NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE
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St. Bridget Church celebrates 50th anniversary The parish’s church building turns a half-century old as nearly 400 join Bishop Stika at Mass
DAN MCWILLIAMS
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t. Bridget Parish in Dayton on Oct. 14 celebrated the 50th anniversary of its church building, a structure close to the heart of late Nashville Bishop and Dayton native Joseph A. Durick. The parish, formerly known as St. Genevieve, now bears the name of the bishop’s mother, Bridget Gallagher Durick. Bishop Richard F. Stika presided at a bilingual Mass, attended by a full house of 385 parishioners, family, friends, and visitors. St. Bridget pastor Father Sam Sturm delivered a bilingual homily and also played piano during the liturgy. Deacon Tom Kiefer, who was ordained by Bishop Durick, came out of retirement to assist at Mass. “Father Sam amazes me,” Bishop Stika said. “I’m getting ready to see if he also parks the cars, cleans the floors, and takes my job,” the last line followed by laughter and a round of applause. “So you’re clapping because you want him to take my job?” The bishop then thanked the parish. “I just want to say gracias, thank you, for being the face of Jesus, for being the hands of Jesus in acts of charity and kindness, and by your love for being the heart of Jesus,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anything else I can say, but I see it here. For 50 years this parish has been a shining light in Dayton, and even before that with the first church of St. Genevieve. I always wondered where the name St. Bridget came
Generations together Levi Garrison, 9, and brother Benjamin, 12, are the sixth generation of the Gallagher family to attend St. Bridget Church. They are pictured with Regina Hill Corvin (left) and Mary Katherine Hill Travis, cousins of Bishop Joseph A. Durick, a Dayton native. from. Now I know it’s from a priest who was born in Dayton and then eventually became a bishop, and he named this church after his mother. The power of a bishop. “If I begin another parish, it’ll be St. Helen,” added the son of Frank and Helen Stika. Father Sturm expressed his gratitude to a number of people. “We are grateful for all of those who have selflessly given of themselves to renovate the building, installing new ceiling tiles, new LED lighting, new carpeting, and the moving of the tabernacle to the center of the sanctuary,” he said. “Also, installing that camera back there so
the people in the hall can go to Mass while we’re in Mass here, and waxing the floors.” The pastor thanked the bishop for coming. “Deacon Tom, thank you for coming out of retirement in order to assist the bishop at this special liturgy,” he said, before recognizing his mom and two brothers in attendance. Two sisters, Mary Katherine Hill Travis and Regina Hill Corvin, are relatives of Bishop Durick and lifelong St. Bridget parishioners. “Bishop Durick and my mother were first cousins,” Mrs. Travis said. “He’s been to my house to eat.”
By Dan McWilliams Mrs. Corvin was the first child baptized in St. Bridget Church, in 1946. “We and our children are the last of the Gallaghers to be members here,” Mrs. Corvin said. “I’m the longest member of the church, and Mary is the second-longest. I’ve been going to this church 72 years, and she’s been going 70, our whole life.” Being a Catholic child in Dayton in the 1940s and ’50s put one in a small group. “My sister and I, we lived here during a period of time when there were no other children who were Catholic in this county,” Mrs. Corvin said. “My sister and I were the only two [Catholic] children in the school system from the first through the 12th grade. We were in a small Baptist town, but we survived it very well. Our church has always been our life because of our Gallagher great-grandmother and then our grandmother, and of course, her sister, Bridget, who was the mother of Bishop Durick.” The Hill family knew Bishop Durick “very well,” Mrs. Corvin said. “He was like an uncle to us, even though he was our second cousin, because he stayed with us often, especially during the period of time of Civil Rights,” she said. “Bishop Durick was a leader in Civil Rights as bishop of Tennessee. During that period of time, he received lots of threats. During those times that he would be threatened, he would St. Bridget continued on page B7
Youth Mass participants bring ‘vibrancy and energy’ Awards are presented, and the new Diocesan Youth Ministry Advisory Council members are commissioned
By Bill Brewer
BILL BREWER
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o not be afraid” is the message Diocese of Knoxville teen leaders received Oct. 28 when they gathered at St. Albert the Great Church for the annual diocesan Youth Mass. However, Mass celebrant Father Chris Michelson placed additional challenges before the high school students, challenges God places before all of us: Do not be afraid to listen when you hear and see when you look. Taking his lead from the Gospel readings that weekend, Father Michelson let the teens know that God has high expectations for them and will always be with them. But there also was a warning. Quoting from Jeremiah—“You are in captivity because you did not listen to me”—Father Michelson cautioned the students against making the same mistake as those followers of God who had ignored Him. The St. Albert the Great pastor told the teens the lesson to glean from Jeremiah is bring people to the Lord. The pastor praised the youth for taking leadership roles in the Church among their peers and encouraged them to lead friends and strangers in their classrooms and school hallways closer to God. The some 250 youth from around the Diocese of Knoxville present for the Mass are active in their parishes and schools, and many of them take active roles in the Diocesan Youth Ministry Advisory Council. The DYMAC representatives plan youth events in the diocese, such as summer God Camps, the Catholic Youth Camp, the Winter Middle School Retreat, the youth Mass, and the National Catholic Youth Conference. They work with deanery coordinators of youth ministry and Deacon
New DYMAC members Father Chris Michelson commissioned the new Diocesan Youth Ministry Advisory Council members at the annual Youth Mass on Oct. 28 at St. Albert the Great Church. Al Forsythe, the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Knoxville. “I thank you for being here and for what you already do for our diocese and will continue to do to help our Church be a very vibrant Church,” Father Michelson said. “You bring so much vibrancy and so much energy to the Church.” Pointing to those who were in captivity who ignored God’s message, Father Michelson implored the teens to not be among the ones who heard God’s words but did not listen to them. Father Michelson’s guidance, based
on the Scriptures, included God’s expectation that His children lead others, including those who are most in need—the “remnants”—to Him. “Sometimes we get so caught up in ‘my journey,’ ‘what I’m going to do,’ that we forget to bring the rest of us to Him; to help them become part of us,” Father Michelson said. “So every Sunday when you go to Mass in your parish, listen. God has a message for the people back then, but for each of us, too. So we have to ask ourselves, ‘How am I going to reach and help the remnants to the Lord?’ “It’s easy if you’re the youth group to bring all who could come. You
all are already in the youth group, and you already want to be there. You all love the Lord. What about the rest? Does anybody here in your parish have every one of your youth at youth meetings? Does every one of your youth come to Mass? Why are we not inviting them, clearing the road, bringing the remnants and say, ‘Come to the Lord’? It’s a great challenge. It’s a challenge Jeremiah gave for his 50 years of leading his people. It’s the same message over and over,” he added. Pointing out that his Youth Mass congregants are used to hearing Youth Mass continued on page B5