Queen of All Saints

St. William is a sponsoring parish to Queen of All Saints Parish in Beattyville, Kentucky.  Our primary goal through this relationship is to find opportunities for our members to share their gifts with our friends in Beattyville.  

Over the years we have done mission work there, supported them through our Outreach committee, taken toys from our Christmas toy drive there and much more.

A synopsis of Beattyville, Kentucky

Beattyville is a city of 1,000 people located in Lee County.

• Beattyville is a city of 1,000 people located in Lee County.
• Located in the eastern region of Kentucky, Lee County consists of 8,000 people.
• Less than 1% of eastern Kentucky is Catholic. 
• The area is primarily Baptist. 
• There are many “mountain churches” begun by self-proclaimed ministers.
• Original settlers were Scotch-Irish.
• There is some Native American influence in the people of eastern Kentucky.
• The prison provides many jobs. 
• Tobacco is a cash crop for many due to the terrain and climate.
• There is a Toyota Camry plant about 1.5 hours away.  Some of the people who are able commute there for work.
• Coal mining strip mining is in Beattyville. (Many people sold their rights to collecting profits on the coal that was mined on their property because they signed documents they were unable to read.) 

A synopsis of Queen of All Saints                    

Pastor: Fr. Mike Weglicki                Pastoral Associate: Sr. Alice Retzner

• Queen of all Saints is made up of 67 households.
• They are a mission church in the mission diocese of Lexington.
• Fr. Mike is also responsible for two other mission churches Holy Family and Good Shepherd.  Queen of All Saints also cares for St. Therese which is an oratory.
• A typical Sunday collection is around $200.00. 
• They donate $10,000 in outreach per year.
• 80% of their work is with non-Catholics. 
• Their RCIA process is active.
• They confront a lot of prejudice toward Catholics.
• Sr. Alice has become involved in many ecumenical organizations in an attempt to break that prejudice down.
• The Church is involved in Resurrection Shelter for abused women and children, the food pantry and the Catholic Clothing Store.
• Much of their work is in the care of the people in Beattyville regardless of their religion. 

St.Therese, Heidelburg

• Oldest Catholic Church in eastern Kentucky founded in 1927.
• St. Therese was built at Contrary Creek “down in the holler”.
• Four families founded the Church. 
• The walk down into the “holler” could take 2 hours. 
• When families would go to Church they made an entire day of it.
• In the early 1940’s the Church was moved above the “holler” on the mountain.
• Now there are 17 families that belong to St. Therese.
• In July 2001, the diocese of Lexington changed St. Therese into an oratory, a house of prayer.
• The closing of the Church was difficult for the families of St. Therese.  To maintain ownership of their faith community, Fr. Dick Edelen, Pastor at the time, gave each family a key to the Church.   

Good Shepherd, Campton, Wolf County, Kentucky

• About 30 miles east of Beattyville.
• 35 families currently belong to this Church.
• Staffed by Pastoral Associates Sr. Amy Kistner and Sr. Noreen McLaughlin.  Both are part of the staff of Queen of All Saints.

Holy Family, Booneville, Owsley County, Kentucky

• About a half hour from Beattyville.
• 14 families currently belong to this Church.
• A new Church was built in 1991.
• Holy Family is staffed by Sr. Marge Eilerman, also a staff member of Queen of All Saints.