The fact that the rector of Church of the Messiah does not habla Español has not prevented her - the Rev. Patricia Reuss - from celebrating the Eucharist in Spanish every Friday evening from April through October. Nor has it proved a barrier to the two Hispanic baptisms, and occasional bilingual services on rainy Sunday mornings when Mexican and Guatemalan field workers are unable to pick bok choy and Chinese cabbage.

Perhaps two years ago, Mrs. Reuss said, members of the 100-year-old congregation began noticing Hispanic-looking people in Murphy, the westernmost town in North Carolina. "They sort of stand out in this rural area," she said. "We tried making contact."

Not many Anglos there speak Spanish, but Messiah is blessed with a bilingual secretary. Melanie Christopher, who was born in Cuba, made up brochures asking Necesita Ayuda? and advising, Llama a Iglesia Episcopal del Mesias, with the church's phone number. She took the flyers to places and agencies that might be needed by the migrant workers: the hospital, social services, local lawyers' and doctors' offices. "Then," Mrs. Christopher said, "someone needed to take her sick little boy to the emergency room. Ramona and Bobby. People gradually started calling, and it just sort of took off."

The first Spanish Eucharist was celebrated in honor of the Feast of St. Mary the Virgin, in August, 1995. The bilingual prayer books are reminiscent of old Roman Catholic Latin-English missals. At the pot luck lunch following that first service, fellowship was not necessarily language-dependent. "We just smiled a lot," the rector said.

Baptisms are specially important, to both groups in the congregation. The workers like them to be on Sunday, so the whole community is involved. The older congregation, "middle agers and retirees," found that "God has blessed us with beautiful little children and babies. Our next challenge will be to begin their Christian education in their native language until they learn English," Mrs. Reuss and Mrs. Christopher said in a speech to the convention of the Diocese of Western North Carolina.

Betty Miller, one of the retirees who fell in love with Murphy and Messiah and moved up from Fort Lauderdale, said the church sponsors a weekly English class for the "nice young people," while Mrs. Reuss and others are studying Spanish. Canon to the Ordinary Bill Whisenhunt had said the ministry was conducted "on a shoestring." Mrs. Reuss laughed and said, "Not even a shoestring. We have no funds. People bring refreshments. The [workers] never ask for anything. They need love. They are young people - no one lasts in that job past 30. And the babies! It's exciting for our older congregation." The Hispanic members have brought in new music, too.

Mrs. Christopher and her husband had a story similar to Betty Miller's: "We stayed at the motel one night. The next day - Thanksgiving Day - we looked around and fell in love. When my husband retired, we came back.

"Messiah is a very loving family," she added. She volunteered for the job of church secretary, and now, some four years later, she has entered diaconal studies. "It is a very strong call," she said. "I didn't think I needed a collar to do this work but - yes, to take the church out into the community. And Pat knew!"

Mrs. Christopher visits the families in their trailers and in the fields where they pick bok choy and broccoli for Chinese restaurants on both coasts. "At first, [the boss] was suspicious. But I complained about the bathrooms, and he fixed them," she said. "This year - it's a miracle - he's so friendly. He brought boxes of vegetables to Social Services, he bought soccer balls for the kids. He sees we're helping them." The church now has 37 Hispanic families.

Messiah reaches out, also, as part of the ecumenical Cherokee [County] House Raising. Gene Willard, editor of Western North Carolina's diocesan paper, the Highland Episcopalian, said it's a program similar to Habitat for Humanity. Leonard Christopher, Melanie's husband, has led the group of parish volunteers who, with those of other churches, have built several houses in the community of 1,500. They have received grants from the diocesan Centennial Witness Fund for the work. Mrs. Reuss told the convention: "A few weeks ago some of us attended the dedication of one of the homes. A single mother and her child now have a lovely home in which to live.

"We are neighbors helping neighbors. Those who have skills, use them to help others. Some of us give support in different ways ... It is fulfilling to those who are involved, and a joy to those who, perhaps for the first time in their lives, have adequate housing."

The town of Murphy is "two and a half hours from anywhere," Mr. Willard said. He tells of Mrs. Reuss' directions: "On Interstate 40, you take the last exit before Tennessee, drive 'til it feels like the end of the earth. Then you see the sign that says, 'Murphy, 49 miles'."

The congregation began in 1853, and the present church was built in 1896. "It's beautifully hand-crafted by ships' carpenters who migrated from the coast into the mountains," Ms. Miller said. Its growth is presenting problems. "It's on a postage-stamp-sized lot," Canon Whisenhunt said.

"The church is beautiful but it's uninsulated," the rector said. "The holy water freezes. We're buying property, and we hope to build when it's paid for - especially a parish hall. We have no money. But we know we have to do something. We're jumping out in faith." o