By Michael Motes

When Joe Flanagan sent a job description to a Louisiana priest looking for an assistant lay co-worker, the venerable St. Vincent de Paul Society director had no idea that he would eventually be filling the post himself!

Now, after serving his beloved Vicentians in the archdiocese since September 1966, Joe is returning to his native Louisiana and to a former “home parish.”

The strange saga began several months ago when Joe received an urgent call for help from Father Louis Melancon, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Lake Charles, Louisiana, where Joe had been a successful real estate broker and City Councilman before his move to Atlanta.

“The parish was really in trouble,” Joe says. “The current pastor had inherited a parish which had been under the very capable leadership of one priest for 36 years. Unfortunately, the former pastor died and when someone tried to replace him, the task was almost impossible. The entire parish had been governed by this one individual and, quite frankly, no one knew what to do. The parish didn’t even have a parish council!”

One of Joe’s friends in Lake Charles, suggested to Father Melancon that he contact Joe in Atlanta and see if he could visit the parish and offer suggestions on how to remedy the situation.

“That’s when I got into trouble,” Joe chortled. “I visited the parish, which by now had established a parish council, and offered some suggestions for further lay involvement. At the request of Father Melancon, I prepared a job description to enable him to decide the type of person he was looking for. Since there is a great shortage of priests in Louisiana, a lay associate pastor was the only remedy.”

After an unsuccessful search for someone to fill the post, Joe received another call and was begged to return “home” and take the job.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t keep a copy of the job description, so I can’t remember everything that I’m supposed to be doing,” Joe jokes.

The decision to leave Atlanta was “one of the toughest I have ever had to make,” Joe admits. He recalls that it was only three years ago that he and his wife decided that they would make Atlanta their permanent home. At that time, they sold their home in Lake Charles, which they had kept rented since their move to Atlanta.

“After much praying, I decided to take the job, which I will begin in November. When I received the call, I told Father Melancon, “I know you want me, but I’m not sure that the Lord wants me.”

“Well, I’m still not 100 per cent certain, but I have accepted that this is a great challenge from the Lord, and I am willing to devote my full potential to the task,” Joe added.

Since two of Joe’s four children were baptized at Immaculate Conception, he is very familiar with the Louisiana parish.

“In fact, I actually went back there out of a certain amount of curiosity - I wanted to see what was happening to this wonderful old parish,” he says.

Joe adds that he was very disturbed after the visit which paved the way for his future job.

“There was no sense of family in the parish. Everyone was asking, ‘Where do we belong? What should we be doing?’ You must remember, that for 36 years one pastor had made all the decisions.”

Joe says that the first thing he hopes to accomplish is the “creation of community groups” within the parish.

“I hope to do this by establishing parish interest groups in such areas as home Masses and an active Liturgy Commission. I hope such groups can foster, in a closer way, a relationship with the Church. I also plan to utilize and emphasize communications. The first step here will probably be the establishment of a parish newsletter to keep everyone informed of what is going on and to enable the parishioners to express their needs and desires.”

Joe’s new parish is made up of about 50 per cent senior citizens, 30 per cent middle-aged and only 20 per cent young people.

“One of the economic features of the parish has to do with housing,” he says. “Jobs are available, but housing is scarce and quite expensive. There are some young people buying the older homes and restoring them, but many of these, while living within the parish boundary, go elsewhere for Church activities. I hope to get these young people involved in parish life just as soon as possible. There is an obvious generation gap which I hope we can find a way to bridge.”

Asked what he fears most about the new job, Joe quickly replied, “I really have no fears. Since there is no precedent for what I will be doing, I can’t be compared to anyone. There is much to be done that I don’t think I will be criticized for not getting to everything at once. When you’re at rock bottom, ANYTHING you can do is a plus!”

Joe feels that his long years of devotion to work among the poor in Atlanta will be extremely beneficial in his new job.

“When I first came here,” he recalled, “I brought all of the hang-ups associated with the successful business and political life I left behind. But I was very willing to do the Lord’s work and I quickly learned to value people for what they are as individuals, not on their economic or social background. This has been the greatest training that anyone could receive in dealing with people and I shall always cherish my days in the Archdiocese of Atlanta.”

Joe will retain a connection with Georgia in his new job. His new bishop will be Bishop Gerard Frey of the Diocese of Lafayette, whose previous See was the Diocese of Savannah.

Asked the inevitable, when will Joe start work on a St. Vincent de Paul Conference in his new parish, he quickly replies, “I’m sure I’ll find time for that right away!”