Where There is Need, There are Vincentians

Vincentian parishes are well-known throughout the United States: Many Dioceses have parishes named after St. Vincent de Paul, and most Vincentian parishes have long-standing histories. But the service of Vincentians also includes that of individual priests working in Diocesan parishes, some in remote locations. These priests bring the Vincentian tradition to parishes in ways as diverse as the parishes themselves. In this feature, you’ll read about four Vincentian priests and their work in parishes throughout the Midwest and Western Provinces of the Congregation of the Mission.

Father Joe Geders, CM
Jackson, Wyoming

Our Lady of the Mountain Parish in Jackson, Wyoming is a study in contrasts. The town’s population is only 8,500, but an estimated 50,000 tourists go through it daily in peak season, when the town serves as a trailhead for Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Because over 97 percent of Teton County is national park land or under a conservation easement, land is expensive. This sometimes makes it difficult for working people, who are needed to serve the tourist industry and local business, to buy land and build homes. The area also is home to a large and growing Hispanic population, in addition to the Anglo majority.

“It’s a challenge bringing people together,” says Fr. Geders. “We’ve been working on it through church devotions. Earlier this year, we held our first Corpus Christi Procession, which became an occasion for our Anglo and Hispanic parishioners to worship and share fellowship together. St. Vincent bridged the gap between the rich and poor, and that’s how I see a lot of my work here. That, and preaching the gospel, of course,” says Fr. Geders.

He also travels weekly to small missions in Affton, Wyoming, and Grand Teton National Park (in season).

“It’s very rewarding work,” says Fr. Geders, who joined the parish last year in his first pastoral assignment. After 20 years teaching at a seminary and working in financial and administrative positions, Fr. Geders says, “I was ready to do this.”

Father Phil Coury, CM
Aguilar, Colorado

In Aguilar, population 700, many of the streets are not paved and the people are poor. But the small town is home to St. Anthony of Padua Parish, which thrives on the support it gets from lifelong residents, many of whom work in the local coal mining or electrical power industries, and a new influx of retired people.

Fr. Coury arrived at St. Anthony’s in 1999, after spending four years as pastor of St. Mary’s in Las Animas, Colorado, another rural parish. “The Holy Spirit called me to pastoral work,” says Fr. Coury, whose Vincentian service has also included 20 years in education and several years as a marital and family therapist. In addition to leading St. Anthony’s Parish, he is head of a deanery that includes three churches and four satellite mission parishes in
the Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado.

“The greatest needs of the community are met by our sacramental ministries. I feel very empowered here as a Vincentian. We are furthering the Vincentian charism of working with the poor just by being here, where they are. We are led by the Spirit to do the work as the Father wills us to do,” says Fr. Coury.

Father Walter Reisinger, CM
Dixon, Missouri

Fifteen miles north of a hamlet called Devil’s Elbow in the Missouri Ozarks, Fr. Reisinger leads a parish in the equally small town of Dixon.

St. Theresa Church celebrated its 75th anniversary last year; Fr. Reisinger has been with the parish for 25 of those years.

“The people here are very poor, and many of the parishioners are older. Nearly a third are widows living on a fixed income. They have enough
to pay their bills, and set a little aside, but no more,” says Fr. Reisinger. The rolling countryside is beautiful, but jobs are scarce and the soil is not suited for farming.

Fr. Reisinger is the only Vincentian in the Jefferson City Diocese. For the last 10 years, he has also served St. Cornelius in Crocker, Missouri, about
12 miles away. As a “one-man parish”, he is the spiritual leader, cook, housekeeper and gardener rolled into one. What is special about his parish? “Spirit!” is his immediate answer. “Our motto is ‘We are family’, and we’re small enough we can bring meaning to that. Over the course of one or two Masses, everyone in the parish is here. We really know each other.”

Father Larry Christensen, CM
Fort Collins, Colorado

The need served by Fr. Christensen is very different from his cohorts in other Diocesan posts. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is a fast-growing parish in a fast-growing community. The fourth and newest parish in Fort Collins,

St. Elizabeth occupies a 17-acre campus with multiple facilities to serve more than 2,300 families.
“We have seen explosive growth here. In addition to being a university town, Hewlett Packard has a large presence here, and we were recently named in a list of ‘Top 10 Retirement Cities’,” says Fr. Christensen. “You see new homes going up all the time.”

The parishioners are diverse, but there are many young families. “We have 1,000 children in CCD,” says Fr. Christensen, whose staff includes a full-time religious educator and full-time youth minister. “We have baptisms several times monthly, a youth choir and a club for young mothers, among other things,” he says. But these activities are only part of a whole realm of services this vibrant parish offers. “We have something going on pretty much 24/7,” says Fr. Christensen.

From country roads to concrete highways, isolated valleys to hilltop perches, Vincentians can be found answering the call of service. While the challenges of each parish are different, they all share the same need for spiritual nourishment. And where there is need, there are Vincentians.