About Saint Ann · Alapaha, Georgia
St. Ann is a Catholic mission church located at 9007 U.S. Highway 82 in Alapaha, Georgia, a small community in Berrien County in south-central Georgia. The mission belongs to the Diocese of Savannah and was most recently attached as a mission of St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Ray City effective July 1, 2024. For many years (1988–2024) St. Ann was a mission of Our Divine Saviour Parish in Tifton, and Catholic life in Alapaha traces back even further to a log-cabin chapel on the Murray farm built around 1840. Weekly Sunday Mass is celebrated at 11:15 AM, with the parish phone reaching the office at (229) 382-4600.
- Established
- 1840
- Patron
- Saint Ann (St. Anne, mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
- Rector
- Reverend Joey Buencamino (Parochial Administrator of St. Anthony of Padua, Ray City, with responsibility for St. Ann as a mission effective July 1, 2024)
- Diocese
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Savannah
Why belong here
St. Ann offers the faithful of Berrien County a small, close-knit Catholic community rooted in nearly two centuries of local Catholic history, going back to the original Murray farm log-cabin chapel of the 1840s. Worshippers gather for a single Sunday Mass at 11:15 AM in a church built in 1942 with stained-glass windows added in 1994, and the mission is currently shepherded by the parochial administrator of St. Anthony of Padua in Ray City. It is a place where generations of south Georgia Catholics have been baptized, received First Communion, and said goodbye to loved ones — a quiet rural mission with deep roots.
Mass times at Saint Ann
Weekly Mass schedule
Parish Mission of St. Ann
St. Ann is the Catholic mission serving the Alapaha area in Berrien County, Georgia. Located at 9007 U.S. Highway 82 on the corner of U.S. 82 and Elm Street, the mission offers one weekly Sunday Mass at 11:15 AM and shares sacramental and pastoral ministry with neighboring parishes. The mission office phone line, (229) 382-4600, is staffed through its parent parish.
- Type: Mission (Parish Mission)
- Established: 1840 (origins); present church built 1942
- Sunday Mass: 11:15 AM
- Diocese: Savannah
- Deanery: Valdosta-Brunswick
- County: Berrien
History of Catholic Alapaha
Catholic life in Alapaha goes back almost 185 years, making it one of the earliest sustained Catholic presences in south Georgia. Irish immigrants James C. Murray and his wife Jane settled on a farm about 2.6 miles from present-day Alapaha around 1840 and built a log-cabin chapel dedicated as St. Patrick's — known locally as 'Murray Church.' Priests from Brunswick first arrived by horseback, later from Albany; in the 1930s, Fr. Daniel J. Bourke rode the 11 a.m. Saturday train from Albany and the church filled for midday Mass. Only Murray Cemetery remains of that first community, with descendants (Catholic and Protestant) holding an annual cleanup.
- c. 1840 — Murray Church / St. Patrick's log chapel established by the Murray family
- 1901 — Land for a new church purchased from John J. Paulk for $25
- 1902 — St. Bridget's completed; lumber hauled 35 miles by mule and wagon
- 1934–36 — Religious brothers visit in summers for children's sacramental prep
- 1939 — Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate from Douglas take up service
- 1942 — Present St. Ann church built with Catholic Church Extension Society grant
The 1942 St. Ann Church & Its Expansion
The present church of St. Ann was built in 1942 thanks to a grant from the Catholic Church Extension Society and was dedicated by Bishop Gerald P. O'Hara of Savannah, with Bishop William D. O'Brien — president of the Extension Society — preaching the homily. The ceremony drew an extraordinary 34 priests, including His Eminence Dennis Cardinal Dougherty, Archbishop of Philadelphia. The church was expanded in 1956 (parish hall, religious education building, overflow worship space) with another Extension Society grant and parishioner donations, and again in 1994 when six classrooms, two restrooms, a remodeled kitchen and social hall, a paved parking lot, and stained-glass windows were added.
