In the midst of the construction of the new church hall in Millen, Ga., Father Ed talks with a member of the mission about the readings for the coming Sunday.

Socializing has gotten much easier at Glenmary’s St. Bernadette Church in Millen, Ga., thanks to the mission’s newest addition: a parish hall. There has been a Catholic church in this Southwest Georgia town since the early 1960s, but there hasn’t been a place for the community to comfortably gather for socialization.

But all that changed a few months ago. Parishioners now are able to gather and share coffee after Mass or hold other social events at the parish. Most importantly, the religious education program now meets in four small classrooms in the new hall as opposed to the two very small rooms in the church which they used for the years prior.

“Our community is small (25 registered families),” says Glenmary pastor Father Ed Gorney, “but they were very generous in helping however they could. There was a real outpouring of help.”

The help also came from a building fund started in the mission years ago as well as from the Diocese of Savannah, the Catholic Extension Society and a few “very generous donors,” Father Ed says. In the end, $90,000 was raised to complete the kitchen, meeting area, restrooms and four classrooms.

Glenmary Brother Bob Hoffman also helped, sharing his talents to help finish the inside wiring, Sheetrock and painting.

The new parish hall also serves as an area for the intermingling of cultures—where the Hispanic and Anglo members of the parish can get to know one another.

Millen and all of Jenkins County is experiencing an increase in Hispanic immigrants, and the Catholic church is reaching out to them in various ways. One such way happens each Sunday afternoon when Glenmary Father Larry Goulding, pastor of the nearby Waynesboro and Louisville, Ga., missions, visits Millen to celebrate a Spanish liturgy.

It’s the agriculture and light industry that bring the Hispanics to rural areas like Millen, but as the crop seasons change, so does the Hispanic population, making it difficult to minister to them. “There are maybe 20 Hispanic families who attend the mission on a regular basis,” Father Ed says. “But the rest are pretty transient.”

But despite the challenges, he does see the Anglo and Hispanic cultures melding—mostly through children. Anglo and Hispanic children all attend religious education classes led by Glenmary Sister Mary Ellen Barrett, the mission’s pastoral associate and director of the Catholic Thrift Shop.

“Kids pick up language so quickly, so they are learning from each other and then taking that home to their parents,” Father Ed says. It’s especially helpful to the Hispanic mothers who aren’t exposed to English regularly because they stay home.”

In this primarily agricultural area known for peanuts, cotton, soy beans and corn, the past few years have been difficult due to a persistent drought. Combine that with falling crop prices and it makes it difficult to earn a living and provide for a family. And it makes it difficult to hire migrant workers.

“It’s hard on everyone,” Father Ed says. That’s why the completion of the church hall is such an accomplishment and why people are so proud of it.Good things are happening too at Father Ed’s base mission in Sylvania, 20 miles from Millen: They are preparing for a tent meeting.

Father Ed is a member of the local ministerial association which is planning the meeting for the end of February. Last year the annual event brought together 300 people for a “good, old-fashioned tent revival,” Father Ed says. This year, a larger tent has been ordered, with the hopes that the crowd will be even larger.

An evangelical minister delivers the message to those gathered, some of whom are members of local churches and others who may be unchurched. All of the ministers, including Father Ed, are present throughout, and those interested in a particular church are referred to the appropriate ministers for more information.

“It’s really got a Protestant feel,” Father Ed says of the gathering. But, he adds, in order to attract people in this Bible Belt area, it needs that feel. “There are a lot of local people who attend, so it’s good visibility for the Catholic church,” he says. “But most of all it’s a really great thing for people of various denominations to sit down together and hear Jesus Christ proclaimed as Lord and Savior—and to share that belief.”

This article originally appeared in the February 2002 Boost-A-Month Club Newsletter