by Susan Gallagher
Bibles, books about gardening and a biography of the late labor activist Dorothy Day line bookshelves in a farmhouse near Stevensville. Outside, with stunning views of the Bitterroot Range and the Sapphire Mountains, the land is rich with vegetables and berries, trees bear apples and plums, and dogs Gypsy and Sal play near a grove of honey locusts.
This is the Bitterroot Catholic Worker Farm and the home of Richard and Becky Bishop.
They have made their four acres a place to practice simple and sustainable community living, to accommodate self-guided retreats and to advance knowledge of the Catholic Worker Movement cofounded in 1933 by Day and fellow activist Peter Maurin. In the slipstream of that movement, the first Catholic Worker Farm got started 75 years ago, in Easton, Pa., just 70 miles from New York City.
Today, Catholic Worker Farms dot the country. Bitterroot, the one Montana link in the chain, offers internships, opportunities for volunteer work and monthly “Clarification of Thought” meetings intended to broaden knowledge of social-justice issues.
“Eating together and praying together are the two bedrocks of the place,” Becky said. “And if you get your hands dirty in the garden, that’s the third piece.”
Recent retreats at the farm have included people from the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Missoula.
The Bishops provide the space, maybe ask for some help with cooking and if people are there for more than a week, they may have a chore. Some of what grows at the farm is given away in Missoula, to people in need.
Being Catholic is not a prerequisite for being at the farm, but people who go there are expected to have what Richard calls “a common spiritual investment,” and to pray. The Liturgy of the Hours is a pillar at the farm. What have become known as Maurin’s “Easy Essays,” on topics such as leadership and works of mercy, draw frequent discussion.
The Bishops have been on the property for about 10 years and first listed it as a Catholic Worker Farm in 2005. Their inaugural guest was a San Francisco nun whose friends had urged her to get away for a break long overdue.
The Bishops own the house and take financial responsibility for its upkeep; guests are not asked to contribute money. Richard is the liturgy coordinator and director of music ministry at the Christ the King Parish in Missoula and Becky works at a center for women with addictions, also in Missoula.
Richard was among the people who gathered, early this year, at Sheep Ranch, Calif., for a 75th anniversary celebration that focused on the vision of Maurin, a vision the Catholic Worker newspaper in May described as ever more relevant amid world hunger, climate change, environmental degradation, social alienation and other challenges. Besides calling for houses of hospitality, Maurin appealed for a green, back-to-the-land movement.
Hans Zuuring of Blessed Trinity Parish in Missoula is among the people who have worked at the Bitterroot Catholic Worker Farm. With his wife, Barb, he also has participated in the monthly meetings and potluck suppers that draw a core group of 12, and on occasion have been attended by 30. The discussions about socialjustice issues provide “further enlightenment” for people who are journeying in similar ways and want to make the world a better place, said Hans, a Maryknoll affiliate, as is Barb.
At the Bitterroot Catholic Worker Farm, the main house has three bedrooms and at times of the year, people also can sleep on the main floor’s enclosed porch. Remodeling elsewhere on the farm is under way with an eye toward additional lodging and a prayer shed. Interns work on the property for about 20 hours a week and may stay for a day, a week, a month or longer.Volunteers choose from a variety of work projects. The Clarification of Thought meetings are at 6:30 p.m. on the second Friday of the month.
Email addresses for the Bishops are errb333@hotmail.com and rbishop@gmail.com. The phone numbers are 406-239-5379 and 406-239-0708.
Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 27, No. 9, September 16, 2011.
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