SEARCY — Renovations at St. James Church in Searcy this year have improved not only the facade of the church but also the spiritual community of the parish. 

Pastor Father Nelson Rubio, who is also the pastor of St. Richard Church in Bald Knob, arrived at St. James Church in the summer of 2022. Ever since, the parish has been marking assessments, appraisals, tasks and renovations off the to-do list. Some of the renovations this year include a freshly painted church interior; an outdoor statue of Our Lady of Guadalupe, including a fountain and a seated outdoor space; a new courtyard with an expanded columbarium; repainted and remodeled church offices and chapel; rew back altars for statues and paintings of Jesus and Our Lady of Guadalupe; hand-painted stencils around each Station of the Cross; altar tile work and niches; new altar; repainted crucifix above the altar; and new tabernacle.

Many of the renovations began this year, just before Holy Week, with several more anticipated changes before Holy Week 2026. Some of those anticipated changes include renovated bathrooms; expanded parking lot; repainting ambo and display pillars; and new vinyl flooring.

Given the growth in parishionership over the past few years, the church is also in talks with engineers to determine the best way to expand the parish hall, as the current one is quickly being outgrown. Parishioners are also hoping to create an outdoor Stations of the Cross in the future as the parish has five acres of land it could develop. 

Father Rubio, who has always had a deep appreciation for art, has been hand-painting the stencils around the Stations of the Cross. He began to work with a parishioner and fellow artist, Janet Pace, on designing and painting the stencils. Father Rubio also repainted the crucifix above the altar. 

When family and friends ask Father Rubio about gifts he’d like for the holidays and special occasions, he often asks for something for the church. Father Rubio’s generosity has been matched by his parishioners — he said that the congregation of various crafters, builders and artists donating materials and labor has been pivotal in keeping the costs down. 

“A parishioner went to Spain and she bought the halo (for the Blessed Virgin Mary statue),” he said. “… A parishioner who is a carpenter here said, ‘Father, I will take the chairs (on the altar) and I will repaint them.’”

For many parishioners, Father Rubio said, the changes have been more than physical. 

“The parishioners usually mention the renovation of the parish, and right now, it is not only visible in the material structure — it’s visible in the spiritual way,” he said. “We have a lot of retreats every season, and we have a healing Mass.”

Angie Simmons is one of those parishioners who has noticed a difference.

“It’s not all completed yet, but it’s just beautiful,” she said. “The church is growing spiritually too, very much so. Everyone is very active, and the church is growing like crazy. We’re having more retreats for men and women, in Spanish, in English, it’s just a beautiful time for St. James.”

Juan Muñoz, a parishioner since 2010, said that in many ways, the Searcy parish had been “forgotten” by the community until Father Rubio arrived. 

“He started doing a lot of renovations, which started bringing people to the parish. He’s been a great priest for us, and he’s done a lot for the church. … It makes us feel better. We have a beautiful church … He came and he saw all of the things that needed to be done and he started doing them — it made us all come together as one community and help in the process.”

Simmons echoed Muñoz’s statements, saying that Father Rubio’s renovations have helped bridge a cultural divide in the community. 

“(Father Rubio) is doing beautiful things for the church. I used to work with the Spanish community, and I know that it can be hard for the priest to — or even for the rest of us to — unite together as a community. And I’ve seen Father Nelson from day one put in a great, great effort. … He’s very patient, he’s a people person. … I think it’s just wonderful. We are so blessed to have Father Nelson here. I have loved all of my priests … and I think Father Nelson is a very special priest and person.”

Theresa Guilliam, a member of the pastoral advisory committee and the finance committee, has been at St. James her entire life and has seen several renovations.  

“The most important thing Father Nelson has done is brought these two communities — the Hispanic community and the Anglo community — together better than anybody had in the past,” she told Arkansas Catholic. “He’s made the church beautiful. We’ve got a beautiful church anyway, and he made it even more so — physically and spiritually.”

When Flo Fitch announced in July her retirement from Catholic campus ministry in Searcy, Father Nelson Rubio, pastor of St. James Church in Searcy and St. Richard Church in Bald Knob, found himself praying at his desk, hoping that God would send him a sign. 

Father Rubio knew that CCM in Searcy extended beyond just Harding University and covered all of White County, and that the CCM members were a blend of both Anglos and Latinos. 

