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New book chronicles effort to revitalize community of Rhodelia

By Ruby Thomas

December 14, 2023

The renovation of St. Theresa Family Life Center, above, on the grounds of St. Theresa Church in Rhodelia, Ky., is the subject of Father J. Ronald Knott’s new book entitled “The Little Community That Could: The Story of a Rural Eco-Friendly Family Life Center.” (Photo Special to The Record)

“The Little Community That Could: The Story of a Rural Eco-Friendly Family Life Center,” a new book by Father J. Ronald Knott, chronicles a renovation project on the campus of St. Theresa Church in Rhodelia, Ky. 

Behind that project is much more than a renovated building, said Father Knott.

The project reminded the rural parish community of its history and potential while urging it to look to the future, writes Father Knott, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville who hails from the Meade County parish.

“It’s not about fixing up an old building. It’s about parish revitalization and getting old rural parishes to think” that they have a future, said Father Knott. “It’s the type of thinking I hope will engage readers.”

St. Theresa is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Meade County. It was founded in 1818, according to the Archdiocese of Louisville. The 123-year-old school building had remained closed for nearly 30 years when Father Knott started speaking to parish leaders about its potential, he said.  

In 2021, Father Knott and Father Robert Ray, who also has roots in Rhodelia, led an effort to convert the parish’s former school building into the St. Theresa Family Life Center, an environmentally friendly space for use by parishioners and members of the wider community.

They envisioned a gathering space that would welcome parishioners from St. Theresa and nearby St. Mary Magdalen of Pazzi Church, as well as families from the wider community.

  

Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre prayed during a blessing of the St. Theresa Family Life Center in Rhodelia, Ky., on Oct. 15, 2022. He was flanked by clergy, from left, Father George Illikkal, Deacon Dean Sears and Father Ronald Knott. (Record File Photo by Ruby Thomas)

“If we’re going to spend this money, we need to invite as many people as possible to use it,” he said. 

The St. Theresa Family Life Center, which opened last year, now houses the parish offices, conference rooms equipped for live-streaming, a museum room and gathering spaces for events.

The book details how the center is helping to promote the community’s health across various markers — physical, spiritual, psychological, environmental and economic. 

Father Ray — also a retired priest who grew up at St. Theresa — leads an effort to create programs at the center, said Father Knott. The center hosts addiction recovery groups and plans to add others, such as grief and divorce support groups and groups for singles and senior citizens. 

Father Knott noted that rural areas of the archdiocese often lack resources, and so the center intends to fill in some of the gaps. 

“Rural areas have all the problems but not the resources,” he said, adding that the center “is focused on building up families.”   

A geothermal and solar-powered heating and cooling system makes the St. Theresa Family Life Center stand out among buildings in Rhodelia, he noted. Parish leaders were concerned that even if they were able to renovate the old school building, the utility cost would be a setback, said Father Knott. 

The book goes into detail about the geothermal system, which harnesses power from the solar panels to pump air from 200 feet below the ground to heat and cool the building. Funds for the geothermal system were donated by the Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute at the University of Louisville. 

The book also highlights the center’s intention to illuminate its history, including the parish’s involvement with slavery. To that end, the center’s long hallway features several galleries displaying photographs that tell the history of the parish.

During the renovation project, Father Knott discovered the baptismal records of 222 enslaved individuals at St. Theresa. Those names are now displayed in one of the center’s hallway galleries. 

The book also details finding the headstone of enslaved parishioner Matilda Hurd in an old cemetery on St. Theresa’s grounds. Hurd is the maternal grandmother of Venerable Father Augustus Tolton — the first recognized African-American priest ordained for the U.S. church. He is currently on the road to canonization.   

Father Knott said the spirit of St. Theresa’s early missionaries and parishioners sustained him during the renovation project and in writing the book. 

They had “very few resources but what they had was an abundance of faith and imagination. … Stoking the fires of faith, determination and imagination always takes more focus and tenacity than merely remodeling an old building,” he writes in the book.“

The Little Community That Could: The Story of a Rural Eco-Friendly Family Life Center” is available on Amazon.com.

St. Theresa Church parishioners gathered recently for a community-building event in the St. Theresa Family Life Center in Rhodelia, Ky. (Photo Special to The Record)