- 1942 dedication attended by Bishop O'Hara and Cardinal Dougherty
- 1956 expansion funded again by the Extension Society
- 1994 expansion: 6 classrooms, 2 restrooms, stained-glass windows
- 50th anniversary Mass celebrated by Bishop Raymond W. Lessard in 1992
Clergy & Pastoral Care
From 1939 to 1979, St. Ann was shepherded by the Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate from Douglas, Georgia. On September 1, 1979 the Oblates returned the mission to the Diocese of Savannah, and diocesan priests Fr. Brendan Timmons and Fr. Cyril Gabbet of Queen of Peace in Lakeland assumed care. In 1988, St. Ann was formally attached as a mission of Our Divine Saviour Parish in Tifton. Fr. Peter Oyenugba, MSP served from 2017 until July 1, 2024, when Bishop Stephen D. Parkes realigned St. Ann as a mission of St. Anthony of Padua in Ray City under parochial administrator Fr. Joey Buencamino.
- Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate (1939–1979)
- Fr. Brendan Timmons and Fr. Cyril Gabbet, Queen of Peace, Lakeland (1979–)
- Fr. Roch Coogan, OFM (1988–)
- Fr. Justin R. Ferguson (2012–2017)
- Fr. Peter Oyenugba, MSP (2017–2024)
- Fr. Joey Buencamino, current parochial administrator (2024–)
Mass & Sacraments
St. Ann celebrates Sunday Mass at 11:15 AM. As a mission of St. Anthony of Padua (Ray City) since 2024, sacramental preparation — Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Orders — is coordinated through the parent parish. The mission can be reached by phone at (229) 382-4600 for pastoral needs.
- Sunday Mass: 11:15 AM
- Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation available
- Marriage preparation through parent parish
- Anointing of the Sick available by calling the parish office
Catholic Education & CCD
Weekly CCD classes during the school year became a regular part of parish life for Alapaha's Catholic children after two Sisters of Atonement arrived in the area in 1960. That tradition of religious education has continued through the mission's affiliation with Our Divine Saviour Parish and now St. Anthony of Padua, with sacramental preparation for First Communion, Confirmation, and RCIA coordinated through the parent parish.
- Sisters of Atonement arrived 1960; weekly CCD begins
- 1994 expansion added six classrooms for religious education
- Sacramental prep coordinated with parent parish
Visiting St. Ann
St. Ann is located at 9007 U.S. Highway 82 (corner of U.S. 82 and Elm Street) in Alapaha, Georgia 31622, Berrien County. The parking lot was paved in the 1994 renovation, and the mission is accessible from the surrounding rural communities of Tifton, Ray City, Lakeland, and Fitzgerald.
- Address: 9007 U.S. Highway 82, Alapaha, GA 31622
- Phone: (229) 382-4600
- Corner of U.S. 82 and Elm Street
- Paved parking on site
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Oblate Fathers of Mary Immaculate (from Douglas, GA)1939–1979
Served the Alapaha mission for 40 years, including the 1942 dedication of the present St. Ann church.
- Fr. Brendan Timmons1979–
Diocesan priest from Queen of Peace, Lakeland, who assumed care of the mission with Fr. Cyril Gabbet after the Oblates returned it to the diocese.
- Fr. Cyril Gabbet1979–
Diocesan priest from Queen of Peace, Lakeland, who served alongside Fr. Timmons.
- Fr. Roch Coogan, OFM1988–
Assigned as priest when St. Ann formally became a mission of Our Divine Saviour Parish, Tifton.
- Fr. Justin R. Ferguson2012–2017
Pastor of Our Divine Saviour with pastoral care of the St. Ann mission.
- Fr. Peter Oyenugba, MSP2017–2024
Assigned to Our Divine Saviour Parish and its mission church St. Ann, Alapaha on September 1, 2017.
- Fr. Joey Buencamino2024–
Parochial Administrator of St. Anthony of Padua, Ray City, with responsibility for St. Ann as a mission effective July 1, 2024.