Saturday, October 6, 2007

Fr. Bruce Bavinger, SJ Chimes in from Rocky Mount and Wilson, NC



Howdy, All!

My name is Bruce Bavinger, and I’m writing from the Church of St. Therese in Wilson, and from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Rocky Mount, NC, each about an hour east of Raleigh, and about half an hour away from each other. There’s one Catholic Church with a resident pastor in each location, and Catholic Hispanic ministry was started here about 15 or so years ago. I have been here just over two years, working not as pastor but as assistant to the pastor, for Hispanic ministry. I replaced a diocesan assistant priest, a Colombian, who had been served both parish communities in this way for two years. I live in Wilson with the pastor at the parish rectory. This my first time in full-time Hispanic ministry, and while I have a decent foundation in Spanish, my skills are still growing.

My mission here is to serve the Hispanics of the area with parish ministry and outreach, and also to bring Ignatian spirituality to those I serve, principally by way of retreats, but also in other ways.

A recent highlight of my time here would be the Kermés festival that we had in Wilson on September 15th. The event was an all-day affair on the grounds of the parish school, which is adjacent to the church. It is a project of the Hispanic community there to raise money for the school, and it involves soccer and volleyball games, the serving of a good meal and many snacks, a tómbola raffle, and an evening dance. Why a highlight? God gave us a lovely, sunny day after a night of rain (!), many more people came than last year both during the day and also to the dance, the Knights of Columbus put up their tent in just the right place, and we made more than twice as much for the school as last year. Once again, the people gave so much of themselves, and outstripped my own desire to do the project, and God met them on the way and blessed them. That same experience of God’s blessing folks who are “stepping out in faith” is often repeated for me.

The opportunities of the position I have here are many. As Bill Ameche mentioned last week about western North Carolina (Oct 1), there is also here in the east an extensive Hispanic population, largely Mexican, and largely undocumented. With these two parishes as a base, I have a Sunday Mass in Spanish in both locations, and I have grown in my preaching style so that it’s more spontaneous and I am communicating with people more directly and often more powerfully. Apart from Masses, I am able to meet and serve and counsel many folks in large part through the traditional ministries that Hispanic folks request. Baptisms are done in groups, in each parish, once a month, without a Mass. I have not done the group approach for quinceañeras and wedding preparations, though I am looking harder at that for this year. I do occasional Masses in the “campos,” and I occasionally accompany one parish’s youth group with its outreach to a clinic that serves farm laborers.

My most satisfying retreat experiences have been with a group that I formed from both parishes to create this year’s Lenten retreat, which we offered on different dates in each parish. Meditations and exercises were largely handled by the members of the group, which was very creative and whom I supervised. There was an Ignatian structure to the retreat, and some good dynamics, with guided meditations, group sharing, music and devotions. We were able to offer child-care and a good turnout in each of the two parishes. My desire would be to repeat that this coming Lent, with more active participation by myself. Having been raised on “directed retreats,” the Hispanic-style group retreat that is truly Ignatian is new territory for me, as perhaps for many of us.

Let me finish up by mentioning the challenges before me this year! Accompanying the people in an increasingly anti-immigrant society is an overall challenge. It just pervades so much of the day-to-day conversation. More specifically, in one of the parishes, I will try promote unity, both among the Hispanic leaders, and between the Hispanic and the Anglo community. There is some distrust there which impedes the Spirit. In the other parish, I am focusing on raising up more leaders for the liturgical ministries, for the youth group which foundered, and for social outreach. Finally, for both parishes, I am looking to offer an Advent retreat, with a smaller group of assistants and a more active role for myself.

Any responses to the above are most welcome! I can be reached directly at bavingersj@yahoo.com or post a comment here in the blog. If you don't have a google account, simply indicate "other" in your post.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting to know.