Twenty-seven 10th through 12th grades at St. Joseph High School students in Conway took training to become Extraordinary Ministers of Communion (EMC). Up until last year at St. Joseph, these duties were normally performed by adults. After pastor Father John Connell and Associate Pastor Father Daniel Wendel arrived at St. Joseph in 2023, they felt students should take a more active part in the school’s weekly Masses.
When Laura Osborn graduated from college and returned to Little Rock, she had a goal: parish involvement. Throughout her life, Osborn has been an active parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. During her youth, she sang in the youth choir and was active in CYM, so when she returned home, Osborn wanted to get back involved.
“The first thing I wanted to get involved in was becoming a Eucharistic minister,” the 23-year-old said. “I'm also a part of the young adult group that we have here. Then the biggest thing was last summer when I got elected to the pastoral council here. That was cool because I was representing the younger crowd in the parish.”
While also seeking her doctorate in biomedical sciences, Osborn has found that serving her parish has helped her build friendships.
“They help with balance because I like to hang out with these people,” she said. “And I can do it at church while we're doing this ministry. So I'm getting two birds with one stone because it can be a lot with work to find time for things.”
Osborn attended Ave Maria University in Florida, but despite being on a Catholic campus, she found it difficult to get involved.
“There were a lot of ministries, so I didn't feel like there was as much of a need for me to do things,” Osborn said. “But here, with things getting restarted after COVID, there had been such a big lack of ministries for those three years. Father Joseph (De Orbegozo, rector) wanted things to be going on, but there weren't many people my age to offer perspective or fill that gap. Seeing that gap exist made me want to fill it whereas previously in my life, I hadn't seen that need for me to step in.”
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It’s been three years since COVID-19 swept the world, and its effects are still challenging some Arkansas churches from distributing the body and blood of Christ.
On March 1, 2020, at the outset of the pandemic, Bishop Anthony B. Taylor suggested temporary Mass modifications be implemented in the diocese to reduce the spread of the virus, including receiving the Eucharist in the hand rather than on the tongue (except Latin Masses), discontinuing distribution of the Precious Blood, forgoing hand-holding during the Lord’s Prayer and bowing for the Sign of Peace in place of handshaking.
Twelve days later, the bishop suspended all public Masses and nonessential events. The suspension of Masses was lifted May 4; even after that, parishioners were required to distance themselves and wear masks. The wine restriction remained in place until June 18, 2022.
While most parishes in the state began offering Communion under both species since then, some have not. Their reasons span from not wanting to spread germs to a shortage of eucharistic ministers to serve.
Father Leon Ngandu, pastor of St. Bartholomew Church in Little Rock and St. Augustine Church in North Little Rock, said his churches only distribute the body of Christ at Masses.
“Many are still concerned about the pandemic,” Father Ngandu said. “We are planning to resume receiving the blood of Christ starting in summer.”
Because the Precious Blood wasn’t distributed for two years, churches didn’t need as many eucharistic ministers as they did before the pandemic. As people have returned to Mass, finding enough people to serve has been a challenge for some parishes.
“Compared to before the pandemic, there have definitely been fewer eucharistic ministers,” Father Stephen Elser, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Pocahontas, St. John the Baptist Church in Engelberg and St. Joseph the Worker Church in Corning, said. “Once the Precious Blood was able to be resumed in parishes across Arkansas, we did a training/retraining of eucharistic ministers. I noticed that there were not as many that came to these trainings as there had been in the past.”
Father Elser said he initially thought St. Paul Church would have to reduce the number of chalice ministers at each Mass from four to two, but the parish’s eucharistic ministers have ensured there are four, like they had pre-pandemic.
“We found that parishioners were very much longing to receive the Precious Blood, and our ministers were willing to work it out to where we could have four chalice ministers at most Masses once again,” he said.
While Masses are covered, he said one particular area of need is eucharistic ministers to serve nursing homes and the homebound.
“While we had many dedicated ministers who serve in this ministry, we very much could use more help in this area,” Father Elser said.
The largest parish in central Arkansas, Christ the King Church in Little Rock, is also challenged with not enough ministers to cover every Mass, pastor Father Juan Guido said.
