February | 2025 VOL 34 NO 6
IN THIS ISSUE
CHURCH AND PARISH A5 THE A4 ASt.GROWING IMMIGRATION Joseph the Worker in Madisonville shares plans for expansion
A Catholic response to the plight of migrants
YOUTH B1 ENGAGING Bishop Beckman meets with students during Catholic Schools Week
Catholic commentary ....................... A3 Parish news ....................................... B4 Diocesan calendar ............................ B5 Columns ..........................................B6-7 Catholic youth ..............................B9-10 La Cosecha ............................Section C
Catholic Charities rolls out ultrasound van
New mobile ministry offers life-giving prenatal care to mothers in need By Dan McWilliams
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atholic Charities of East Tennessee debuted a mobile ultrasound van on Jan. 23 at its Pregnancy Help Center in Helenwood, allowing mothers to see images of their unborn babies—a service that most often leads them to choose life. The gently used, low-mileage vehicle will ultimately travel throughout the diocese, said Deacon David Duhamel, executive director of CCETN. “We’re looking to expand our ultrasound and our services to moms out into our rural areas. Helenwood is one of those rural areas, and right now we’re just doing some trial runs,” he said. “We’re trying to work on our procedures and processes so that we can properly support our clientele. “We have plans to go down to Chattanooga to the Basilica [of Sts. Peter and Paul], to Signal Mountain, up to the Johnson City-Tri Cities area, and up along our Kentucky-Tennessee border, where we have three Pregnancy Help Centers. We’re expanding our ultrasound offerings to clients in those areas, as well as Cumber-
Babies on board Catholic Charities of East Tennessee's new mobile ultrasound van was in action on Jan. 23 in Helenwood at CCETN's Pregnancy Help Center, which is located next to St. Jude Church. Shown with the van are, from left, Samantha Bigley, RN; Nyah Lay, Pregnancy Help Center program coordinator; Melissa Coldiron, RN; and Sandi Davidson, CCETN Pregnancy Services program leader. land County—we’ve just started a new relationship there, working very closely with St. Francis of Assisi in Fairfield Glade and St. Alphonsus in Crossville. We’re working with community partners out there as well.”
The Knights of Columbus are a vital reason why the ultrasound van came to be. The Supreme Council donated the ultrasound machine, while many East Tennessee councils have donated to the van’s support.
“The Knights of Columbus have been a phenomenal partner with us,” Deacon Duhamel said. “Not only did Supreme buy us the actual ultrasound machine, but the councils also pitched in and gave us a substantial amount of contributions to help pay for the first two years of operating expenses, so we’ve relied quite heavily on them.” Deacon Duhamel singled out Knights Ted H. Denning Jr. Council 8781 from St. John Neumann Parish in Farragut and Council 5207 from the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Also providing extra support were Council 4264 from St. Mary in Johnson City, Holy Family Council 6099 from St. Stephen in Chattanooga, and Council 14079 from Holy Spirit in Soddy-Daisy. “I’d be remiss if I didn’t identify the Knights at Sacred Heart as well as St. John Neumann as being some of the major players,” Deacon Duhamel said. The ultrasound van is a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. “We worked very closely with an organization called Save the Stork. They put us in touch with a Ultrasound continued on page A19
‘Bring the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ’ St. Thomas the Apostle Parish embraces international prison ministry By Gabrielle Nolan
‘Christ loves him no matter what’
Based on a Catholic Cursillo retreat, the Kairos retreat lasts 3.5 days and can host between a minimum of 18 inmates up to around 30 inmates. The prisoners, called “insiders,” are placed into family
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team of East Tennessee men enters a local prison on a regular basis to bring the love of Christ to inmates. Since 2017, Stu McFadden has joined other men at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Lenoir City in a local chapter of Kairos, an international and ecumenical prison ministry that holds retreats for prisoners. The men from St. Thomas the Apostle, along with men from seven other local East Tennessee Christian churches, host their retreat twice a year at the Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg. “The Lord asked me Himself to be part of this ministry,” Mr. McFadden shared. “My faith has grown so much stronger being part of this ministry. You watch the Holy Spirit work on these guys over a weekend, and it’s just amazing. Sometimes you just plant the seed where it may grow two years from now. It’s a real impact on the guys, and when you see the impact on them it’s pretty powerful on the team members, too.” Curtis “Chip” Young, also a parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle, became involved with the prison ministry in 2019. “The thing that I like about it is the message gets really concentrated on the idea of Christ’s salvation, or the salvation that Jesus offers us through His death and resurrection,” Mr. Young said. “Just the whole message that we bring to guys that are in a very dark place and the opportunity to give them some hope.”
Ministering behind the wall The Kairos Prison Ministry team that serves the Morgan County Correctional Complex in Wartburg includes, from left, Bill Taylor, Greg Hoffman, Brent Thompson, Michael Kelly, Stu McFadden, Ed Solack, Danny Cooper, Butch Crouch, Bill Mongeau, Greg Collins, Bob Jessee, Daniel Woods, Michael Yeager, Steve Cantrell, Ken Kinzler, and Dale Snyder. The group, shown at St. Thomas the Apostle Church ministers to inmates inside the prison on a regular basis. groups with Kairos team members, called “outsiders.” The family groups are named after the disciples Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and James. The first night of the retreat, a Thursday, is a meet-and-greet between the insiders and the outsiders, with some instructions on what to expect during the retreat. The team is there for about four hours, sharing a meal with the inmates and getting them to relax and enjoy themselves.
The 10 retreat presentations begin on Friday morning and are staggered throughout the day, continuing through Saturday and Sunday. The Kairos team spends about 12 hours in the prison on Friday and Saturday, while Sunday is an eighthour day. “It’s a series of talks where they get to listen to the talk and then discuss at the table what that Prison continued on page A20