The following article first appeared in the December 1999 Boost-A-Month Club Newsletter.  For more information about becoming a Boost-A-Month Club member, call 1-800-935-0975 or contact Father Dominic Duggins.

Dream Becomes Reality in Mississippi
St. Luke the Evanglist Church Blessed, Dedicated

Bishop William Houck of the Diocese of Jackson, Miss., assisted by Amy Giorgio, blesses the new St. Luke the Evanglist Church in Bruce, Miss. Glenmary second vice president Brother Jack Henn is standing to the right.

For Glenmary pastoral coordinator Amy Giorgio and the Catholic community of Calhoun County, Miss., Oct. 24 was truly a day to celebrate. On that day, Bishop William Houck of the Diocese of Jackson, Miss., blessed and dedicated the community's new gathering space as St. Luke the Evangelist Catholic Church in Bruce, Miss.

The blessing was "a great recognition of our faith community within the community of Bruce," Amy said. "It was really a visible milestone for us." Previously, the Catholic community worshipped in a rented storefront.

When Amy and her husband John arrived in Bruce to establish a Catholic community in 1995 they never dreamt that five years later that community would own its own building. "The faith community wanted a church building," she said. They wanted a sense of permanence.

The community has come a long way since 1995, when they celebrated their first service as a community in the local African-American community's funeral home. From there they moved to the community building in the local park.

"It was interesting," Amy said. "When we established a permanent worship space at the storefront in 1996, more local people joined and committed themselves to building up the church in the local community." Prior to that, the community was made up of mostly Hispanic men who were migrant workers.

"Worship" in the Bruce community means celebrating Mass once a month with a priest on loan from the Catholic parish in Houston, Miss., and celebrating weekly Word and Communion services led by Amy according to norms outlined in Sunday Worship in the Absence of a Priest.

Today, the community is made up of 27 "committed persons—black, white and Hispanic—all who contributed to the renovation of the new worship space. "We did all the work ourselves except for laying the carpet, building the handicap ramp and installing the windows," Amy said. The last year has been intense with all the renovation work, she said, but now that the cosmetic work is through, the "real" work begins as the members return to focusing on larger church issues.

Among those issues is the formation of a ministerial association in Bruce, founding a food pantry and the start of RCIA inquiry classes.

"There is a huge need in the county for another food pantry," Amy said. The food pantry that is presently in place is operated by the white Southern Baptist Church in the county and it serves only members of its faith tradition.

"We're going to work with other churches in the county outside the Southern Baptist tradition and provide a box of dry goods once a month to any individuals in need," Amy said.

"I'm not sure where the funds will come from for this project," Amy said, because the pantry has to buy the food from the state at $.14 per pound. "But it will come from somewhere. It always does."

The ministerial association is another new beginning in Bruce. They held their first ecumenical Thanksgiving service last month.

"The service was held in the local white Baptist church and the common thought was that no blacks would attend," Amy said. "But, through the witness of our Catholic faith community which does have a black person as well as Hispanic persons worshipping with white persons, we are bringing awareness that an integrated church can work."

The members of St. Luke the Evangelist continue to reach out to their community in a variety of ways, including articles Amy writes for the local newspaper explaining what Catholics believe. "I do that to educate those Catholics in the community who are no longer active as well as provide community education for those who haven't a clue what Catholicism is about." She hopes these articles, as well as personal contact, will bring people into the RCIA classes.

"Through all of this," Amy said, "we've come to realize that the building is important, but not the most important part of ministry." It's the people who make up the community and all is built from there.

"Everyone in our church has a good sense of evangelization, not only in what we teach but in what we do and how we live."