Support for St. Paul Mission | MCKEE, KENTUCKY
We are excited to partner with Catholic Extension to support St. Paul’s Mission Church in McKee, Kentucky, for our Lenten Social Justice Project. St. Paul’s is a very special little parish – we think we all will grow in our Catholic faith just by learning about how much St. Paul’s does with so very little.
Update
Lenten Social Justice Project 2014 Update
What is Catholic Extension?
Catholic Extension is a national organization committed to supporting and strengthening poor Catholic mission dioceses across the U.S. It provides funding and resources to 91 dioceses and hundreds of parishes through programs and services investing in people, infrastructure and ministries. This support is given based on need, passion and a commitment to the growth of the Catholic faith.
What is St. Paul’s Mission Church?
St. Paul Mission is a small church in McKee, Kentucky. Located in Appalachia, it serves a rural population and cannot even afford to have a full-time priest on staff. The priest who serves St. Paul’s also serves several other parishes. The only staff member for the entire Church is the pastoral associate, Rebecca Koury. St. Paul’s is the only Catholic Church in the entire county.
What is life like in McKee, Kentucky?
Beautiful and difficult. Approximately 53 percent of the families live below the poverty line. That means they do not even have basic necessities. The small church, with only one staff member, serves more than 10,000 people through various outreach ministries.
How are we helping St. Paul’s?
The community is so poor that it cannot really sustain the Church without help. A grant from Catholic Extension pays the salary of the pastoral associate, Rebecca Koury, and also supports the various ministries administered by Rebecca. If every individual attending Holy Family on one weekend would commit to put aside $10 over the 40 days of Lent, we would raise more than $25,000 to fund this grant and help this small parish.
Tell us about Rebecca Koury.
Rebecca first traveled to Appalachia as a student and fell in love with the people and the area. She is a bright, energetic young woman, who gives her all to the Church and the McKee community. She is so dedicated that she even plans to start work on her master’s in Organizational Leadership through Gonzaga University in the coming months.
Tell us more about Rebecca’s work for St. Paul’s.
Rebecca works directly with Father Michael Flanagan, pastor of St. Paul’s, but she is the onsite face of the Catholic Church for the entire county. In areas like McKee, Catholics are in the minority, but the Catholic Church is known for its social outreach to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Here are some things the Church offers through Rebecca’s presence:
Emergency assistance – financial, emotional, material, spiritual. “I answer the door and phone at all hours when people come in need. We operate ‘The Attic,’ a thrift store that receives clothes, household items, toys, anything generous donors from across the country send.”
Community Thanksgiving Dinner for elderly and homebound
Christmas Forward program, which enables poor families to do community service in exchange for receiving toys for their children for Christmas. In its first year, 95 families participated, and more than 680 hours of community service were logged, including four families who started working on their GEDs! This program is literally changing the face of poverty!
And, she hosts more than 100 college, high school and church group volunteers each year who help her coordinate clean up days and a summer camp for kids.
How did Holy Family get involved in this program?
Father Terry, Ro Geisler, Sue Geegan and Owen Walsh drove to McKee this summer. They were so struck by the wonderful faith community that they encountered, despite the rampant poverty, that they wanted all of Holy Family to have an opportunity to get involved.
Tell us more about Catholic Extension.
Helping St. Paul’s is only one thing Catholic Extension does. Catholic Extension was started in 1905 by a priest named Father Francis Clement Kelley, who believed that all Catholics deserved a rich and rewarding Church experience. He encouraged fellow Catholics to support those in areas like Appalachia, where they couldn’t afford a pastoral associate, a young adult ministry or a building repair. And, they responded. Helping fellow Catholics in need is what Catholic Extension is all about.