Called Again

A HOUSING VOLUNTEER REFLECTS ON HIS STORY, HIS SERVICE, & HIS CALLING

Greg Wagner doesn’t just remember the early years of Christian Appalachian Project’s housing program. He was part of it.

From June 1970 until August 1971, the Cincinnati native worked side-by-side with CAP founder Reverend Ralph Beiting and a small group of volunteers, repairing houses, preparing summer camps for campers, and doing anything else that needed to be done.

“Rev. Beiting had four parishes, and that’s where he set up his operations-- St. Paul’s in McKee, St. Clare in Berea, St. Williams in Lancaster, and Our Lady of Mt. Vernon,” said Greg, an aimless 20-year-old at the time. “Each parish had between 4 and 5 volunteers, and when we finished a project, Rev. Beiting would decide what the next job was.”

It was fulfilling work, yet when it was over, Greg still had no clear direction for his life.

“I became a motorcycle bum for about 15 years,” Greg recalls 43 years later. “Eventually I joined the real world, got a job, paid the bills.”

At 63, he returned to CAP for a second tour. “The rat race wasn’t making any sense to me,” Greg explained. “The Lord called me to swing hammers for Jesus, so I’m doing what I can. It’s a calling.”

Greg recently signed up for a second consecutive one-year appointment, working mostly in Rockcastle County, where he lives in community with six other long-term volunteers. Five women ranging in age from 23-30 and one 21-yearold man share a large “volunteer house,” similar to a college dorm, with separate sleeping quarters for men and women. Everybody works 40 hours a week and receives a modest stipend. They take turns cooking dinner and leading daily devotionals.

“When I was down here when I was 20 years old, it changed my life,” Greg said. “I’d like to see that happen in the people I’m living with.”

Both Christian Appalachian Project and the people the organization serves have changed since the early 70s, Greg says. “Back then, some people weren’t real familiar with Catholics or with CAP. A lot of people gave us the hairy eyeball and walked backward toward the door when they saw us coming,” he explained. “Our track record of helping people has made people more open to us and what we’re doing.

The program has expanded to serve an average of 250 individuals and families a year, thanks to a small army of volunteers like Greg and friends of CAP who provide financial support for the ministry.