By Michael Motes

One morning in 1959 several hundred soldiers arrived at Ft. Oglethorpe, situated in the northern part of the state near the Tennessee border, with orders that they would be stationed there. Not very unusual—Uncle Sam has a way of shifting soldiers from base to base.

But this particular group of GIs met with a surprise. The government had abandoned Ft. Oglethorpe seven years earlier and the former Army installation buildings had been converted into a rectory, a convent, a Catholic school and a church.

After a couple of days of bivouacing at Chickamauga Battle Field, the red-faced Army once again abandoned Ft. Oglethorpe.

With the exception of a new rectory at one of its mission churches, none of the buildings owned by St. Gerard’s Church was originally built to house church activities. The church itself was first used as an Army chapel, the rectory was a band house, the convent served as officers’ quarters and the school was used as the Ft. Oglethorpe Officer’s Club.

The baseball field and park across the street from the rectory are former Army parade grounds. One of the soldiers who marched there years ago was a young lieutenant by the name of Dwight David Eisenhower.

Since 1952 the Catholics of Catoosa, Walker and Dade Counties have worked to renovate Army buildings and a gambling casino. The newest project St. Gerard parishioners plan to begin is the remodeling of a former socks factory which now serves as a mission church in Lafayette.

The Lafayette mission was begun less than a year ago. Presently there are only 10 to 15 people there who attend Mass, but they are active and dedicated according to the Rev. Anthony J. Kalb, C.SS.R., one of the Redemptorist Fathers who serve St. Gerard Parish.

“Recently four ladies of the mission paid a visit to Shepherd Hills Nursing Home for the Aged on the outskirts of Lafayette, said Fr. Kalb. “They chatted with each of the patients and gave them small gifts. The patients were cheered by their visit and the ladies received a spiritual uplift. They came face to face with living saints. These old folks, by their almost constant prayer and cheerful, patient submission to God’s will deserve the title of being the most useful citizens of our country. They appease God’s anger and bring down God’s blessings on the rest of us.”

In an area of the state where only one-half of one percent of the population is Catholic, the Redemptorist Fathers of St. Gerard’s have faced many problems since the church was started there in 1952.

“The barrier between Catholics and Protestants here was finally broken when St. Gerard’s school opened and many Protestant children began to attend,” says Fr. Joe Majewski, C.SS.R., the newest Redemptorist to come to Ft. Oglethorpe. “Although the school is now closed, there is an excellent relationship between Catholics and Protestants here. Recently a Catholic was elected to the Ft. Oglethorpe City Council for the first time. The mayor told me that if this had happened 10 years ago, there would have been a war in Georgia!”

Since coming to St. Gerard’s from Philadelphia last August, Fr. Majewski has devoted as much time as possible to trying to establish a feeling of closeness between the parishioners.

“The biggest problem we have is that the parish is so wide-spread,” he said. “I try to visit everyone in the parish at least once a moth and have now started parties to get people together.”

The social functions Fr. Majewski hosts are held in the former school, which also serves a meeting place for the recently organized CYO program. The CYO group, which numbers about 35, meets every Wednesday night. Young people from Catoosa, Dade and Walker Counties take part.

“The people here live so far apart that they just don’t know each other and that is a real problem,” says Fr. Majewski. “Now the kids are getting to know each other better and that will help to bring the entire parish closer together.”

Since Ft. Oglethorpe is located so close to Chattanooga, many of the parishioners feel that they are not actually a part of the Archdiocese of Atlanta. Through working with the archdiocese’s poverty program, Fr. Majewski hopes that his parishioners will become more aware of the fact that Atlanta is the center of their church’s activities.

At Our Lady of the Mount Mission on Lookout Mountain, about 70 per cent of the regular congregation lives in Georgia and the other 30 per cent in Tennessee.

Mrs. A.C. (“Granny”) Burkart, who daily attends morning Mass at the mission, recalls the early history of the church at Lookout Mountain.

“The first mass here was said in my home. We didn’t own a building at that time. Then the church bought the old gambling casino and the parishioners began the renovation. That was about 1946. The doors of the building were covered with steel and there were no windows. That was to prevent raids on the gambling hall. It took over a year to get the place looking like it wasn’t still a nightclub.

“Our priest at that time was Fr. John Murphy. He didn’t believe in contractors so the parishioners had to do the work! He also didn’t believe in spending much money and when we first began using the building for Mass, we met in a small barroom so that the entire church wouldn’t have to be heated.”

Pastor of Our lady of the Mount is now Fr. John C. Cavanaugh, C.SS.R., who celebrated his Silver Jubilee as a Redemptorist Father last year. In his honor, parishioners at Lookout Mountain renovated the downstairs area of the church into a large recreation area and christened it Cavanaugh Hall.

There are active organizations throughout the tri-county parish of St. Gerard’s. In addition to the CYO and other youth groups, there is the Legion of Mary, CCD and a very active Parish Council, which bought a school bus three years ago and busses children from the parish into Chattanooga where they attend Sts. Peter and Paul, Notre Dame and Our Lady of Perpetual help schools.

There are several things about St. Gerard’s that the Rev. Raymond F. Govern, C.SS.R., pastor, feels are different from other parishes in the archdiocese.

“We have a liturgy offertory program that is not used in many other churches,” said Fr. Govern. “When the altar boys at St. Gerard’s bring gifts to the altar, the entire congregation follows, singing an offertory hymn. They then place their envelopes at the altar. This is an ancient practice dating back to the earliest days of the church. Even if the envelope is empty, all take part in this and seem to enjoy it. It is very symbolic of the Wise Men carrying their gifts to the manger.”

Fr. Govern also pointed out that in the parishes that have used the offertory ceremony, church revenue on the average has increased by almost 400 per cent.

One of the latest fund-raising projects at St. Gerard’s was a horse show, which Fr. Govern originated and Fr. Majewski greatly encouraged, having formerly ridden in rodeos and calf-roping contest. Admissions and advertising from the show netted almost $1,200 for the parish.

St. Gerard’s is an interesting parish with an interesting history. There is humor to be found in a beautiful mountain church that was once a gambling casino; in a group of soldiers arriving at an abandoned fort, and in the stories Granny Burkart tells of the tight-fisted Fr. Murphy.

But the real message one can learn from the history of St. Gerard’s comes from a statement by Fr. Kalb. When jokingly asked if anything connected with St. Gerard’s was originally built to serve as church property, he replied:

“No, but perhaps that’s the way thing should be. When you have to really work for something to help in service to God and then obtain it, it means so much more.”

And the people of St. Gerard’s Parish have obtained very much.