AFTER THE FLOOD
Friday, September 27, was the first sunny day in Erwin, Tennessee, after several days of downpour from Hurricane Helene. Glenmary Brother Corey Soignier swiped away the flood warning notification that came up on his phone, thinking nothing of it. It wasn’t until Father Tom Charters, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel in Erwin, received a […]
THE MOMENT I KNEW: BROTHER JACK HENN
At the age of 24, now-Brother Jack Henn had a pretty wonderful life. After graduating from Thomas More College with a degree in accounting, he spent a few years working as a public accountant and a corporate auditor. It afforded him a nice car and comfortable place to live. Plus, he had a wonderful family, […]
A GLENMARY MISSION RESPONDS TO A LOCAL DISASTER
On any given day, Father Tom Charters, associate pastor of St. Michael the Archangel mission in Erwin, Tennessee, might be serving a basic needs request for food, utility, or rent assistance. A phone call from a parishioner on Sept. 27, 2024, however, took the need to respond in a totally different direction. “A woman was […]
TIMES CHANGE, NEEDS DON’T
On a brisk fall evening in October of 1980 I did something I had never done before and would never do again: I went racoon hunting! For seven hours that night, I went walking hills and hollers in Magoffin County in Eastern Kentucky. Some background might be helpful. I was in year two of my […]
OUR LADY OF THE FIELDS
Mary, patroness of Glenmary, reveals her love for rural people in a French apparition that took root in modern North America. By Brother Thomas Nguyen One of Glenmary’s lesser-known treasures is our devotion to Our Lady of the Fields. But who is she? Why is she the patroness of the Glenmary Home Missioners? It was […]
MISSION TO FUTURE MISSIONERS
What motivates men to join Glenmary to become a priest or Brother? Brother David Henley has thought and prayed a lot about that. In late summer 2024, he finished 14 years as Director of Glenmary Vocations. “Meeting with the guys in the discernment program and sharing the Glenmary ministry has been very fulfilling. It truly […]
LIVING WITNESS OF SACRED SILENCE
Since entering the Glenmary Missioners as a postulant in 1964, Brother Curt Kedley has served in a variety of ministries in social work and outreach. His assignments have taken him to North Carolina, Ohio, Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and now back to North Carolina, where he resides in the Windsor, seat of rural Bertie County. “I […]
A NEW BISHOP FOR A CHANGING CHURCH
The bishop of Knoxville has a message for those who live and serve in the rural areas of the United States: “You are important!” Bishop Mark Beckman was ordained the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Knoxville on July 26, 2024. Nicknamed the “Bishop of the Mountains,” he is no stranger to the rural areas […]
MISSION TO GEORGIA
The difference between the Kenyan home of Franciscan Sisters Imelda Ngwitu and Ancilla Abonyo and their current location in Southwest Georgia might be even greater than the 12,000 miles that separate them. The Sisters relocated from an overwhelmingly Catholic culture to a place where the faith remains something of a mystery. They were dropped in […]
CHRISTMAS IN A NEW MISSION: OPPORTUNITY FOR PRESENCE
In the three-and-a-half years since a town hall meeting was convened to explore the possibility of establishing a Catholic church in Smith County, Tennessee, much has changed. With no Catholic church in Smith County ever, since its 1799 founding, local Catholics had more recently been advocating for a worship site. The initial group of 32 […]
