When the deep desire to create Catholic community outside of the pews called local woman Holly Heber last year, she jumped into action, not knowing that this was the beginning of something that would evolve into much more.
“In college I had a friend who did ‘Theology on Tap.’ The idea is to gather at a casual place like a bar or restaurant, order supper, order something to drink and learn more about your faith with others your age,” she said, adding that the gatherings typically feature a speaker on topics of faith. “In March, with some couples from Woonsocket along with Amber and Scott (Kolousek), Aaron and Alicia (Roesler) from Springs got together and brainstormed speakers we’d like to hear at these gatherings.”
She explained that “Faith and Farming” was among the topics on the list.
“When I asked who the group would pick for that topic, it was unanimously Bishop Donald DeGrood. They asked, ‘you really think you can get the Bishop?’ I was like, it doesn’t hurt to ask, let’s do this,” Heber recalled. “When I asked, ‘Now where would we do such a thing,’ Amber shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘We could do this at our place.’ Scott’s eyes got big and I said, ‘yeah let’s go guys!’ That’s how it came to be.”
Heber then reached out to Bishop DeGrood’s assistant and explained what the group had been up to in their monthly meetings, then asked if the Bishop might be available to be the featured speaker on the topic of Faith and Farming.
“Bishop DeGrood grew up in Minnesota on a rural farm. He knows the ups and downs of farming,” Heber shared. “His assistant knew this topic spoke to his heart deeply and it was a resounding yes.”
With the Bishop on board, planning ensued and according to both Heber and Amber Kolousek, flowed really well.
“We had different committees that had their role and we felt that was a good way to delegate,” Kolousek said. “People kept stepping up to help and it didn’t feel like our committee was taking on too much.”
In addition to Heber and Kolousek, the Theology on Tap committee was made up of Jennifer and Drew Hansen, Gay Lynne and John Ames, JP Heber, Scott Kolousek, Alicia and Aaron Roesler and Christy Christensen.
As word spread of the event and that Bishop DeGrood had agreed to be the featured speaker, the Kolouseks, with the help of their daughters, set out to clean and paint the buildings on their farm that would be used during the event.
“It was a lot of work but it was worth it. Scott made the girls paint every building that wasn’t steel,” Amber Kolousek laughed. “He liked the idea of hosting the event and was really supportive. There’s a reason why we said yes to this — the deep importance of faith in farming.”
She also shared that as news spread, people came out of the woodwork to help.
“We had a lot of people say, how can I help?’ A couple Sundays prior to the event, I got up at the end of mass and spoke briefly about Theology on Tap and the upcoming event. I also mentioned that Theology on Tap isn’t just a Catholic thing. I encouraged people to bring a friend, enjoy a great speaker and free food,” she explained. “Within an hour after church, Mark Reindl called Scott and said you need that big wagon train tent out there.’ Scott told him our budget really wasn’t that big. Mark answered by telling Scott he’d pay for the tent rental and donate it to the cause.”
As event planning took flight, Heber said that involvement and donations extended far beyond Jerauld County.
“The day of the event, we had mass at 4 p.m. and people from all parishes were involved. The lector was from De Smet and servers were from Wessington Springs, Woonsocket and Huron. Every part of our event touched every part of our pastorate,” she said. “Supper was all sponsored. Farm Credit, Wilbur Ellis, Agtegra, Altar Society, Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters helped cook and serve burgers. All the beef was donated by Bob and Cindy Hine, Glen and Val Hohn, Alan Knippling, the Jim Burg Memorial and the Swenson brothers. We had Kent and Gay Swenson supply us with all the watermelons.”
When it came to the talk by Bishop DeGrood, he exceeded all expectations.
“Bishop is a really great speaker. He resonated with anyone and everyone there from all faiths. He was a speaker with so much more wow and allowed us to ask him questions after his talk, it was such a gift,” Heber said. “A question brought to him was what would he tell moms as we are raising kids, not just in ag but in general. He said he’d tell them to ‘teach your kids to pray like heck and rely on God. Teach them this thing because it will serve them throughout life.’”
During the Q&A, one of the questions posed to Bishop DeGrood was “ If you could be the Holy Spirit for the day, what would you do to fix farming?”
“His answer blew me away. He said, ‘I’d put more little farms back in our communities. Those are the heart and soul of who we are,’” Kolousek said. “As he shared stories about his youth spent on the farm, at one time he stopped speaking and I could tell he was moved emotionally by the expression on his face. He said, ‘I’m sorry, I just love my dad and I love the way I grew up. He’s been gone a couple years and sometimes it is still difficult for me.’ For him to share that everyone goes through struggles and talk about how we can get through hard times was truly moving.”
As the committee reflected on the day, they marveled at the near perfect weather, the way the event was situated along a natural slope that gave it a theater feel, the quality of the message and the draw that it had for over 250 people of varying faiths.
“For such a large event, as we looked back on the day, we realized none of us had to work too terribly hard. Because we had so many people pitch in and show up, we were able to do this and didn’t feel totally drained,” Heber recalled. “We stepped up and did our part and God did the rest.”