No matter how completely and comprehensively we believe we have defined and described our lives, there’s always another part to our story. In the Diocese of Youngstown, we are Catholic and Christian. We are Eucharistic people, who are deeply committed to the tenets of our faith. These make up the significant parts of our reality.
But there are other descriptions that tell the story of who we are and how we live our faith. Depending on where we live and work and worship, we may describe ourselves as “city folk.” If you were born in one of the urban centers of our six counties, we might be inclined to characterize the Diocese of Youngstown as urban.
If, however, we hail from a farming community, we might see our diocese as predominantly rural. The truth is that both realities exist in this northeast corner of Ohio, which extends from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, and both of these realities together make up the Catholic community here as we know it. Traveling from lake to river, there are centers of commerce—with banks and courthouses, industry and mass transit, theatre venues and gated communities. Along that same route are acres of corn, grain fields and vineyards. There are pigs, sheep, goats, cows and chickens. You might even come across some longhorn steer, buffalo and alpacas. It is not an exaggeration to say there is virtually no urban parish community in the entire diocese that does not have some link to the rural community and vice versa.
A couple years ago, Bishop David Bonner decided to shine a fresh light on the rural and farming dimensions of our diocese. It is a renewed focus, not a new one. The Diocese of Youngstown is home to six county fairs, where the presence of the Catholic community has been strong. Dedicated priests have brought the celebration of Eucharist to these events for decades. Our current Office of Rural Life and Ministry is given the task of taking a fresh look at the relationship between the urban Diocese of Youngstown and the rural Diocese of Youngstown—highlighting the interconnectedness between them.
To this end, the Office of Rural Life and Ministry is committed to bringing a bit of the city to the country and a bit of the country to the city. We want to be sure that every county fair in our six-county diocese provides an opportunity for Catholic fairgoers to participate in the celebration of Eucharist. Additionally, it is our goal to provide resources for rural families, to assist with community prayer services, farm Masses and faith formation opportunities. Now an official chapter of the national Catholic Rural Life organization, we will be able to organize speakers, workshops and social gatherings that will provide opportunities for the rural diocese and the urban diocese to intermingle and encounter one another. Capitalizing on the good work of so many who have been dedicated to working with our rural and farming families, we can make our diocese a stronger witness to the presence of God’s kingdom right here in our own backyard.
Q&A on Rural Ministry
By Father Kevin Peters and Katie Wagner
How long has the diocese had rural ministry?
I mean, it’s old … Father [Thomas] Dyer was one of the early heads of the rural ministry office of the diocese. That was probably back in the ’70s and ’80s, so there has been a connection with the diocese and the rural community for a long time … There are guys like Father [James] McKarns. Father McKarns grew up in Columbiana County. As a matter of fact, I have a picture of this 15-year-old kid on a cow, jumping at the Columbiana County Fair. The cow’s name was Thunder. The kid’s name was Jim McKarns.
Father [James] Lang has been very active with the rural community, too. He has done a lot of the fairs. He’s actually done the Stark County Fair and the Portage County Fair Masses for a long time. Father [John] Ettinger does Ashtabula and Father [William] Wainio did Columbiana last year … Father [Edward] Brienz had been involved with it as part of the Missions Office … but Bishop Bonnar recognized this as a priority—I think mostly as he drove from place-to-place in the diocese … It seems to me that [he realizes] there’s a rural dimension to the diocese and we need to focus on that.
How did you become the director of the diocesan Office of Rural Ministry?
I grew up on a farm, breaking horses and cattle and branding (*He lets that sit for a moment and then admits he is joking*). No, I didn’t. That would be cool if that was true. I grew up on the West Side of Youngstown. As a matter of fact, the closest I come to farming is that I have a worm farm.
The [worms] eat and reproduce, and they make casings. And the worm casings are very fertile [especially for] seed planting. I’m a big gardener, so I just create my own worm casings for starting seeds and fertilizing every year. The worms multiply very, very quickly, so they just end up in the garden and then I start another farm.
[After moving to St. Anthony Church, St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Canton last year], my garden is just starting now in Canton at St. Anthony. Last year was the first garden, and it was kind of weak. This year … it takes a while. It will be a little bit better. You know, by the fifth year, it’ll be a nice, strong, garden.
You serve as pastor to multiple parishes in Southern Stark County, but you also hold this Rural Ministry role. What does that role require of you?
So the overall goal is to introduce the urban Diocese of Youngstown to the rural Diocese of Youngstown, and then bring them together to kind of get that sense of our interconnectedness, our interrelationship with each other. And the most natural way that that happens every year is with our county fair.
