Strengthen Your Brethren, Parish Staff Changes - August 20, 2006
Congratulations to Tharcy Glodowski on her retirement! Thank you for the many years of faithful service you rendered to our parish as Office Assistant! Tharcy has done an outstanding job in editing our weekly bulletin, making it not only readable but attractive as well. She has been so patient and kind in working with parishioners to schedule Masses and answer questions. She has been a friendly voice on the phone and a welcoming presence to those visiting the parish office. Thank you, Tharcy, for going way beyond the call of duty so many times in your generous service to us! May the Lord richly reward you and your family, for whom you will now have more time! God bless!
Congratulations to Patrick Burkhart as he has already begun his new work as the principal of La Crosse Aquinas High School! Thank you for sharing your talents with our parish as Organist and Director of Sacred Music! We truly have been blessed to have had a man of your liturgical knowledge and musical abilities at the service of our prayer and worship of God. Patrick has always been so generous toward Saint Peter’s – this has never been more evident than in these past weeks as he has traveled back to Stevens Point to be with us on the weekends. May the Lord bless you, Patrick, and the young people entrusted to your care at Aquinas!
Any parish the size of Saint Peter’s is able to meet the pastoral needs of the parishioners because of the tireless self-sacrifice of the Pastor and other priests, the generosity of prayer, time, talents, and money of parishioners – often-times anonymously offered – and the selfless dedication of the parish staff. We are blessed with a small, but very talented group of parish employees – from our custodial team that works so hard to keep our large physical plant in good order, to those who care for the needs of our resident priests, to those who are more closely associated with the pastoral mission of Saint Peter. Those employees who collaborate closely with me as Pastor are of great assistance to me in fulfilling my responsibilities to you who have been entrusted to my pastoral care. During my first year at Saint Peter I have come to have a deep respect and appreciation for the staff who are so closely associated with my pastoral ministry – Susan Varga, Tharcy Glodowski, Patrick Burkhart, and Phil Lawson. In order to strengthen this collaboration, we have clarified – and in some cases changed – the responsibilities of each. These changes are reflected in the new job descriptions and titles that more accurately describe the positions. Susan Varga is my Administrative Assistant who provides me administrative, secretarial, and clerical support and who assists me in the efficient and effective operation of the parish office. We are very happy to welcome Michelle Schey who takes over the post left vacant with Tharcy Glodowski’s retirement. Although the name of this position has been changed to Secretary, the responsibilities remain substantially the same, including the editing of the weekly bulletin and the scheduling of Mass intentions. In a nutshell, the Secretary provides routine clerical and secretarial assistance to the Pastor, the Administrative Assistant, and the Director of Catechesis and Evangelization. Phil Lawson remains the Director of Catechesis and Evangelization although his responsibilities have been greatly expanded. With the many and varied faith formation programs in our parish, it seemed prudent at this juncture to place them under the direction of one person in order that there be a more effective coordination of all aspects of evangelization and education at Saint Peter. Unfortunately, the post of Director of Sacred Music and Organist remains vacant as the young man who had accepted the job, recently withdrew his acceptance. Currently we are conducting a national search in order to fill this post. In the meantime, parishioners and other area organists and pianists are providing accompaniment at weekend Masses.
Saint Peter, pray for us! Our Lady of Guadalupe, Star of the New Evangelization, pray for us!