One Church to help Holy Spirit, Hamburg

Published: September 23, 2019

Last year, the Diocese of Little Rock launched One Church: Unite Arkansas in Faith and Mission, a program that invites all parishes in Arkansas to partner with a struggling, neighboring rural parish and help it become a thriving community. The first beneficiary of this initiative was St. Luke Church in Warren. As a result, the parish is receiving nearly $288,000 for its capital campaign through One Church and Catholic Extension. That along with the $250,000 pledged by St. Luke parishioners is making the dedication of a new church, previously an old farmers’ co-op before being renovated, possible this November. Learn more.

This month, the diocese announced the 2019-20 One Church partner: Holy Spirit Church in Hamburg. This young parish in southeast Arkansas has a new parish building that it would like to pay off so it can offer more spiritual and social programs in the church and community. 

A Firestone tire shop was converted into a sanctuary, office and parish hall for the community in 2013. At the time, no extra money was available to replace the roof. Inside the parish hall, the walls were left plain and no carpet was installed to save additional renovation costs. There is room on the property for a playground but no extra funds to make that happen. Like a lot of young families, the parish has enough money to pay its mortgage and utilities, but little is left to allow the church is offer more programs and ministries. Learn more

In a letter launching this year's One Church program, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor shared his goals for this year's campaign. "It would be wonderful if all the parishes in our diocese could help raise $160,000 to eliminate the mortgage for Holy Spirit Church. Beyond financial assistance, it would be great for parishes to think of other ways to help the church in Hamburg grow. One idea is medical, dental, or vision clinics to help with the health care needs of the people of Hamburg."

Parishes in the Diocese of Little Rock may choose to support this initiative in various ways, from a second collection to a fundraiser through the youth group. More ideas can be found here. Arkansas Catholics are invited to donate now by making an online gift or mailing a check to: Catholic Charities of Arkansas, 2500 N. Tyler St., Little Rock, AR 72207. Checks should be made payable to: "Diocese of Little Rock-One Church" with the notation "Holy Spirit Hamburg."