Growth, New Church in the Bible Belt

Growth, New Church in the Bible Belt February 6, 2016

IMG_4255This morning, Bishop Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv. dedicated the newest church in the Diocese of Savannah. In 1955, the Diocese purchased a small chapel built by Henry Ford in the 1930s in the town of Richmond Hill.  This chapel held nondenominational services for workers of Ford Plantation, an enormous property owned by Ford which included farms and timber.IMG_4256

Saint Anne Parish has grown tremendously since 1955, especially in the last ten years during which Richmond Hill has experienced tremendous growth. The original five families have multiplied to over 900 registered households. This is due in part to a larger trend where northerners are moving to the South, and many of them are Catholic. This reality, along with immigration from Latin America, has increased the Catholic presence in South Georgia. Catholics have always been a minority in the Diocese of Savannah (currently less than 3% of the total population), and we are now facing the need to grow and to expand. Our faithful do not fit in our churches.IMG_4266

About one year ago, Bishop Hartmayer dedicated a new church for Saint Teresa of Avila Parish in Grovetown (near Augusta) that sits 1,200 and in two months, he will dedicate a new church in Ray city (near Valdosta) which will bring together three small missions into a centrally located, large, new church.IMG_4257

The parishioners of Saint Anne, along with their pastor, Father Joe Smith, sure are proud of their new magnificent church! As Bishop Hartmayer said in the homily, “Wisdom has built herself a house.”

These pictures are my own, all rights reserved.

 

 

 


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