Father Tom Field—Bryson City, North Carolina
Building Up the Body of Christ

Father Tom Field and members of the parish started a local Habitat program to provide housing for low-income families. He uses all the tools at his disposal when it comes to building up the Church of Bryson City.

Breaking down barriers. Touching the lives of the poor. Building up the Church of Bryson City. These are the ways Father Tom Field describes his ministry in Bryson City, a small town nestled in the Smoky Mountains. 

Glenmary has been present in this area of North Carolina since 1955. From Bryson City, Father Tom also serves the mission church of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Cherokee, where Brother Mike Springer lives and ministers.

When Glenmary first came to this county, people used to slide hate notes under the door, reports Father Tom. The message: “Get out of town. We don’t want you here.”

Today this vehement anti-Catholicism is a thing of the past. Now you can find Father Tom outside the Bryson Presbyterian Church welcoming mourners to a funeral right alongside that congregation’s pastor.

Pastors from the various churches in town now meet once a week to reflect together on the Sunday lectionary readings. “We minister to each other,” Father Tom says.

But it is not just among ministers that one can sense a new spirit of religious tolerance and respect. Father Tom, who likes to participate in community theater, tells about the time he played the archbishop in the Sound of Music. That was the same year 14 local women—some Baptist, some Church of Christ, none of them Catholic—played the part of Sisters and carefully sewed and assembled the proper habits for their roles.

After one performance these “Sisters” went out to a local restaurant, still in costume, for something to eat. They were surprised—but delighted—when a Catholic passing through town insisted on buying their meal. He was so delighted, he explained, “to see nuns still in habits.”

When Father Tom talks of the “Church in Bryson City,” he means this larger Church where each of the denominations is adding its particular strength to build up the Kingdom of God.

St. Joseph Catholic Church consists of about 80 families. One of the gifts this parish brings to this impoverished rural county is the Catholic emphasis on social outreach and serving the needs of the poor.

Father Tom and members of the parish started a local Habitat for Humanity project to provide decent, affordable housing for low-income families. And St. Joseph’s Thrift Shop, sitting right on Main Street, is the first thing one sees when looking for the Catholic Church next door. On a typical Friday in April, all available parking spaces were taken—and the aisles inside the shop were crammed with shoppers and folks just stopping by to chat.

Gene and Arla Groft are two of the parish volunteers who keep the shop operating. Originally from Pennsylvania, they vacationed in Bryson City for a number of years before retiring here a year ago. And they have been involved in the Thrift Shop ministry ever since.

“There is a lot of poverty around here,” says Arla. “We have lots and lots of customers every day we are open.” She and Gene take pride in the fact that a whole family can get outfitted for under $5.

Many ask, “Why waste a priest on such a small congregation in such a small town?”

 “God made the whole world,” Father Tom explains. “Each person has a particular call to tend to some part of it. We Glenmarians feel called to proclaim God’s goodness, God’s love in the forgotten places—the small towns and rural areas.”

Neither Father Tom or Brother Mike can imagine spending their lives in a better place.

The Bryson City and Cherokee missions have been turned back to the Diocese of Charlotte. Father Tom, suffering from Parkinson's disease, is currently living in Cincinnati, Ohio.