Theresa Getzwiller is part of the glue that is holding together St. Michael Parish in Gila Bend. She is one of the volunteers who keep the underserved parish running.
According to a 1974 story in the Arizona Republic, Gila Bend is one of the oldest permanently settled communities in Arizona. As explained by Getzwiller, the original St. Michael’s parish was built in the early 1930s out of adobe and was in a slightly different location than the current church, completed in 1964. Close to the Mexico border, the community is mostly Spanish-speaking.
In the early years of the parish, there were a few booming businesses in Gila Bend that made for a growing Catholic community, one of them being the Air Force Base that was there until 1995.
When these businesses and the Air Force Base shut down, there was a rapid decline in parishioners.
As Getzwiller said, Gila Bend is slowly growing, but still doesn’t have the kind of industry or jobs available for people that it once did. Now, many parishioners of St. Michael’s live below the poverty level. The demographic and economic level has puts the parish in what Getzwiller explained as a financial plight, just to make ends meet.
“We definitely couldn’t make it without the CDA (Charity and Development Appeal) grant that we’re awarded every year.”
There are also no staff members and the parish relies solely on the generosity of volunteers, like Getzwiller.
Until 2016, St. Michael’s didn’t have a resident priest, which had been a struggle of the parish for many years. The current pastor, Fr. Jose Cornelia, has been there two years and the community hopes he stays for much longer.
“It’s a small parish, of course, but there’s a lot of things that need to be done here because for so long we didn’t have…a regular priest,” Fr. Cornelia said. “Those people who were active before, you know, started to go to some other parishes, or just, left the Church.
“When I arrived, I saw that there’s a problem. So it’s good that, you know, now the Diocese is [promoting] evangelization so I think we could start from there, you know, to evangelize…start to get those parishioners back.”
Those parishioners are starting to come back, thanks to the consistent presence of Fr. Cornelia.
“We have noticed a big improvement,” Getzwiller said, “because they always have a familiar face. They always know that they can get a hold of Father.”
Improvements are also happening because of increased accessibility to the sacraments. Fr. Cornelia exposes the Blessed Sacrament before Mass every day and also hears confessions during that time.
Getzwiller’s life has changed because of the sacraments. Although she was baptized as an infant, she didn’t grow up in the church. Her sister-in-law invited her to St. Lucy Mission in Gila Bend, right at the time in her life when she was feeling sad and lost.
“The minute I knelt down and looked up at Jesus on the crucifix. I knew he had brought me home.”
She received confirmation and Holy Communion not long after that and now, she is helping to pass on the faith.
Last year, she taught OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation of Adults) for one man who was fully received into the Church at the Easter Vigil. This year, the OCIA class led by Getzwiller is made up of nine teenagers.
Fr. Cornelia is eager for more parishioners to return home to St. Michael’s but for that to happen, more help is needed. He wants people to know that the parish exists and is in need of support.
“I wonder if there’s somebody out there that has a passion to work with a mission church like us, to share their gifts so that we can learn from them, be it computer clerical stuff, be it marriage preparation,” Getzwiller said. “Maybe there’s somebody out there that the Lord’s calling them to get out of their comfort zone and come out to a mission.”
The Lord called Dcn. Jim Trant to serve missions in Southern Arizona. He was asked by Bishop Emeritus Thomas Olmsted to work with Native American communities in 2005. He is currently the parish life coordinator for Native American Communities along with being the director of the diaconate for the Diocese of Phoenix. He spends most of his time at St. Francis in Salt River.
Dcn. Trant talked about the impact Fr. Eusebio Kino, a 17th century pioneer and missionary, had on the Natives in the area. “He was respectful, treated them with great dignity…The tribes in this area were receptive to the Church and to the people that came in, and I think a lot of that had to do with their initial contacts with Fr. Kino.”
At the time that Dcn. Trant arrived on the scene, the missions were in a state of disrepair. He led efforts to repair bathrooms, air conditioning and other parts of the missions so people could use the facilities.
Since the 1990s, Mass was a luxury at the missions. Oftentimes, communion services would be held monthly at each of the missions and on special occasions visiting priests would celebrate Mass.
It wasn’t until the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit were established in the diocese in 2016 that the missions had a consistent Sunday Mass schedule, for the first time in more than 30 years.
The Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit currently oversee 11 missions on four reservations in Southern Arizona: Gila River, Salt River, Ak-Chin and Gila Bend. Overall, there are 24 mission churches in the Diocese of Phoenix.
Fr. Antony Tinker, community servant, said what drew him to be a Franciscan missionary was a prompting from the Lord.
“There’s a long history of Franciscans ministering to the Native communities in the Arizona desert, and I feel like I am simply continuing that tradition. To come serve the underserved has been a huge blessing.
