Newspaper Page Text
Thursday, May 11, 2000
The Southern Cross, Page 3
Saint Jude Church, Glennville: a parish still a-huilding
A mission of Claxton’s Saint
Christopher Church, Saint
Jude Church in Glennville
has come a long way.
Located in Tattnall
County and with a popula
tion presently of 3,676,
Glennville covers a land
area of 15,804 square kilome
ters in the southeast section
of Georgia. Back in 1958, H*
when three acres of land were pur
chased by the diocese for the future
construction of a church, Glennville
Catholics were meeting in the town’s
Community House each Sunday for
Mass. Their spiritual well-being was
the responsibility of a busy priest
who tended the religious needs of the
faithful at Claxton and Pembroke, as
well as their own mission parish. The
patience of these pioneer Catholics,
who at one point could look through
floorboards of their meeting place
and see the ground beneath, was
rewarded when the new Catholic
church, Saint Jude, was dedicated on
April 30, 1961.
Like any new facility, Saint Jude
needed to be furnished and finished.
The additions of a parish kitchen/hall
and utility room circa 1965, were fol
lowed by construction of a large hall
in 1972. In 1985, a vestibule and
sacristy, appropriately adorned
with a stained glass window
portraying Saint Jude,
enhanced the church. A
steeple became the crown
ing touch of the church
structure shortly thereafter.
Saint Jude drew additonal
“furnishings” from a varied
DeLorme group of benefactors which
included the Confraternity of the
Laity of the Savannah Diocese, and
numerous individuals and family
groups eager to supply the parish’s
needs.
From the beginning, the parish has
been under the care of Glenmary
priests and continues under their care
today. Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual
Adoration came in 1970, in response
to a request from Father James
Wilmes, to work as nurses in
Claxton’s Evans Memorial Hospital
and to minister to the poor in the
area. The sisters’ work expanded to
include Pembroke in 1978 when
Sister Florence Marie Veit traveled
there to work as nurse practitioner in
a well-set-up clinic. The sisters’ min
istry continues to this day with Sister
Janet Fischer of the Franciscan
Sisters of Perpetual Adoration serv-
Sister Rose Mary Collins, SSJ, appointed
Superintendent of Schools
By Barbara D. King
Savannah
B ishop J. Kevin Boland
appointed Sister Rose
Mary Collins, SSJ, as
Superintendent of Catholic
Schools effective May 1.
Sister Rose Mary has been
serving as Acting
Superintendent since illness
forced former
Superintendent Sister
Mary Frances Sobczak to
resign in late 1999. Sister
Mary Frances died in March.
A native of Philadelphia, Sister
Rose Mary joined the Diocese of
Savannah staff in 1997 to serve as
Assistant Superintendent for
Curriculum and Instruction. She also
served as interim Principal for Notre
Dame Academy in Savannah for the
academic year 1997-98.
Sister holds a BS degree from
Chestnut Hill College and an MA
from Villanova University. She
taught in Philadelphia parochial
schools before serving as Principal of
several Catholic schools in New
Jersey and Pennsylvania.
In the early 1990’s, she was invited
to Washington, DC, to start a pro
gram modeled after Americorp to
offer college graduates an opportuni
ty for service and on the job training
by teaching full-time in Catholic
schools in exchange for a stipend.
Sister Rose Mary added a com
munal living and spiritual for
mation dimension to the pro
gram, which was known as
the Teacher Service Corps.
As a result of the success
of the program, it served as
a blueprint for three other
programs, among them the
Alliance for Catholic
Education (ACE) begun
Sister Rose Mary at the University of Notre
Collins, SSJ Dame. Sister Rose Mary
taught at Notre Dame the
first summer the program began there
and acted in an advisory capacity to
the program for its first year.
Sister Rose Mary’s skills in recruit
ment also led to her appointment as
Director of Staff Services for the
Archdiocese of Washington from
1990 through 1997.
“My greatest joy as an educator is
to invite and train new personnel for
our schools,” Sister Rose Mary said.
Sister “brings to this new role for
the diocese her knowledge of our
schools, her experience in working
jointly with Sister Mary Frances, and
her own record of solid and innova
tive educational leadership,” said
Sister Mary Faith McKean, Dio
cesan Chancellor, in announcing the
Bishop’s appointment, said, “The dio
cese looks forward to the schools con
tinued growth under her guidance.”
Saint Jude Church, Glennville
ing as pastoral assistant, CCD and
RCIA adult instructor and “clothes
basket” coordinator in the trio of
parishes made up of Saint Christo
pher (Claxton), Holy Cross (Pem
broke) and Saint Jude in Glennville.
Today, Saint Jude parish has a mem
bership of over a hundred parisioners,
many of whom are of Hispanic origin.
In addition to the Sunday morning ser
vice, Mass is offered in the evening
for the Spanish-speaking members of
the parish. Father Brian LaBurt, a
Glenmary priest, sees to the needs of
Saint Jude, Saint Christopher and Holy
Cross parishes each week.
A member of Saint Jude parish,
when asked what features of her
church she liked best, responded
immediately that she liked its small
size and the friendliness of the parish
ioners. She also noted that there were
more young people at present in the
parish for her own children to associ
ate with and added, “We have a priest
we really like.”
With this kind of goodwill and with
much effort on the part of priest and
people alike, Saint Jude Church in
Glennville has truly kept on “a-build-
ing” over the years.
Rita H. DeLorme is a volunteer in the
Diocesan Archives.
Diocese of Savannah Vocation Retreats
Vocatio Dei 2000, Session I, June 2-4. This weekend retreat is open to any
single adult man who is searching for God’s will for his life and is open to
the priesthood. (The minimum age is a rising junior in high school.) The
retreat begins on Friday evening and concludes on Sunday afternoon. It will
be held at Saint John’s Center in Savannah. (Vocatio Dei, Session I is co
sponsored this year by the Diocese of Saint Augustine.)
Vocatio Dei 2000, Session II, June 7-10. This four-day combination sports
camp/retreat is for rising 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th grade boys. It is an opportu
nity to learn about different vocations, to grow in holiness and to have a
great time! The camp will be held at Saint John’s Center in Savannah.
Call to Holiness 2000, July 23-26. This four-day sports camp/retreat is the
same opportunity as Vocatio Dei Session II, except it is for girls. The camp
is for 7th-10th grade girls and will be held at Saint John’s Center in
Savannah. Older girls are also needed as counselors.
For more information about these retreats, contact Father Brett Brannen at
912-743-1454 or e-mail him at Frbrett@savannahpriest.com or
Aaron Killips at Bravesfan@Hotmail.com.
Registration Form
Vocatio Dei, Session I Vocatio Dei, Session 11
Name
Age Grade Parish
Call to Holiness
Address
City, State, Zip_
Tel. ( )
E-mail
Mail to: Vocation Office, 131 Ward Street, Macon, GA 31204.