BOTKINS, Ohio — Joe and Joanna Goettemoeller will welcome their community to a Rural-Urban Mass at their farm on July 23 at 6:30. Catholic Rural Life, St. Marys and Sidney Deaneries, planned the mass and Bishop Joseph Binzer of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati will preside.
Catholic Rural Life, formerly the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, is a national organization dedicated to social justice in the rural community.
"We appreciate and are so grateful both for the chance to farm in the USA and the chance to work with farmers, the best people in the world; that is the reason we wanted to do this," said Joe Goettemoeller, who works as a machinery salesman at JD Equipment in London, Ohio, in addition to farming.
"We have the masses on various farms throughout the community," said Pam Long, regional director, Catholic Social Action Office. "The idea is to bring together various family and community members. We call it a Rural-Urban Mass because not everybody that lives in those deaneries lives on a farm. We want people to understand and appreciate the gift of the farmer and be able to have them be a part of this whole community idea of coming together for one liturgy."
Bishop Binzer will present Catholic Century Farm Awards to 11 Catholic farm families in the St. Marys and Sidney Deaneries. The award recognizes Catholic families who have continuously farmers the same land for 100 years or more, passing both farm and faith down through the generations, Long said.
"The oldest farm in our registry is the Albers Farm in Minster, Ohio," Long said. "It belongs to Michael Robert Albers, was bought in 1835, and carries the signature of US President Andrew Jackson. You can imagine how many generations that is; to pass that on down through the family is a gift in itself."
The farms and families being honored this year are:
•The Bills Farm, Alvin and Madonna Bills, Maria Stein
•The Cordonnier Farm Dr. Eugene and Victoria Cordonnier, Russia
•The Fullenkamp Farm, Daniel and Rebecca Fullenkamp, Maria Stein
•The Gaier Farm, the Gaier family, Fort Loramie
•The Homan Farm, Carl F. Homan, Coldwater
•The Huwer Farm, Anna Marie Huwer, Coldwater
•The Huwer/Grube Farm, Karen Grube, Coldwater
•The Nerderman Farm, James P. and Mary Lou Nerderman, Celina
•The Pohl/Moeller Farm, Marvin and Janice (Pohl) Moeller, Coldwater
•The Reichert Farm, John Reichert Family, Maria Stein
•The Selhorst Farm, Keith T. and Rebecca Selhorst and family, Coldwater
"This is a chance to get out on a farm and see what is going on out there," Goettemoeller said of the Rural-Urban Mass. "This is our chance to give back. It is an open invitation – anybody can come."
Besides the Rural-Urban Mass, The Catholic Rural Life also sponsors Rural Plunges, one or two day immersion experiences that farmers put together to show people from cities – often students – what rural life is about, Long said. "It helps people to grow in their understanding of how food is grown."
For details on the National Catholic Rural Life visit https://catholicrurallife.org
