For two decades Glenmay's lay professional ministers have answered their missionary call
by serving the home missions and helping establish and maintain
a Catholic Church presence in counties where it has never been before.

by Margaret Gabriel

20 Years of Lay Ministry: Father Frank Ruff (back row) with a group of lay pastoral coordinators in 1999 that includes (clockwise) Paul Witte, Ginny Witte, Sister Maria Goretti Browne, Sister Florita Fodman and Sister Edna Maier.

Glenmary missioners have been working to bring a Catholic Church presence to small-town America for 70 years. In 1989, that work was opened up to lay (not ordained) professional ministers through Glenmary’s innovative Establishing Mission Churches with Lay Leaders (EMC) program.

The program was designed to train and support qualified lay ministers to establish and lead Catholic communities in home mission counties. A model of ministry emerged from the program that is still in place today—pastoral coordinators working collaboratively with Glenmary priests who serve as sacramental ministers.

As a result, in the past two decades, seven Glenmary missions have been established by lay pastoral coordinators in counties where there was previously no Catholic presence. (Learn about other ways to become a partner in mission.)

Currently, seven Glenmary pastoral coordinators lead mission communities in Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and North Carolina—and many of these communities are in their second generation of lay leadership. The EMC eventually developed into the Glenmary Lay Pastoral Coordinator Program.

“The motivation for lay ministry really came from our mission ‘guts,’” says Father Frank Ruff, who served as Glenmary’s president in the mid-1980s and as the first director of the EMC. “Then—and now—there were so many counties without a Catholic presence, and our number-one objective was to find ways to establish new churches in those counties,” he says. But there weren’t enough Glenmary priests and brothers to make that happen.

Thinking about collaborating with lay professional ministers was thinking about “a new way of being Church,” Father Frank says. “But there were major questions raised. Is it really a Glenmary mission if there’s no Glenmary priest? Is it really Catholic if there are services without the [celebration of the] Eucharist?”

Some of the answers came from Canon 517.2 of The Code of Canon Law, which allows a bishop to appoint a layperson as the canonical administrator of a parish in the absence of a priest. That person has the responsibility for direct pastoral care of the community. In addition, whenever a priest is not available to celebrate the Eucharist, the pastoral coordinator can lead a Word and Communion service according to the norms outlined by the U.S. bishops in Sunday Celebrations in the Absence of a Priest.

The creation of this canon followed the 1980 American bishops’ pastoral statement Called and Gifted, a reflection on the ways laymen and laywomen were answering the Lord’s call and employing their gifts to take an active and responsible part in the mission of the Church.

“The canon provided a way for us to develop leadership in places where it was needed,” Father Frank says. “We knew there were qualified lay leaders available and that these leaders could be trained for rural ministry.”

Glenmary’s first lay pastoral coordinator, Sister Sara Aldridge, began serving Holy Redeemer mission in Vanceburg, Ky., in 1989. Additional pastoral coordinators were hired and trained and their ministry spread to Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. In Mississippi, four new missions were established, including one in Bruce.

“When we talked to people in Bruce about starting a mission community with a lay leader,” says Father Frank, “an elderly Catholic woman asked me, ‘Are we going to have something or will we continue to have nothing?’” These many years later, the answer is clear: they have something.

St. Luke the Evangelist, called together by Amy Giorgio, one of Glenmary’s first pastoral coordinators, is now a growing mission under the leadership of Sister Mary Jean Morris.

When the community first gathered in 1995 at a local funeral home, five people made up the congregation. Now, the Catholic community in Bruce is 30 families strong and worships in a building that previously housed the county health department. It’s not uncommon for the congregation to set up extra chairs on a Sunday in the building that seats 60.

“The Catholic Church is an important part of the culture in Bruce,” says Sister Mary Jean, an active member of the Bruce Chamber of Commerce. Her permanent presence in Calhoun County has helped establish the Catholic mission as a vital part of the county.

In Eastern Kentucky, Michele Bertot serves as the pastoral coordinator of Holy Redeemer mission in Vanceburg, a mission that has been led by a lay professional minister since Sister Sara first arrived in 1989.

When Michele moved from upstate New York to Lewis County in 2006, Father Jerry Dorn, a former director of the lay ministry program, offered her a bit of advice. “He told me to find something I like and to minister through that,” she says. Quilting came to mind because it’s a hobby she enjoys and it’s also a traditional Appalachian craft.

But it turned out to be her dog Grretta that helped her connect with the community. Since arriving in Vanceburg, Michele often walks her wire-haired dachshund through the small town. Along the way, people stop to pet the dog and meet Michele in the process. She has also trained Grretta as a therapy dog for visits to local nursing home residents, an additional opportunity to meet people of the community.

Although the face of Glenmary has changed over the years, the approach to home mission ministry hasn’t. Coworkers like Michele and Glenmary priests and brothers know that establishing a presence and making contacts with those living in a county is key to any mission’s success. In the past two decades, they have learned—and continue to learn—from each other successful ways to achieve that presence.

Father Bob Dalton, a senior member who serves as sacramental minister at Glenmary’s missions in Ackerman and Eupora, Miss., sees himself as a member of a team headed by pastoral coordinator Sister Alies Thérèse.

“Recently, Sister Alies and I went to the hospital to visit Ralph, who is in the final stages of cancer,” Father Bob says.

Their visit to Ralph started with the purchase of a Fudgesicle because it was the one thing that tasted good to him. “It was kind of messy,” Father Bob says, “but this is what ministry is all about!”
Ralph had been away from the Church for many years. Sister Alies has “gently walked with him and now he wants to reconnect with his family and with the Church,” Father Bob says. “That kind of one-on-one ministry wouldn’t have happened without a pastoral presence in Ackerman.

“I’m not saying that without us, Ralph wouldn’t get to heaven, but I think we brought him some peace.”

Jay Gilchrist was the lay pastoral coordinator who, in 1992, called together a Catholic community in Madisonville, Tenn., in an East Tennessee county without a Catholic presence. He is now the coordinator of Glenmary’s coworker ministries, which include pastoral coordinators as well as pastoral associates.

A lay pastoral coordinator candidate must have a master’s degree in theology or pastoral ministry and three years experience in parish ministry. Jay looks for people who have experience working in rural areas, possess good leadership skills and are willing to embrace new cultures. The ability to speak Spanish is also an asset.

Newly hired pastoral coordinators attend an extensive orientation and training program prior to being placed in a mission. The orientation is led by Jay and the staff of the Department of Pastoral Ministers and Pastoral Services. Support of the lay ministers—both educationally and spiritually—continues throughout their time with Glenmary.

The lay ministers are “doing what Jesus Christ calls us all to do by being about the Kingdom of God,” Jay says. “They’re not afraid to roll up their sleeves and get involved.”