By Rita McInerney

This is the first of two articles recalling Glenmary Home Missioners service in the North Georgia mountain areas of the archdiocese of Atlanta. This is the 50^th anniversary year of the Glenmary society.

When Father William Howard Bishop founded the Glenmary Home Missioners 50 years ago to minister in the rural South and Appalachia, one of his goals were to improve the lives of people in these regions, Catholic or not.

In the 29 years Glenmary has been in north Georgia, Father Bishop’s priests and brothers have followed his dream while bringing the church to Catholics in small towns and down the back roads of the scenic region. They have reached the hidden-away and visible poor through parish, ecumenical and community outreach.

The work of Glenmarians in the rural South has attracted others to work with them.

One priest, Father Alex Kennan, appreciates their effort with the clarity of one coming from another latitude of the church. On five-year release from the Boston archdiocese to Glenmary, he sees their work as “incredibly important to large community.”

***

In the early 1960s, Catholics were scarce in north Georgia counties. This was why Glenmary came.

A working agreement was signed Feb. 11, 1960, between Bishop Francis E. Hyland of Atlanta, and Father Clement F. Borchers, superior general of the Glenmarians, to cover Lumpkin, Towns, White and Union counties in north Georgia.

According to papers in the Glenmary archives in Cincinati, Ohio, there was correspondence in 1956 in which Glenmary offered to come to the diocese. This offer was politely refused. Then, in 1959, Bishop Hyland wrote to Father Borchers. The result is a shining chapter in archdiocesan history.

According to Glenmary archives, Glenmarians celebrated Mass for the first time in Dahlonega in late 1960, Cleveland in July, 1961; Clayton in 1963, Clarkesville in 1964, and Blairsville in 1966. In each town, the congregation consisted at the time of a handful of people.

Three decades later, it is not unusual to see Glenmary-inspired bumper stickers proclaiming “Proud To Be Catholic” in areas where people once seemed to relish telling strangers that they “had never met a Catholic before.”

The first Glenmary priests in north Georgia brought to the few Catholics there a chance to grow in the faith they had sustained during years of traveling 40 or 50 miles each Sunday for Mass. They had refused to succumb to the convenience of local churches of more popular Southern persuasion.

These early Catholics, nourished and affirmed in their faith by the open ministry of the Glenmarians, were eager to share the warmth of their faith communities. As the years passed their opportunity to grow in numbers came with the arrival of transplanted Catholics finding north Georgia a good place to live. Newcomers found in new faith families a spiritual life defined by Vatican II.

There were the same Sunday Masses, holy days, collections, church suppers, fall bazaars they had known in larger Catholic parishes. But this new experience of church, liturgical celebrations overflowing with love and fellowship in the Holy Spirit, was a gift and a joy they were moved to share with neighbors and co-workers.

Dahlonega

In September, 1960, a seven-room house was rented next to the Presbyterian church in Dahlonega. This was the residence and chapel for the new mission of St. Luke’s. Father Leonard Spanjers, now laicized, was the first Glenmary priest to serve in the Atlanta diocese, arriving in September, 1960. The population of Dahlonega was under 3,000.

Father Gus Guppenberger came as his assistant in 1961 and Father Frank Ruff came to serve as associate pastor in 1963.

According to the history of St. Luke’s Church, the Presbyterians in 1962 decided to build a new church just down the street. They offered the Catholics a chance to buy the historic church for $7,000. It had been built in 1898 and was the oldest church building in Lumpkin County.

Archbishop Paul Hallinan visited in August, 1962, to look over the church and a short time later asked for funds through the Georgia Missions Sunday collection. The church was purchased in October.

Glenmary Brothers Peter McQuade ad Stephen Tuttle supervised the renovation of the building for the Catholic liturgies. Parishioners and townspeople volunteered labor. Eleven months after the church purchase, Archbishop Hallinan celebrated the first Mass there. A few months later, 300 people toured the church and socialized at the open house. Later in 1963, the archbishop approved purchase of the lot behind the church as the site for a rectory and parish center.

Father Guppenberger recalls good relations with clergy of Dahlonega. There were only a few churches in town and meetings with their ministers were cordial, he said.

Another asset was Mrs. O’Shanahan, a Catholic who had lived in town for many years. She served as parish goodwill ambassador.

The friendliness of faculty members at North Georgia College where Father Guppenberger was Catholic chaplain helped in the local acceptance of Catholics, he said. There were also several Catholic families from other parts of the U.S. among the permanent company at the Army Ranger Camp on Route 10 just north of town. A few of the soldiers in for training stints on Mount Yonah usually found the Catholic church on Sunday morning.

Catholic enrollment was three students the first year Father Cuppenberger was chaplain at North Georgia College. The number increased after he was able to charter a campus Newman Club.

On Sunday mornings a bugler called all ROTC cadets to line up in formation on campus and march to the churches in town. Because of their small numbers, Catholic students were not made to march but allowed to go on their own to St. Luke’s. Often, Father Guppenberger said, there were twice as many non-Catholic cadets attending as there were Catholics. They like the fact they could stroll with their girlfriends to the earlier Mass. Going early gave them quiet time for study back in their dorms while classmates attended 11 o’clock services around town.

***

When Father Gerald Peterson came as second pastor to Dahlonega in 1966, “right after Vatican II,” he found “surprisingly little prejudice. I felt there was a real open spirit. It was far different than Appalachia, Va. (a coal mining town where he spent five years). Father Spanjers had done an excellent job making the church present in the community by working with the poor and starting an Explorer Scout troop.”

There were about 30 families at St. Luke’s on his arrival. That number more than doubled before he left in 1975. “In nine years, 63 adults joined the church,” he said.

Most became Catholic as a result of his house-to-house visitation and return calls when interest was expressed. Some were newcomers to the area - soldiers, students, partners in interfaith marriages.

In 1971, Glenmary sent two brothers, Terry O’Rourke and Paul Wilhelm, to build homes for low-income elderly. Incorporated as Help in Housing, Inc., they built 19 homes in five years. Funding came from Glenmary. A Presbyterian minister secured some money and the archdiocese supplied an interest-free loan. The bulk of financing same from the Farmers Home Administration.

Another outreach was Dial-A-Bus which provided rides for poor people who had no way of getting to doctors and other necessary visits. Glenmary supplied $10,000 for this project.