Closed Everly parish donates items

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
December 2, 2004

EVERLY - Even before the final Mass at St. Mary's in Everly was held on June 27, the parish council was investigating what to do with the church property. In the end, they opted to give the majority of the items to a parish cluster on a South Dakota Indian Reservation.

Kendal Thompson, one of two parish directors for St. Mary's, said, "Being able to find a home for a lot of the property helped us realize that we are all part of a bigger church. It is bigger than St. Mary's in Everly and much bigger than the Diocese of Sioux City - we are part of the bigger church."

Father Robert Brown, administrator of St. Louis Parish in Royal who is in charge of overseeing the closure business in Everly, extended gratitude to the former pastor Father Tim Fitzgerald as well as the parish directors - Thompson and Steve Clark - along with the parish council at Everly for all of their work. He pointed out that the Everly parish had already had its final Mass prior to his appointment in mid-July.

"When I attended the first parish council meeting for St. Mary's in Everly, I never would have believed what little I had to do," said Father Brown. "I thought the parish closing would be very time-consuming, but the people have taken the whole burden on themselves. I was really impressed by that. The leadership of the lay people has been tremendous. I just can't give them enough credit and I think it goes back to the work that Father Tim did with them."

The attitude of the parishioners has also impressed Father Brown.

The parish council from Everly had voted to close the parish back in the summer of 2003.

"By the fall of 2003, seven or eight months before closing, we determined that we had three kinds of property to be concerned with - personal property, sacred items and the structure," noted Thompson. "At that time we began to look at what would be the best way to dispose of the property in a way that made good sense."

Personal property included such things as wall hangings that were not sacred items, tables, chairs, dishes and so forth.

In the spring of 2004, a priest of the diocese went through the church to identify and inventory sacred items such as the cross, altar, stations of the cross, tabernacle and numerous other things.

"Our choices on the sacred items were to find another church that could use them and if not the items would be warehoused in Sioux City until a suitable use was found for them," explained Thompson. "For the other items, it was up to the parish to decide what to do. It was a parish council decision."

The parish leaders looked at their various options - public auction, internal auction for parishioners-only, split up items among parishioners or give them to neighboring parishes.

"Through this process and discussion someone suggested that we may find a needy parish - regardless of where they may be located as long as we could get the items to them. In the process of closing down, similar to an organ donor, we could find a parish that could be given new life or a boost," he explained. "When that idea was suggested, immediately the parish council thought that was a good idea."

A representative of the Diocese of Sioux City from Central Catholic Offices made an initial call to the pastors of a six-parish cluster in Corson County, S.D. on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. By late spring, the parish knew that Father Kerry Prendiville had expressed interest in some of the parish items. He is co-pastor with Father Tony Grossenburg for the Catholic Ministry in Corson County consisting of St. Bernard in McLaughlin, St. Aloysius in Bullhead, St. Bede in Wakpala, Assumption of Mary in Kenel, St. Bonaventure in McIntosh and St. Michael in Watauga. Of these six parishes, three have a high percentage of Native American parishioners and are also in financial need.

After conversations with Father Brown, Father Kerry made a trip to Everly this past summer. The church had already closed by that time. He checked out the items and visited with Thompson and Father Brown. The South Dakota priest determined that his parishes could use almost everything - including almost all of the sacred items. They didn't have a need for the pews, organ and some of the dishes.

"We told him that we would deliver," noted Thompson.

About a dozen of the former St. Mary's parishioners who now belong to other area churches as well as high school students from St. Louis Parish in Royal, some of whom were former St. Mary's parishioners, helped pack up the items.

"It wasn't as emotional as it was at the final Mass," noted Thompson. Time has helped to ease the pain of the loss of the parish.

Using a 20-foot gooseneck trailer "loaded up to the hilt" Thompson and his two sons, Dan and Jared, delivered items to South Dakota on Nov. 20.

The universal feeling among those that helped to pack and load up the items, Thompson noted, was "that this was the right thing to do. It was much more enjoyable to do this than if we were lining up things to have a public auction. I think this ends things on a positive note."

The majority of the items will go to the Bullhead parish and some will go to the Wakpala church.

"When we got out there, it was a new experience. It was pretty eye-opening for my boys," said Thompson.

Next summer, a few of the maintenance items will be delivered after a decision has been made with the church structure. The parish council continues to meet to determine what will become of the present building.

Father Brown said if anyone is interested in the pews, they should give him a call. He has been informed that the semi-circular style of pews is - not as much demand because they are made for a specific size of structure.

The priest acknowledged that closing a parish is extremely difficult for the parishioners because they develop such a bond. This is the first time in his 41 years as a priest that he has had to deal with the process. The attitude of the former parishioners and leadership of the laity has made it much easier for him.