“At this moment, we do not offer the blood of Christ for the assembly due to the shortness of the extraordinary ministers of holy Communion,” he said. “After the hardest part of the pandemic, I have seen an increase in the number of people coming back to church; however, getting (eucharistic ministers) has taken a little longer.”
As a result, the church’s current eucharistic ministers must serve more frequently.
He said he has plans to reach out to the church’s former eucharistic ministers to see if they have interest in returning to the ministry and make announcements at weekend Masses to seek new eucharistic ministers.
Father John Connell, vicar general of the Diocese of Little Rock and pastor of St. Raphael Church in Springdale, said his parish had a shortage of eucharistic ministers since COVID but is near their pre-pandemic numbers now.
“We have had two training sessions and added new ministers to replace those who opted out after the pandemic,” Father Connell said. “Of course, we could always use more.”
Why you want to know Dorothy Mae Clayborne Gillam: She grew up attending St. Bartholomew School in Little Rock and converted to the Catholic faith while in grade school when “those sweet little nuns talked me into it.” She has remained dedicated to St. Bartholomew Church. For several years, she sang in the choir and made the monthly liturgy schedule. Dorothy and her husband John lead the committee to administer Communion to the sick and shut-ins. She retired in 2015 after working for the Arkansas Department of Education for 51 years.
Parish: St. Bartholomew Church
City: Little Rock
Age: 83
Family: Husband John Gillam, married for 37 years; children, Thomas Clayborne and Diane McKinstry; one grandson, one great-granddaughter.
IN HER OWN WORDS
Arkansas Catholic’s theme this year is “The Truth will set you free.” What is your favorite Bible verse and why?
I find myself saying, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” I say that a lot. It just hits me and I say it. I need a shepherd in my life and the Lord is my shepherd.
You had numerous titles with the Department of Education, including executive secretary to the education commissioner. What did that entail?
Way back then, I took a lot of minutes and shorthand. I took minutes of board meetings … and rushed back to my office and typed it up while I could still remember some of that stuff. We did not have all the stuff we have now … I scheduled the commissioner of education for all of his or her appointments.
You were the first black person to work with all the schools in the department. What was that like?
That sounds crazy, doesn’t it? In fact, when I accepted the job I didn’t realize I would be integrating the department because there were three blacks working in the Department of Education, but they only worked with all-black schools. And when I got there I worked for all of the schools in the state. It was in, most instances, not pleasant. I still remember one day right after I got to work there this woman that worked in the office with me she had a visitor who had worked at the department years before I got there. This woman passed my desk and she stopped and looked at me and stopped and looked at the lady who was visiting … she said, “Aren’t you glad you left here before that came.” I had to deal with it in a lot of ways. I had to pray, I’ll tell you for sure.
Upon retirement you were honored for your years of service. What did you enjoy about the job?
The Commission of Education recognized me in the State Board of Education the week I was retiring. I just enjoyed having a job, and I’m glad I was able to work with the people in the office where I worked.
As a child, you converted from the Baptist faith to Catholicism. What do you enjoy most about being Catholic?
I believe that’s the best place for me. I really can’t see me in any other faith.
You and your husband John take Communion to the sick and shut-ins. How is that spiritually fulfilling?
They seem to like having us come to them. We usually share some kind of spiritual devotion with them and visit with them for a few minutes according to who they are and if we can detect how they’re feeling. It seems to be uplifting to them and it’s certainly uplifting to us.
After Sunday Mass, you take the purificators used during Communion home to wash them. What is that process and why do it?
I remember years ago that sweet little nun teaching me how to do this. I soak them and then I squeeze the water out, this sounds silly I guess, into that little pan, I take the pan outside whether it’s hot or cold, sleeting, raining or whatever, toss the water from the purificators and take the pan back (so it goes back to the earth and not down the drain) … I feel like I’m doing something extra that Jesus would like for me to do.
What are some of your hobbies?
Horse racing. We haven’t gone for the last several months, but we used to go down to Oaklawn park (in Hot Springs) and play the horses. We love doing that.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated how many years Dorothy and John Gillam have been married. This article has been updated.