“I was praying and said, ‘Oh Lord, please help me think about who will be the best person for this position to help the diocese and campus ministry,’” Father Rubio said. “Then Yolanda came in, and I said, ‘Bingo.’”

Originally from Guanajuato, Mexico, Garcia, 36, immigrated to the U.S. with her family when she was 10 years old. Garcia, her parents and 10 siblings moved to Arkansas from Texas in 2000, and most of the Garcia’s are still parishioners at St. James Church. 

When Fitch announced her retirement, Father Rubio offered Garcia the role. 

“He said he thought I would do great because I know both languages and grew up in the area and in both cultures,” she said. “I asked him to let me think, and the next thing I knew, I was saying yes.”

Garcia found herself working closely with Fitch to make the transition as smooth as possible. 

“Mrs. Flo has been helping me through this whole process — she’s still helping me through the transition,” she said. “ … I took over (Nov. 1), but Mrs. Flo is still by my side, guiding me, advising me on how to and where to.” 

Garcia hopes to get students more involved in their parish activities while also showing them diocesan events and activities.

“I’m mainly trying to get them involved within a parish while also scheduling (events) outside their church, like retreats, going out with other campus ministries so they can make connections,” Garcia said.

“The community (at St. James) is growing a lot,” Father Rubio said. “When I got there… it was around 30 or 40 people. Now it’s almost 400 in both the Anglo and Latino community. … A lot of people are moving, and a lot of businesses are coming in. … A lot of the kids who are in the campus ministry are from Panama, Honduras, Mexico, Guatemala, Colombia and basically Central America because they got a scholarship from the Walton Foundation. They speak really good English … but their faith is in Spanish.”

Father Rubio said this made it even more necessary for the new campus minister to be bilingual with a foot in both cultures. 

“When you are homesick and you are sad, you probably speak English, but inside, our sadness is in Spanish,” he said. “So we’re helping them a lot by making them feel more at home, reaching out to them in a way that’s familiar.”

Garcia has made this fact a priority as she establishes goals for campus ministry.

“My goal is for them to feel that they have another home here,” she said. “I know that they left their homes, their families, to achieve other new goals, to have a better life through their studies. My goal is for them to feel they have another family here, as their home and family are far away.”

Garcia knows that the students in her campus ministry — which consists of more than 30 students — face a unique set of challenges.

“They’re in a new country, new college, new environment, new place and everything. They’re out in college, and many of them, starting with freshman year, just want to live out that college experience,” she said. “I feel like they don’t seek much of their faith yet. But so far, there are some freshmen who have come and sought their faith.”

In a world full of distractions that lure people away from the Church, Garcia realizes that college campuses can be a blessing — but also challenging terrain.

“College life, it’s crazy,” she said. “It’s fun, it’s parties, it’s games, it’s studies, it’s a different lifestyle. But at the same time as a campus minister, it’s not just my job, but my core focus to help them not lose their faith path, to not fall into the temptations that the college life has.”

Garcia’s cultural and bilingual backgrounds aren’t her only qualifiers for the job. Her faith background and faith journey help her relate to young adults as well.

“I feel like there are ups and downs in every path. And I have learned that without God, there is no path. So in the last several years, my path has been with God,” she said. “I’ve been involved with the St. Vincent de Paul Society. I am involved with catechesis and I teach Bible classes as well on Sundays. I was also involved with the youth group. So I’ve been really active the last couple of years in the Church.”

Garcia said she has an easier time relating to what students may be going through.

“I am a little bit older than the students, with some of them in their 20s, so I do understand what they’re going through, how they’re going through it and good advice to give them to to help them find themselves on the right path to Jesus,” she said. “I can provide them advice of, ‘I understand you want to do this in college and everything, but always find your path to Jesus.’ I still continue working in the group. I still do Bible classes. So I feel like Father Nelson did see potential in me to be the right person to guide the students to the path of Jesus.”

Garcia said the CCM efforts in Searcy have also attracted the attention of non-Catholic students who are “just testing the waters.”

One of Garcia’s biggest motivators is leaving the door open in the event that a young student ever decides to further pursue the path of faith. 

“Put yourself out there for them to understand that you are a friend, not just a campus ministry leader. Otherwise, they’re not going to open the door and try to get their faith back on the path,” she said.