Brother David: New Mission Updates

I visited Glenmary's newest missions located in Union and Grainger County, Tennessee this past week. Glenmarians, Fr. Steve, Br. Joe and Br Craig serve together on a mission team assigned to both missions.

These are exciting times in the mission - new signs are announcing the Catholic Church's presence are installed in front of the storefront in Union County and the community is celebrating the sacraments on a regular schedule. Last week an ecumenical Thanksgiving service was held in Union County for the first time ever, thanks in part to the Glenmarians for organizing the program. And in Grainger County a building has been rented for the Catholic Community and renovations are under way. They are already preparing for the upcoming Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration. But it is not all good news, there are disturbing statistics which have just been released in a report by the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrating the need and the challenging road ahead for the missioners and the people in the county - it states that 40% of the children in Union County are living in poverty! Grainger County did not fare much better in the report, 31% of the children there are living in poverty!