By Thea Jarvis

On Friday, March 25, the little community of St. Paul the Apostle in Cleveland, Georgia will dedicate its new church.

About 100 parishioners will join Archbishop Thomas Donnellan and pastor Father Bob Poandl in asking the Lord’s blessing on the structure, which stands on close to five acres of land just outside the Cleveland city limits.

This rural Catholic outpost, nestled in the softly rolling hills of north Georgia, has come a long way in its journey of faith.

When the Glenmary Fathers opened St. Luke’s Church in Dahlonega in the 1950’s, a natural outgrowth of their ministry was a move north towards Cleveland and the quiet beginnings of the Appalachian chain.

On June 5, 1964, the church of St. Paul celebrated its first Mass in Ward’s Funeral Home, a local establishment generous enough to share its facility with the newly-formed congregation. Six people attended, along with Glenmary missioner Father Frank Ruff.

Over the years, the community made use of several sites for weekly liturgies and religious education classes. The church relied heavily on lay leadership and the assistance of religious who staffed the small school of religion.

The new church reflects these simple beginnings and the ideal of community life to which the parish aspires. Basking in the warmth of a late winter day, it awaits the finishing touches that will make it whole.

The building is clad in an earth-hued exterior siding with touches of stone near its windows. It is a multi-functional structure, housing sanctuary, community room, classrooms, kitchen and offices under one roof.

It is clearly the home of a straightforward, hospitable congregation that enjoys being together in worship and fellowship, and has been carefully wrought by two Glenmary brothers whose patience and expertise has enabled members of the parish to assist in the construction process.

“They’re not only building the buildings,” said Franciscan Sister Joan Meyer, who works full-time in the Cleveland parish and has stopped by to check on the brother’s progress. “They’re helping to build the community.”

Brothers Larry Joachim and Virgil Siefker are indeed a community-building team, one of three in the Glenmary order who are responsible for such endeavors. Their job is to make the presence of the Church felt in “Mission Land, U.S.A.” through the gift of their hands.

“My contribution to the Church is my hands,” Brother Larry said as he worked on-site in Cleveland completing the interior of the new church before the dedication date. “I consider it a real grace.”

The 52-year-old Indiana native has been with Glenmary since 1948 and joined the building crew in 1965. His co-worker from Ohio, Brother Virgil, has been under his tutelage for two-and-a-half years.

At 32, Brother Virgil has spent eight years in the order and is trying his wings as chief foreman of the Cleveland project. He enjoys “the construction work and working with people the way we do.”

As in other church-building projects the brothers have undertaken, this one has given rise to a warm relationship between parish families and their Glenmary guests.

Each day, parishioners bring lunch to the brothers in time for their noonday break. In the evening, the men enjoy home-cooked suppers with those who have offered to share a meal around the family table.

“Every place we go we seem to run into good people,” Brother Virgil said with an earnest smile.

Emile Cavedon, whose wife claims she is a “church widow,” has assisted the brothers each day over a period of several months. At 73, the former Rhode Islander is delighted to be one of the crew, with “bosses who are very tolerant!”

The goodwill of the brothers, who look less like bosses and more like hard-working laborers, is widely known. Over lunch in the small white frame parish house nearby the new facility, Sister Joan Meyer remembered the arrival of a young mother with a fourth grader and a two-year-old in tow. They were anxious to do their part.

“You should have seen the patience of the brothers,” she said with affection, “when they showed the two-year-old how to scrape the floor.”

To which the modest Brother Virgil replied, “She was closer to the floor than anybody else!”

A major task that required the cooperation of many parishioners was the staining of the church’s exterior siding. Because of the building’s considerable length, it took an assembly line of amateur painters three days to ready the ponderosa pine panels for installation. The brothers then spent three weeks putting them up.

“The more people can help, the cheaper the building,” Brother Larry said matter of factly, estimating that the Glenmary approach results in a savings of up to 30% for rural parishes that can ill-afford high costs. More importantly, the process of involving parishioners give them “more ownership,” Brother Larry added. “That’s really what it’s all about.”

Cleveland Catholics are happily anticipating the dedication of their new church at the end of this month. It has become a symbol of their history and a hope for the future they will share together in faith.

“One of our original parishioners told me recently it was finally becoming a reality. She said it was hard to believe we were going to have our own building.” Sister Joan said with enthusiasm.

For Brother Larry Joachim, who has witnessed many such dedications, “This is the best part, seeing the accomplishment and the appreciation of people who know they now have a place of their own.”