‘Healthy’ spirit keeps Westernport parish going

“Healthy” is the word Father James Hannon uses to describe the spirit at St. Peter in Westernport.

Even in the face of some very real demographic challenges, he said, parishioners give their all to keep the small Western Maryland faith community strong.

“The parishioners know what is happening in the area – they understand what changes are taking place,” the pastor said, noting that the population in Allegany County is aging and shrinking as jobs have dried up with the departure of regional businesses in the Cumberland area.

There are currently 319 registered families at St. Peter and 49 registered families at St. Peter’s mission of St. Gabriel in Barton – a decline of about 20 percent from a decade ago. The parish school closed in 2002.

“They do not get down about things,” Father Hannon said. “They press forward and do their best to deal with what is before them.”

The “can-do” spirit is evident throughout parish life.

St. Peter is a place where worshippers sing and actively participate in the liturgy, the pastor said. The parish is one of six in Mountain Maryland under Father Hannon’s leadership, and it shares resources with the other faith communities in the six-church model, which includes St. Ann in Grantsville, St. Michael in Frostburg, St. Joseph in Midland, St. Mary of the Annunciation in Lonaconing and St. Gabriel.

Parishioners welcome newcomers with open arms, Father Hannon said, and there has been a special outreach to Catholics who have begun worshipping at St. Peter after weekend Masses at St. Gabriel and St. Mary were discontinued because of low attendance and the clergy shortage.

“Everyone supports one another here,” said Rose Naughton, co-chair of the bereavement committee. “We all know one another, and we like to get together as often as we can. We love our parish. Most of us have been here all our lives.”

A large team of volunteers on the bereavement committee provides homemade meals for grieving families and parish events. Depending on the season, the committee members prepare a variety of special dishes including meatloaf, pasta, scalloped potatoes and freshly baked breads. The meals are always hosted on the first floor of the rectory – a stately building that was constructed more than 100 years ago.

“We all work well together,” said Margaret Everline, a committee member who also donates her sewing talents for making liturgical cloths. “And we’ve always had wonderful priests.”

The committee has raised money to upgrade the rectory with new cabinets, stoves, flooring, a new pantry area and a secondary sacristy, the pastor said.

“It’s a wonderful thing to see their care for parishioners who are mourning the loss of a loved one,” he said, “and to see their care for each other.”

Highlighting the dedication of the maintenance staff, the pastor said workers get things done fast and do it in a loving way.

“They are there on weekends when it snows to make as safe an environment for our parishioners as it is possible,” he said. “They give new life to old buildings that need repair.”

Father Hannon said he is pleased to work with a collaborative staff. They “know well how to see a larger vision of the parishes in the area working together,” he said.

“We may have to face some ‘death’ to old ways and expectations, but we do so trusting that if we face that ‘death’ in a healthy way that we will emerge finding new life,” Father Hannon said. “That is, after all, foundational to our faith. We can either be overwhelmed by negative forces or we can face the challenges ahead with confidence that God will guide us to life.”

Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org

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