Smith County mission in new home

On Palm Sunday a year ago, parishioners of St. Peter the Apostle in Smith County, Tenn., celebrated their first Mass on their own property, albeit in a temporary setting. With renovations mostly complete, they celebrated Christmas Eve in their permanent home.

The Mass was a joyful occasion, though rustic. The lights above the sanctuary had yet to be installed, necessitating a lantern and other temporary lighting for the priest and lectors to read.

“Our second building had been a hall, but it had a vaulted ceiling. We decided that would make a much better church than the build- ing [we were in first,]” said Carl Rasmussen, who does maintenance work at the church. “We’ve tried as much as possible to turn it into a Catholic church.”

The completed church has seating for 115. Their previous space sat 80. That building, where Mass had been celebrated, is being converted into a parish hall.

St. Peter the Apostle began in January 2021, when Glenmary sent Father Don Tranel to Smith County, which had never had a Catholic church. By May, Father Don had gathered a community, and on June 24, 2021, the parish celebrated the first public Catholic Mass in the county’s history.

ABOVE: Father Bruce Brylinski presided at St. Peter the Apostle’s first Mass in its new permanent space on Christmas Eve. Eager to move in, the Mass took place before all the lighting could be installed, necessitating lanterns and lamps.