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Local Businessman plans Catholic Yellow Pages

Jeff Davenport, owner of Rising Star Printing in Baltimore, was conferring with insurance broker and Catholic Deacon Richard "Monti" Montalto on a printing job last October when Deacon Monti pulled out a Baltimore phone directory called the Shepherd's Guide.

Although it is purportedly a "Christian" business directory, the two men noticed that no Catholic churches were included in the church listings, and realized that it was in reality a Protestant "yellow pages."

"We marveled at how good Protestants were at talking about their faith, and how reluctant Catholics are to talk about theirs," Jeff recalls.

That's when the idea struck both men that a Catholic yellow pages would be a great aid for Catholics to both network with each other and mutually strengthen their faith.

Jeff felt that this new idea demanded immediate action, and that he was the one to do it.  With his many years in the printing business, including the last eight years running his own printing brokerage firm, he says, "I kind of think that this is something God has given me to do."

Jeff set to work immediately, planning the nature of the directory and soliciting advertising from Catholic-owned businesses.

While business listings and ads will comprise the bulk of the directory, it will also contain free listings of Catholic churches, schools, colleges and universities in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, as well as information on vocations, missions and charities, "places where Catholics can get involved with their faith," Jeff explains.

The Perpetual Help Catholic Yellow Pages, as he has named it, will also contain a unique "FAQ" section, with answers to "Frequently Asked Questions" about the Catholic faith.

The impetus for this section was born of Jeff's and his wife Kelly's experience of returning to the Catholic Church after 20 years away from it.

After their first son, Brendan, was born in 1998, "We both felt that something big was missing in our lives," says Jeff.

They eventually found that missing part at St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Baltimore, whose pastor, Fr. James Farmer, Jeff describes as both devout and welcoming.

"From the first time we met him, we knew that was where we belonged," says Jeff.

When Jeff and Kelly returned to the Church, they found they were "a little shy about asking questions" about the faith.  Jeff thinks a lot of Catholics are the same way, and that many of them don't have a real understanding of what the Church teaches and believes.

The FAQ section will help them gain this understanding.

Jeff will not write it, but will compile information from the many good existing resources, such as The Catholic Answer Bible, published by Our Sunday Visitor, he says.

Kelly, a graphic designer, is helping with the design and layout.

In addition to soliciting advertising, Jeff has been contacting pastors, asking them to distribute the directory--which will be free--to their parishioners.  He also plans to distribute it through Knights of Columbus chapters, via the businesses themselves, and in Catholic bookstores.

He expects the Perpetual Help Yellow Pages to come out in the summer of 2004, with a printing of 50,000 copies.

Noting that the Shepherd's Guide, which began in Baltimore 24 years ago, now has franchises in 125 areas around the country, Jeff hopes for a similar success with Perpetual Help.

"If this is successful in Baltimore, I don't see why it couldn't expand into other dioceses," he says.  "The Arlington and Washington dioceses might be combined, and would be the next logical market to move into."

Jeff thinks that the "Catholic market" is an untapped market rich with both financial and spiritual benefits for all involved.

"I see it as a win-win situation for everyone:  churches, advertisers, and users of the directory," he concludes.