Frances Mason and Team Answer the Church’s Call to Care for Creation

Frances Mason has devoted much of her life to caring for her community and the natural world. She earned a degree in Forestry from the University of Florida and moved to Blairsville, Georgia to work for the United States Forest Service. When she arrived, there was no St. Francis of Assisi parish yet, just a mission supported by priests of Glenmary Home Missioners. Witness to its beginning in March 1982, more recently, Frances became one of the eight founding members of the St. Francis of Assisi Care for Creation team.

“We started in March of 2020, which was at the very beginning of the pandemic, as a Zoom meeting, a group of people just studying Pope Francis’ Laudato Si encyclical.”

– Frances Mason, Care for Creation Team Leader at St. Franics of Assisi in Blairsville 

The group then went on to review the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s Laudato Si Action Plan. Authored by professors and staff from the University of Georgia, it was the first guideline in the nation for how the faithful can help create a more sustainable world at home, in schools, and in parishes.  

“We wanted to educate ourselves first in various environmental issues and then share that information with our parish but also implement as much as we could of the plan. So, the first thing we chose to do, because we could do it right away, was to plant a pollinator garden.” -Frances Mason  

The team got to work cultivating an empty plot of land and filling it with native plants. From bright coneflowers to 7 foot tall Sweet Joe-Pye-Weed, the garden provides a habitat for bees, butterflies, and other pollinators free of herbicides and pesticides.  

As the world began to open, the team then volunteered to wash dishes for the Knights of Columbus‘ St. Patrick’s Day party.  

“They maybe were going to use disposable dinnerware, and we said, ‘What if we washed the dishes?‘ …After that we’ve kind of become almost the permanent dishwashers for everything coming and going.” -Frances Mason 

Even when the kitchen dishwasher broke down, the team continued to hand-wash dishes for events. Their efforts inspired other ministries to pitch in, helping both to reduce waste and reduce supply costs for events.  

This work with other ministries and the wider community has become a hallmark of the Care for Creation team. The team has organized public meetings on Firewise, a national program that teaches people how to prepare and protect their property from wildfires, a very real concern for those living in north Georgia. They raise money for To The Nation, a missionary ministry aiding communities in Uganda who struggle with drought and unsafe drinking water. They have made recycling a staple at the parish, taking turns delivering items to the Union County Transfer Station and providing plastic bags to the Bags to Blankets ministry.  

Whether sharing tips in the weekly Flocknote or volunteering at the Fall Festival yard sale, Frances hopes the Care for Creation team’s efforts illustrate that caring for our common home is not a lofty goal, but something everyone can do as an integral part of our faith.  

“We were told in Genesis, ‘I’ve given you all this, now you take care of it. You be the stewards.’ And so that’s our responsibility. We need to do that.” -Frances Mason 

The Archdiocese of Atlanta holds an annual Green Mass to remind the faithful of this call to stewardship. This year, St. Francis of Assisi in Blairsville will be hosting the 8^th Annual Green Mass. Taking place on October 4^th, 2025, the feast day of the parish’s namesake, it will be presided over by the Most Rev. Bernard E. Schlesinger, III, Auxiliary Bishop of Atlanta. There will be performances by the student indigenous dance troupe and a youth processional telling the story of creation. In what is sure to be a wonderful feast day celebration, Frances and the Care for Creation team are excited to highlight the efforts and faith of North Georgia.  

“This is the first time that they’ve actually gone this far out from metropolitan Atlanta to more of a rural church. So, we were kind of surprised to be invited and feel honored to have been invited and we’re working hard to make it a memorable Mass.” -Frances Mason 

To learn more about the care for creation efforts of the Justice and Peace Ministry, click here.  

You can support care for creation and community across the archdiocese by donating to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal.