When Father Keith Canterbury became pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Weaverville nearly six years ago, the first thing he had to do was exchange his car for a truck.

As the only priest serving some 200 Catholic households in Trinity County, with a large number of retired people, he needs to safely traverse the 3,600-foot Hayfork Summit, 3,700-foot Buckhorn Summit and 4,100-foot South Fork Summit to reach Holy Trinity mission in Hayfork, St. Gilbert mission in Lewiston, St. Thomas More station in Mad River and Trinity Center station in Trinity Center.

“Four-wheelers are definitely needed in this area,” said Father Canterbury, 72, with a good-natured laugh. “During the winter, it can get kind of nasty.”

Father Canterbury relies on Deacon Everett Layne to help ease his load. Three Sundays a month, about 15 families who attend St. Thomas More station in Mad River rely on Deacon Layne, 82, to drive 31 miles from his home in Hayfork—where he serves at 11:30 a.m. Sunday Mass with Father Canterbury—to preside at a Communion service. (Father Canterbury celebrates Mass in Mad River on the second Sunday of each month.)

Deacon Layne and his wife, Susan, “do a great job,” Father Canterbury said. “They keep the Hayfork community alive. And their trip to Mad River is one of

love—they have a great relationship with the people there. It really points up the importance of deacons in our church today.”

Ordained a deacon in 1979, Deacon Layne has served the Mad River community since 1981.

“The Mad River station reminds me of some of the churches described in the Acts of the Apostles,” he said. “The people are of one heart and one mind, and support each other with a strong faith in God.”

On the third Sunday of each month, Father Canterbury drives 30 miles to Trinity Center station to celebrate Mass.

“I might have 20 to 25 people at Mass,” he said. “When I deliver my homily, I’m sitting down. I tell them, ‘I’m going to sit down and teach like a rabbi.’ It’s a very relaxed atmosphere and the people are very close.”

That closeness is also felt at St. Gilbert mission in Lewiston, 18 miles from Weaverville, where Father Canterbury celebrates Mass every Saturday evening.

“Every member of St. Gilbert’s is a member of our church guild, and they all work really well together,” said Katie Quinn-Deardorff, a self-described “instigator” of guild fund raising and service projects. “Our next project is to have a steeple built for the church by July. The church is a steel-frame building, and it looks like a warehouse. A steeple will make a real difference.”

St. Patrick Parish in Weaverville will celebrate its 150th anniversary in June 2003. The members of the women’s guild at St. Patrick, called “Together in Christ,” coordinate a parish prayer chain, host an annual women’s retreat day with the Sisters of Mercy from Redding, help clean and maintain church facilities and organize fund-raisers – including a dinner to help pay for the new parish hall that was dedicated on May 8.

“We used to have to meet in an old house that could barely fit 40 people,” said pastoral assistant Loretta Pasevoli. “The new hall will be able to comfortably handle 120 people.”

Despite the logistical challenges of shepherding such a geographically far-flung flock, Father Canterbury treasures the closeness of his parishioners and the breathtaking beauty of being located in the Trinity Alps.

“It’s gorgeous up here,” he noted. “You can see Mount Shasta from the top of the Hayfork Summit. Sometimes when I make the trip to Hayfork, I just get out of my car and look. It’s glorious.”

* * *

The parish hall that is under renovation at Holy Cross Church in Tulelake claims a singular distinction—it was originally part of a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

“The building was built in Newell about seven miles away, then moved over here,” said Father Brent Nall, pastor of Holy Cross, located in the northwest corner of Modoc County about four miles from the Oregon border. The parish and its mission church at Dorris were established in 1948.

“When I arrived here almost two years ago, I thought the hall would have to be demolished,” he said. “It had leaks and buckled floorboards. It didn’t have plumbing any more, and all the insulation from the ceiling had fallen in and made huge piles of filth, kind of like mud. It was the most forlorn and depressing sight that you can imagine. I thought, ‘There’s no hope. Maybe we can salvage it for some of the materials.’”

Fortunately, the state of California provided grant money to provide jobs for workers in Tulelake who work for public institutions and churches–jobs that benefit the community at large rather than just any particular business–and the hall is slated to reopen this summer.

“We’ll have a great party to celebrate its opening,” said Father Nall, 42. “We’ll be able to use it for religious education classes, meetings, receptions–it will give the parish the opportunity to diversify parish life and build community.”

The majority of Holy Cross parishioners are Hispanic and many speak little or no English.

“Most of the parish economy derives from agriculture,” said Father Nall, who is fluent in Spanish and German. “All of the heavy labor is done by Mexican immigrants, but they receive the smallest share of benefits from their work–economically and socially. They are often here illegally, and they tend to be very much on the margins of society.”

When the federal government cut off all irrigation water from Klamath Lake in April 2001, it closed down almost every farm in the Klamath Basin for a year, according to Father Nall.

“It was a devastating event,” he said. “Many immigrant families had to move. We had lots of reports of hunger, and people falling into very serious depression and despair and fear. There was a huge amount of anger that came close to violence on a few occasions.

“Even though the irrigation season has begun this year, there are no guarantees there will be water for the entire season. However, people have not lost their faith because of the water crisis. They have not lost their faith because of the sexual abuse scandals in the United States. I have not seen Mass attendance or donations decline.”

Father Nall is pastor to some 50 families at Holy Cross and at Our Lady of Good Counsel mission in Dorris, about 35 miles to the west, in Siskiyou County.

Father Nall said he’s “very dependent” on Jim Westhouse, his sacristan in Dorris. “He opens the church, turns on the heat and the lights and sets up for Mass while I’m driving there on Sunday morning. He also serves as a lector and eucharistic minister.”

Westhouse, 43, grew up in Dorris and at the mission church. “I was the only altar server here for eight years. There were few families here with children my age. Today we have younger kids in the congregation. It’s so nice to see the faith is still young and growing.”

The drive from Tulelake to Dorris follows the state border between California and Oregon. “I pass the Lower Klamath Wildlife Refuge and see all kinds of migratory waterfowl–pelicans, egrets, ducks, Canada geese, snow geese–it’s just beautiful to watch,” Father Nall said. “Plus, overlooking all of the parish is Mount Shasta, which is stunningly beautiful.

“I feel really privileged and blessed to be a witness to this area’s great beauty and to a people who are so determined in their faith.”

* * *

Modoc County Catholics are also served by Sacred Heart Parish, which is about 75 miles to the southeast of Tulelake in Alturas. The 119-year-old church made of native lava stone is built in Irish-styled Gothic architecture, and was granted the status of a National Historic Place in 1983.

“The most challenging part of serving this community is that people are so scattered throughout the county,” said Father Patrick Henry, 54, pastor of Sacred Heart. “We cover eight or nine zip codes.”

For two years, Father Henry has served the nearly 200 households at Sacred Heart Church and St. James mission, which is located 17 miles away–on the other side of the 6,305-foot Cedar Pass–in Cedarville.

“I don’t know how Father has time to do it all,” said Rhea Jones, a parishioner for 26 years who is secretary of the parish guild. “We have a large turnover of parishioners at Sacred Heart because people who work for the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management get transferred a lot. We work hard to welcome and incorporate newcomers. When you live in a small town (Alturas has a population of 3,000) everyone is your neighbor.”

St. James mission in Cedarville is located in Surprise Valley, an area that Father Henry describes as “ecstatically beautiful.” The valley is more than 50 miles long, and people come from Fort Bidwell, Lake City and Eagleville to attend Mass.

“The valley got its name because when you come across the Nevada desert to Cedarville, this valley is like, ‘Surprise!’” said Susan Jost, president of the St. James’ altar society.

“I’ve been a member of St. James for three years, and I understand that we haven’t always had a priest here,” Jost said. “We’re very remote, and we’re so pleased and thankful that we have a priest. Father Henry is very upbeat.”

“The population of Modoc County is about 9,500 and it hasn’t changed much for 50 years,” said Father Henry, whose Irish accent seems right at home beneath the four Celtic crosses that adorn Sacred Heart. “It’s a very friendly county. The friendliness of the people here is my greatest reward.”

Copyright © 2001 Diocese of Sacramento - All Rights Reserved

[Catholic Herald - This Issue]