So we have six county fairs. This past year, we were able to celebrate liturgy at five of those—and Columbiana for the first time. The bishop celebrated Mass there for that. And they loved it, so they’re in for the long haul.
The fairs are good, but breaking into [them] is not really easy because you have to find the right person … We’re having trouble with Trumbull County because we can’t find the right person to kind of break into that.
Tell us about the fair Masses.
They serve [fair participants] primarily, but also the fair-going community. They go to that Mass, and they go to the fair, but there are also the people that are like the fair residents, who actually live there … We would like to expand it a little bit so that there’s more of a presence for more of the fair. It usually happens just on the Sunday of the fair, usually very early in the morning.
The members of the fair board [in Columbiana] thought it would be a good idea to move the Mass venue from the stage into what used to be a show barn for the 4-H. They built a whole big, new complex for 4-H at the other end of the fair … So it’s kind of neat. We moved into that. The altar was set up, and Father Will Wainio—who’s like a fair child, he grew up in the fair—celebrated Mass in that show barn for the first time, which was awesome (see a photo on the cover of this magazine) … I did the homily. Behind us, there are sheep … they were kind of interested in what was going on. And you’d say something and then they’d bleat, just like they were answering whose primary charism is to pray for vocations and the poor, met with Bishop Bonnar in April to discuss establishing a presence here in the diocese.
Conversations involved two priests from the Rogationist Order of the Sacred Heart of Jesus coming to the diocese to serve a parish in Canton—an arrangement that has likely been formalized since publication of this issue. Visit www.CatholicEcho.org to get more details as they are confirmed.
What else do you do at the fair, beyond Mass?
Another goal is to increase the awareness or the presence of the Catholic community at those fairs by putting up a little information booth.
Also, we are the 28th chapter of Catholic Rural Life. Catholic Rural Life is the national rural life organization, and we just celebrated 100 years of Catholic Rural Life [in the United States] this past year. They started local chapters all across the country … and there are organizations in dioceses that are connected to the national group and can benefit from a lot of resources and best practices and stuff like that. So, we ended up being the 28th chapter. And that was only last year, maybe two years ago, that we joined that, and that we ended up being our own diocesan chapter. And I think since then, there are probably like 35 or so.
Our chapter is made up of six county representatives. I’m the diocesan liaison, and then there’s a chairperson and a chaplain … Father Dyer’s the chairperson, and Father Lang is the chaplain … The county representatives are farmers.
novenas, and a lot of resources that other chapters use, and other things that they do—all the kind of things that we could put at an information table for Catholic Rural Life at the fair. It seems like everything kind of revolves around the fair right now, because that’s where everybody gathers—rural and urban.
Outside of the fair, how do you minister to farmers?
I’ve been having dinner at a lot of farms. I had dinner with this pig farming family and two dairy farming families—they’re big families, and they’re big outfits. All three of them are interested in doing a Mass at their farm. They’re also interested in prayer services that they can do around harvest time or seed planting time. There’s the opportunity to bring the spiritual dimension [to the farms]. It’s a very spiritual group to start with.
We have six longhorn steer ranches in Northeast Ohio. Who knew? I mean, that’s a Texas thing! I’ve been doing a lot of horseback riding and making connections that way. I took a group of people to a rodeo a few weeks ago. It’s all here. It’s all here in Northeast Ohio. Like, who knows that there are rodeos [around here]?
So, there’s a lot there. What it has been for the last two years is pretty much just me making connections with farming families. And I think once those relationships are established, then we can start building some kind of calendar for rural Masses.
What do you like about this role?
Well, I like the idea that there is a whole dimension of our diocese that I had no appreciation for. In any given church, there are a significant number of people in there that are farmers, and we don’t think that way. St. John [Basilica] in downtown Canton—they have one of the biggest farming families in our diocese. And that’s in the middle of downtown! When I was over at St. Angela Merici [Parish], I had a pig farming family. They raise pigs out on Oak Street Extension. Over at St. Patrick [Parish], there’s a guy that has a horse farm. And his horse farm is just over in Trumbull County. Who knows that?
So, that’s the awareness that I think we need to raise as the Office of Rural [Life and] Ministry. I think if we can accomplish that—even just raising the awareness—I think that it’ll be a successful department.
How can people get involved?
We have a page on the website (www.doy.org/ministries/rural-ministry/). They can just call the diocese, too, and say they’re interested in rural life (330-744-8451). If I’m not at the diocese that day, I’ll still get their message.
