Smoke signals., March 01, 2003, Page 3, Image 3

Smoke Signals 3
MARCH 1, 2003
Community's 143-year-old Parish Facing Possible Consolidation
St. Michael's continued from front page
the high school parishioners reminded a recent meeting, has some "soft spots"
that better be fixed before they bring those skates out again.
The central role that the Church has played in the community can also be
seen in the history stored in Church archives with records of baptisms, confir
mations, marriages and funerals in the community for nearly 150 years, ac
cording to Tribal Council member Reyn Leno. Those records are now stored at
St. James Church in McMinnville.
But between a growing shortage of priests and a dwindling group of parishio
ners, some in the parish worry that all these years of history are about to come
to an end.
Father Terry O'Connell, Pastor for St. James with responsibilities for St.
Michael's, Good Shephard Church in Sheridan and St. Martin de Porres Mis
sion in Dayton, partially confirmed those worries when he called a meeting
recently of the two west valley parishes. He said that the future likely had some
changes in store.
"(St. Michael's) has been sharing a priest with Sheridan for a good many
years," he said in an interview afterwards. "They've been aware, with the de
clining number of priests in the Archdiocese, that something in the future may
be happening there as far as not having a resident priest."
On a recent Sunday, Mass numbers at St. Michael's were 66, and at Good
Shepherd 77 attended but the numbers may not be as threatening to the parish's
future as the scarcity of priests.
Until January 15, Father Joseph Bosch lived at
the Sheridan parish and served as Father O'Connell's
assistant taking care of pastoral ministries for both
of the west valley churches. Since the Archdiocese
of Portland moved Father Bosch to a church in
Brookings, however, neither west valley parish has
had the benefit of a resident priest.
The Archdiocese made arrangements for Father
Rich Wallace, a teacher from the Mt. Angel Semi
nary, to perform one Mass at St. Michael's and one
at Good Shepherd on Sundays.
"So now," said Father O'Connell, "we have to start
planning on how we're going to do in the middle of
the week, Sunday school for kids, religious educa
tion, down to how to pay the bills. We have admin
istrative and pastoral ministries in both ministries.
drhfi 1 1 & i nowmucnsnouiawedoneremMcMmnviiie- u
1 I HI 1 II) I we need to hire a layperson during the week? Do
we need to have a joint pastoral council with all
four churches?"
It is possible to do all of the administrative work
for St. Michael's, and for that matter, Good Shep
herd, too, in McMinnville as long as each parish's books are kept separately,
according to Father O'Connell, but the question of providing priests for Mass is
a little stickier. The parishes are
pretty much hostage to the sched
ules of substitute priests rounded up
from here and there.
"What I'd like to do," said Father
O'Connell, "is form a joint council
from folks at all four churches and
then we decide 'what if?' Play with
scenarios. If this, then that. So,
we've thought it out ahead of time."
"At this point, we do have Sunday
services (for St. Michael's and Good
Shepherd) going into the foreseeable
future," said the priest. Among pos
sibilities, however, is the chance that
Sunday Masses for these communities will be held in McMinnville, where the
St. James parish has embarked on an effort to enlarge the church.
Also being looked at is the question of whether to develop a retreat center at
the St. Michael's parish. A recent survey seeking interest in the idea from
parishes across western Oregon received a positive response, said Father
O'Connell, as did initial comment from St. Michael's parishioners.
"I believe in self-determination," said Dr. Wilbert James, a physician at the
Tribe's Wellness Clinic, and a St. James parish
ioner. "I think it's important for Grand Ronde to
decide what's important for Grand Ronde. . .When
we moved home (Swinomish, Washington) in
1970, the Catholic Church was boarded up. We
took the boards off the windows, painted the
church, paid the electric bill because the church
was important to us. I think the most valuable
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V VHP I commumtv nere in Grand Ronde."
in mia-r eDruary, some csu pansnioners at tne
St. Michael's parish hall - almost half high
schoolers - sought other solutions for keeping the
parish vital.
"Just a priest coming in and saying a Mass
doesn't make it a Catholic community," said Steve
Heffernan, parish council president. "We're here
to do whatever we can to make St. Michael's
Church a viable Catholic community."
With the idea, as Heffernan said, that "the
Archbishop wants to see an active parish," the
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An early photo of St Michael's Church,
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group then brainstormed ideas to bring the community back to life.
Among the ideas were some seeking greater involvement from parishioners,
Knights of Columbus, students, development of an advertising brochure her
alding the history of "the third oldest parish in the state," building a baseball
field on church grounds, volunteer drivers, prayer circles, presentations of Sta
tions of the Cross, renewed efforts to greet new faces at Mass, activity nights
for children, and development of interpretative signs describing the history of
this Indian mission turned community church.
Also in the mix of considerations is concern about
what happens to a generous grant to the parish
made by Pauline Uglow in the late 1960s or early
1970s, which now has grown to more than
$300,000, according to Joan Veilleux, 41 years
with the parish and now treasurer. The gift speci
fied that the parish may use only interest from
the grant, said Veilleux.
The only way that possession of that gift would
change, according to Father O'Connell, is if the
local parish were disbanded, something not cur
rently under consideration. In that case, how
ever, the funds would be divided among neigh
boring parishes covering the geographic area now
covered by St. Michael's Church, said Father
O'Connell. "We would do the best to follow the
donor's wishes."
The Church, founded in 1860 as an Indian mis
sion by Father AdrienJoseph Crockett (also spelled
Croquet), was converted to a community parish in
the 1960s, according to historical information col
lected by Father Martinus Cawley of the Trappist
Abbey, Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Lafayette. His
studies of Catholic history in western Oregon include Father Crockett of Grand
Ronde and Father Felix Bucher, S.D.S. Missionary and Mystic of Grand Ronde,
Oregon.
In 1938, the current church building went up and the community was served
for many years by Salvatorian priests and a variety of orders of nuns. From
1946-1968, Grand Ronde had a K-8 Catholic school ultimately served by the
Sisters of St. Mary of the Valley, based in Beaverton. This last order left the
parish when the school closed.
Although Indians were once the predominant parishioners, their attendance
fell when the school closed, according to Galligher and others, although nobody
interviewed knows exactly why. Today, Galligher said, the church may be
host each Sunday to no more than half a dozen regulars from the Indian com
munity. "I still go to church there," said Tribal Elder Verna Larsen, "and I don't see
many of the people from Grand Ronde."
With memories of days gone by and the possibilities and uncertainties of the
days to come swirling through the community, the parish's day-to-day activi
ties continue, and even some of these are reminders of the past.
St. Michael's is the kind of place, according to Tribal Elder Violet Zimbrick,
where even when people leave the area, "they come back to the parish to be
buried. Now," she said, "we have a funeral coming up and we don't have a
priest so we havejto go to McMinnville."
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