A home for the Great Spirit: American Indian parish fights closure

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (MCT) - Father Edward Cook sits in the circle at the front of the church where he and the drummers play a song of welcome.

Inside the small, white stone church where Lithuanians once worshipped, more than 100 people come to pray at one of the few urban churches in the country to blend the Roman Catholic Mass with American Indian traditions.

Church bells toll from afar, mixing softly with the beating of the drum that guides the singing and praying throughout the service. Sage, tobacco, cedar and sweet grass fill a terra cotta bowl and are later burned as part of an American Indian cleansing ceremony.

An Indian blanket serves as the altar cloth. Wood, bark, feathers and pottery decorate the church, where sunlight filters through the more traditional blue stained-glass windows.

"This is like home," said Maseline Albring, 76. It's a place to gather and pray that also honors Indian traditions, she said.

But parishioners worry about the financial burden that threatens the future of their special church.

For years, the Archdiocese of Milwaukee has supplemented the salary and benefits of Cook, who has been the pastor of the church since it started in 1989.

But the archdiocese has had to make drastic budget cuts because of settlements paid to victims of sexual abuse by priests. The Congregation of the Great Spirit was notified that as of July 1, the supplemental funding would end.

"Historically, we as a diocese don't pay the salary of parish priests," said Julie Wolf, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese. "Philosophically, it's the responsibility of each church to cover those costs as stewardship."

But most of the parishioners are low income or no income, Cook said. Visits to the church's food pantry have quadrupled in the past year. The church also offers supportive services to youth and elderly.

Thirty-three percent of American Indians living in Milwaukee earn less than $25,000 a year, according to the U.S. Census.

"In Milwaukee, as in other urban areas in the country, Native American people are 'invisible,' making outreach by the church difficult," members of the church's Elder Council wrote in a letter of appeal.

The archdiocese says it's up to the congregation to decide whether to remain open.

The council and others in the parish have held fund-raisers, such as selling food at Indian Summer (they cleared about $3,600) and elsewhere to try to raise the estimated $100,000 a year or more they estimate they need to cover church operating expenses. That includes $65,948 to cover Cook's salary and benefits.

A grant-writing committee also has also been formed to try to raise money.

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As part of the effort to draw attention to the church's plight, National Public Radio was contacted and recently did a feature on the church, which has brought letters and calls from throughout the country, Cook said. One tribal official from Oklahoma called and has promised to send aid. Other cards and letters enclosed donations ranging from $10 to $350 _ about $1,215 so far.

At a meeting after Mass recently, different ideas were discussed, including collecting recyclable metal to raise cash.

Cook will reach retirement age for priests in March, when he turns 68. On a recent Sunday, he shared the news that Archbishop Timothy Dolan has granted his request to stay on for at least another year.

"I felt like I would be abandoning ship, but my request was granted," he said to the applause of the crowd.

While the ideal is to staff the parish full time, other options could be considered, such as having an assistant priest part time, or a pastoral associate, he said. But he emphasized to the crowd in the church basement: "If we close, it's because you say we will close."

"It would be devastating to have to close," said Cyrilla Behrndt, 51, a parishioner who is both white and American Indian. She said she appreciates that the Mass bridges her religion and her culture.

Many non-American Indian visitors, including many confirmation classes and others, come to the church to experience and learn about American Indian culture and spirituality, church elder Lorraine Berger said.

Now, the elders say, they will have to rely on others for a helping hand to keep this church and its traditions alive.

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© 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.