From remnants to renewed, St. Francis Xavier celebrates renewal of St. Vincent de Paul

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

After 13 years of inactivity, the St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Francis Xavier Parish, Falmouth, was once again commissioned, Feb. 14, by Father Britton Hennessey, pastor. The renewed conference has 18 members, five of whom serve as officers, leading the conference in an administrative role.

When Father Hennessey first arrived at St. Francis Xavier Parish in 2022, there was a “cardboard barrel in the breezeway, that was the remnants of a St. Vincent de Paul food donation barrel, but there was no indication that anything was active at the parish,” he said. However, “it was always in the back of my mind,” he said of having an active St. Vincent de Paul Conference.

With no active conference, the residents of Pendelton County were staying afloat with the Mobile Food Pantry visits from Catholic Charities, which was “always very heavily volunteer staffed,” said Father Hennessey. The Mobile Food Pantry demonstrated a great need in the county for support, said Kay Mudd, conference president.

“We have over 100 people each time,” she said, “and that means that there’s 100 families out there asking for help with just food. So, we thought ‘if they are having trouble with the food, we know that they’re having trouble with other entities.’”

Seeing a need in their community, the St. Francis Xavier St. Vincent de Paul Conference began anew.

“Being a former teacher, I know that there is an outstanding need for people in our county, based upon the number of children they have in the home, struggles throughout the day, stuff like that,” said Ms. Mudd.

Once operational, the conference will “do everything that is under the auspice of a St. Vincent de Paul conference,” said Ms. Mudd. “Helping people with rent, if they’re struggling with utilities, electricity, water, whatever they may need.” This includes taking over operation of the St. Vincent de Paul store food pantry, moving the operation to a newly built space at the St. Francis Xavier Parish Hall.

One of the parish goals of their With One Heart Pastoral Plan was to increase opportunities for charitable outreach. The renewed conference, “certainly directly correlates to that,” said Father Hennessey.

“This is bigger than just the 19 folks that were involved here, this is our conference, this involves all of us,” he said, “there will be opportunities for those who want to increase their membership to participate more actively in the work of the conference.”

The renewal of the St. Francis Xavier St. Vincent de Paul conference has breathed new life into the charitable giving capacity of the parish. From a carboard barrel, to a newly renovated food pantry and beyond, the conference hopes to not only fulfill the needs of their community but also “fulfill the needs spiritually within the church, to grow as better disciples with God,” said Ms. Mudd.

The St. Vincent de Paul Conference at St. Francis Xavier Parish was founded in 1984 and faithfully served the parish and surrounding community for many years with compassion and dedication. In 2013, the Conference became inactive when its longtime leader, Don Cross, became ill and was no longer able to continue his service to the Vincentians. His devoted leadership laid a strong foundation of charity and service that continues to inspire the parish today. The Feb. 14 commissioning celebrates not only the revival of the Conference, but also the continued spirit of charity, service and faith within the parish community.

St. Francis Xavier marks the 32nd parish in the Diocese of Covington to have an active St. Vincent de Paul Conference.