“The Natives have been hurt. The Catholic Church has been in and out of their lives for 500 years…they’ve kind of had to survive on their own. And so to try and come and be that consistent presence for them.”
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Because weekly Mass wasn’t provided for many years, there’s been a mentality among Native communities that Mass isn’t important.
Fr. Tinker along with the rest of the Franciscan Friars of the Holy Spirit, have spent the past eight years building relationships with people at the missions.
“[We’ve] seen people come back and recognize the importance of the Eucharist…the importance of celebrating the Mass…We’re getting people coming back to the Church.
“Anointings that I’ve done, baptisms at people’s deathbeds, they came first by building relationship.”
Dcn. Trant is also noticing a change in the Native American communities—thanks to the friars, growth in ministry is beginning to happen.
Part of that ministry includes youth group. Since the friars arrived, two youth groups have been formed. Students have gotten the opportunity to go on the Steubenville youth conference, Pro-Life retreats, the March for Life and more.
Even after ministering to the missions all these years, what astounds Dcn. Trant is the diversity of the different cultures at the missions. The culture is weaved into the liturgy, from artwork, priest vestments, altar linens and more.
On feast days, Native matachine dancers pray the rosary through dance, a tradition descended from St. Juan Diego. There’s also a deep love for Our Lady of Guadalupe among the Natives.
“She was Native. She appeared to a Native. She really is the mother of all the Americas, but in particular, the mother to the Native peoples,” Fr. Tinker said.
Fr. Tinker expressed that the villages have their own personalities depending on factors such as how close they were to a river and farming opportunities. Some of these villages have been here for hundreds of years.
Two of those communities that sprung up from villages are St. John the Baptist Parish and St. Peter Parish, both of which are on the Gila River Reservation. Adjacent to St. Peter Parish is St. Peter School, which deeply affects the personality and culture of that community. The school has been run by the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity since 1935.
Sr. Martha Mary Carpenter, who has served at St. Peter’s for more than 35 years, talked about the origins of the mission in a 1973 article of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity Western Region Historical Issue.
“In the late 1890s a priest from the city of Florence would come out to the Gila River Reservation and minister to the people. Wanting to hear and know more about God, the Indian people built a church in Bapchule in the early 1900s. Thus, St. Peter’s Church of Bapcuhle grew out of the need and action of the people.”
St. John the Baptist is on the opposite side of the reservation, close to Laveen. Half of the parishioners are made up of Laveen residents while the other half are from the Gila River Reservation, making for a multicultural parish.
“There’s an individuality to each of the missions,” Dcn. Trant said, “so you can’t just glomp them all together.”
Dcn. Trant was surprised a few years ago when he was helping to name the new convent in Sacaton on the Gila River Reservation where the Consolata Sisters would be serving. They asked surrounding communities for the Native word that meant “consolation.”
“Each of the different little groups that we contacted had a word that was somewhat similar, but every one was pronounced differently…that just shocked me. I did not realize that there’s a kind of a distinction between each village, even if they’re only four or five miles apart.”
The need for help is a uniting factor, although the need varies depending on the community. St. Peter’s, for example is in need of tutors and school funding. Tuition at St. Peter’s is $150 per student per year and the price is kept low so that families can afford it, but for most families, that isn’t low enough.
A team of dedicated marriage prep coordinators for these communities is also needed. There are also basic needs like insurance, electricity and AC.
“We always need help. We need prayers, lots of prayers,” Fr. Tinker said.
“You have mission territory right here in your own diocese. There’s a lot of great places to give. There’s a huge need. We’re serving very poor people. It’s some of those basic needs of paying electric bills so we can keep the AC going for Sunday Mass and helping with tuition, so our students [have] Catholic education.”
Despite the challenges, growth is happening.
More than 50 Natives were baptized at the Easter Vigil in April, and the faith is being passed down, particularly at St. Lucy’s in Gila Bend.
“We need…families to pass on the faith,” Fr. Tinker said “I do not have the same influence parents do, as much as I father people…so to see that occurring at St. Lucy has been real blessing.”
In all of the evangelization efforts, Dcn. Trant and the St. Francis community remember that whoever walks through the doors was sent by the Lord.
“At St. Francis…we as a community strive to be open and loving and welcoming to anybody that comes through the door, knowing that God Himself has brought them there…we’re blessed to have the Native American communities…They are holy people. They bring great joy.
“[In] all that’s going on, especially the craziness in the world, still God is in charge. You’ve got these little communities that one would think are so vulnerable to a lot of that. But we still have to realize that, you know, we are God’s children. This is part of God’s plan and…that gives me hope.”
Rebecca Lemon, archivist for the Diocese of Phoenix, contributed to this story.
