Paragould couple retire after 40 years in ministry – Catholic in Arkansas

The Usserys helped with faith formation and music ministry

By Katie Zakrzewski
Associate editor

Karen and Roland Ussery, parishioners of St. Mary Church in Paragould, have taught religious education and played the organ for 40 years. Now the two are taking a step back to spend time with their families. (Courtesy of Roland Ussery)

Karen and Roland Ussery, parishioners of St. Mary Church in Paragould, have taught religious education and played the organ for 40 years. Now the two are taking a step back to spend time with their families. (Courtesy of Roland Ussery)

Roland and Karen Ussery are a shining example of parishioners who continually work to improve their parish community.

After 40 years of volunteering and helping out in various ways at St. Mary Church in Paragould, the two are ready to spend more time with family, including three children Kara, Bradley and Stephen, and three grandsons.

There’s not much the Usserys don’t do. Karen has been director of religious education for over 35 years. Karen became involved when the Ussery’s daughter began religious education in 1984.

“Unfortunately, when our children were young, our Catholic school didn’t have scholarships, so we couldn’t afford to send them here, and they didn’t have after-school care,” says Karen. “So when my daughter started (religious education at St. Mary Church in Paragould), I decided I was going to volunteer and get involved in the program.’”

Karen started volunteering when her daughter, Kara, was 5 years old. Today Kara is 45.

“At first I only started as a teacher (religious education),” says Karen. “Then the lady who was the (director of religious education), her daughter graduated from high school, and she decided not to do it anymore… so I got a call from our priest… And I was asked to take the position of ( director of religious education). I agreed to do it.”

But Karen wasn’t the only one involved. When Roland joined Karen for the lessons, he also became more involved, bringing refreshments and materials as needed for the lessons.

“Later I also became a teacher,” says Roland. “It’s helped us grow in our faith because you have to … make sure that what you teach is consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church.”

Roland, a convert, also began playing the organ at St. Mary Church.

“We didn’t have an organist then,” says Roland. “…I played a little piano and organ at my previous church. … I joined the parish council in 1991 and served on the parish council until 2020.”

Roland also served on the parish finance committee and was the committee’s representative on the parish council for thirty years.

“It was a way to be involved. We have seen the church grow,” Roland said. “We are behind the scenes, folks. I can’t take credit for anything I do.”

Roland compared his role to being an umpire in a baseball game.
“When you go to a baseball game, you want to look at the ballplayers and see the game,” Roland said. “Even if you don’t notice the referees, they did their job. If, as an organist, I facilitate the worship of the people, and that is what they came for, and that is what they have achieved, then I have done my job.”

The Usserys are not looking for praise or recognition. They are happy that they can play a role in the livelihood of their parish.

“You can throw a plaque in my coffin,” Roland said, emphasizing that he is not interested in awards. ‘I can’t take a plaque with me to the afterlife. And that’s not what I do it for. You don’t do it for the recognition. … We’re not just looking for awards. … There are a lot of people in our parish who do the same thing … and have been doing it for about 25 years?”

Karen said helping the parish requires teamwork. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges.

“It’s frustrating at times,” Karen said, explaining that their workload in the parish sometimes becomes heavier than normal. “Sometimes Roland says to me: ‘I played five masses this weekend. I deserve brownie points in heaven.” I say, ‘No, it’s not, because you bragged about it,'” Karen said, laughing.

Roland said you have to have thick skin to be an active volunteer in your parish.

“You have to be able to withstand criticism,” Roland said. “You’ll hear people say, ‘Well, that’s not how I would have done it,’ without realizing that you’re the one who did it.” But they casually tell you that they wouldn’t have done it that way.

Plus, if you’re as involved as the Usserys, you’re going to have scheduling conflicts.

“We try not to miss the important things in our family, but sometimes there are funerals or weekend events, and I’ll play for Mass,” Roland said.

This is also frustrating, the Usserys said, because not all Catholics give the same priority to the church as they do.

“It’s a completely different world now,” Karen said. “Sport plays a very important role in people’s lives, and sometimes religion is put a little lower on the priority list. We do not have parents involved in the (religious education) program. That was frustrating for me because I thought, ‘Don’t they realize how important this is?’ Sports will not take your child to heaven. Their faith is…and you have to go a step further.”

It struck the Usserys that as they get older, it is time for “a new pair of eyes” to take over many of the projects they work on and give them a new perspective. Additionally, the Usserys want to spend more time with their grandchildren before they grow up.

“The grandchildren play a big role in that. When they start their new lives when they’re older, we’ll probably pick things up again,” Roland said. “But when you’re 65, you realize, ‘Well, I’ve never traveled.’ I don’t know if we’ve even been to other churches in the last forty years. We just want to see some things. And we can’t do that if we play the organ here every Saturday evening and teach every Wednesday. We are still healthy and we would like to do a few things.”

Parishioner Brad Smithee said the Usserys are a great example for other parishioners and Catholics to follow.

“You should just see how they live their lives and live their faith because they are so committed,” Smithee said. “They’re just people who are very committed and who really live their lives by their faith and their faith by their lives.”

Roland is quick to reassure himself that while he and Karen plan to slow down in August, they will not disappear from parish life.

“The fact is, we’re not going to just stop,” Roland said. “We are limiting our schedules significantly because we have grandchildren… we will still be at church and we will still do things.”

The Usserys said that for whoever comes, the ministry is not a chore, but an opportunity.

“Someone else might get the same blessings we did because we do it,” Roland said. “I think one of the reasons we don’t like awards and things like that is because we get so much personal satisfaction from it. That’s all we want. … It improves our faith life. We see the students that we’ve taught grow up and have their own families, and they bring those kids to church and they’re involved in the church. It is very satisfying to see your work paying off so much.”

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