“Earth” is the fundamental connection underlying us all—the mixture of matter that, together with water, supports our lives. Symbolizing that connection and communion, the faithful at St. James Church in North Jackson, Mahoning County (now Our Lady of the Lakes Parish), added earth from their family properties to a common container during dedication ceremonies in 1982 for their new church. They also added samples from Rome, the Holy Land, Saint Columba Cathedral and Saint Brendan Parish—then the mother church of St. James. The mixture of them all was used on the property to nourish a tree that they planted. St. James began as a mission in North Jackson in 1937 and was later named a parish in 1943. The church merged with St. Catherine in Lake Milton in 2010 to become Our Lady of the Lakes.
