careful to explain the meaning of these symbols. I brought a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe and explained who she is and her relationship to Jesus. We processed around the church behind a crucifix, singing, “I have decided to follow Jesus,” in English and Spanish.

Last summer we had 38 boys and girls ages 6 to 12. This summer we topped out at 43. A number of mothers and their younger children also came along to observe, perhaps to enjoy the coolness of the air-conditioned nursery and to spend time together.

Only the Lord knows what the future holds for the Catholic church in rural Monroe County, Tenn. But one thing is certain: if it doesn’t include Mexicans, we have failed as missionaries.