“Giving and Giving of Ourselves”

I want to highlight the beautiful response of our parish to the Giving Trees undertaken this past Advent.  Did you know St. Peter’s provides a gift to every one of parishioners who is in assisted living, nursing homes, or homebound?   Furthermore, the parish gives a Christmas gift to every single resident of Portage County Nursing Home and the Stevens Point Health Care Center, regardless of whether they are parishioners. This adds up to a hefty total of 224 gift bags that were distributed.  The beauty of this effort, apart from the token of love it shows those who are unable to physically get to St. Peter’s, is the wide breadth of parishioners involved.    The Family Life Committee does much of the preparation and coordination.  Countless parishioners took the tags from the trees and brought in an abundance of gifts.  When it came time to coordinate and prepare all the gifts for delivery, it was the Family Life Committee, aided by our homeschool families, last year’s RCIA Class, and various other parishioners who did the work.  For the delivery of the gifts—a large undertaking in and of itself!—the College DTS group took care of the 2 nursing homes, our parish Eucharistic ministers to the homebound took many of the gifts to the people they regularly visit, and students from Pacelli delivered the rest during their Service Day.   Overall, what a beautiful gesture for a parish to come together and give a gift of love and unity this Christmas.  Thanks to all who helped!

The ultimate “gift” we can give to Jesus is of course our lives in service to Him, in whatever way He calls, i.e. marriage, religious life, priesthood, or single.  This Saturday, Jan. 7^th was the Annual “Called By Name” event for the diocese.  Every parish is asked to submit names of high school and young adult men and women who they think might be open to a religious vocation.  These individuals then receive a personal letter from Bishop Callahan inviting them to a Day of Reflection at the Diocese which features priests, religious, conversations, presentations and Mass with the Bishop.  St. Peter’s submitted a list of 38 high school and college students to the Diocese.  Now, obviously not all of them will be called to those vocations, but it speaks highly of the parish to have such a large number!  And it’s a credit to the individuals named that the parish thinks so well of them!  Continue to pray for and encourage these vocations!

God bless you!

Phil Lawson

Director of Catechesis & Evangelization

“To Jesus Through Mary”

The Holy Family Catholic Homeschool Association (HFCHA) is a Roman Catholic Association of St. Peter’s Parish in Stevens Point, WI. Founded on Adoration of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, we exist to pray together and to support and assist homeschool families. HFCHA is open to all homeschooling families who embrace the teachings of the Catholic Church and the purpose of our group.

We gather to support each other in the task of home schooling throughout the school year through various events and activities. Here is a brief summary of our activities:

First Friday Mass, Adoration, & Breakfast Pot-luck—Each Month we gather in honor of the First Friday devotion to the Sacred Heart for Mass, adoration and fellowship as a group. Note occasionally these meetings are moved to an alternate Friday to avoid holiday weekends.

Thursday Classes Grades 7 & up – Every Thursday classes are offered for students grades 7 and up. The topics have varied and have included Theology, History, Latin, Church History, Scripture, Advanced Math and Applied Physics.  More information about the 2011-2012 offerings.

Monthly Mom’s Meetings—August through May we gather at a family’s house or at St. Peter’s for fellowship and support, occasional guest speakers as well as to plan activities and group events. Four of these meetings are official planning meetings (August, October, January and April) where we plan the group’s events and the remaining six are for fellowship, support or any topic that group members express interest in such as curriculum swap, guest speakers on homeschooling through high school, etc. Everyone brings a dessert or snack to share. And the location is announced in the newsletter.

Basketball Team—The Knights: Each year boys in grades 7 and up are welcome to play on The Knights Basketball Team to compete in the Northern Christian School Conference January through March.

All Saints Party: Come Celebrate All Saints Day in style—the children dress up as their favorite saint and play heavenly games and join in friendly competition where the goal is out of this world.

Annual Family Dance: Join other Families for the event of the year, great music and company make for a night you’ll remember.

Annual Adults Christmas Party: A night out with other Catholic Parents

Annual Book sale: Each year in the spring we sponsor a used book sale where parents can sell their old curriculum and get great deals on the next year’s curriculum

Graduation Ceremony: Each May we gather to celebrate 8th grade and High School Graduations.

Plays: This past year we put on our first group play—a spoof on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. It was a great success and we look forward to doing it again soon.

Field Trips: Each month Mom’s volunteer to organize field trips that all members are welcome to participate in. Some examples are the Corn maze ,Fish Hatchery, Post Office, Fire Station, Children Museum, Ice Skating, Roller Skating, Sledding, Rudolph Cheese Factory, Schmeekle Reserve, Nursing Home, Rudolph Grotto and the State Capitol.

Daily Mass Altar Servers— The HFCHA coordinates with St. Peter’s Parish to provide altar servers for the weekday Masses there. One parent is responsible for the server’s schedule.

Bake Sale Fundraiser— Each year, as needed, the HFCHA has a bake sale after the Sunday Masses to raise money for group activities.

Members-at-large: Anyone is welcome sign-up to receive the e-newsletter, attend any group events, be listed in the group directory and be on the phone tree. We would love to have you join us! If you like what you see and want to take the next step:

Active members of the HFCHA are those who

1. Attend August planning meeting (or arrange for their vote/input to be shared at the meeting);
2. Organize at least 1 field trip or help with 1 group event;
3. Help with a fundraiser or pay family membership fee of $10.

Active members have a vote on any official group business.

Service Team – Our Service team consists of five members, at least 1 member of which belongs to St. Peter’s Parish, under the Spiritual leadership of the Pastor of St. Peter’s. The Service team is responsible for

1. making decisions on behalf of the group when needed;
2. resolving any conflicts that may arise;
3. deciding when to consult with the Spiritual director about group business.

These responsibilities are carried out by team prayer and discussion and majority vote. The service team, as elected members, are responsible for representing HFCHA as a whole. The service team will be determined each year at the August planning meeting through a majority vote of active members.

This school year, the Holy Family Homeschool Association service team is:

Meeting Facilitator – Michelle Pehoski: Michelle, with the assistance of Rebecca leads our Planning and First Friday meetings. She coordinates information to be discussed at the planning meeting/update the agenda and coordinates with the Parish Secretary to reserve meeting spaces for group events.

Secretary – Wendy Tritz. Wendy is responsible for taking minutes for the planning meetings and submitting them to the newsletter editor. She assists the Coordinator in preparations for First Friday Meetings including monitoring group supplies such as paper plates, decorating supplies, ect. to make sure enough are on hand for group events.

Welcome Coordinator: Cindy Sjoberg. Cindy is responsible for providing information and answering questions about the HFCHA to new and prospective members. She makes sure the new members receive a welcome packet that the group designs/approves and will personally collect and relay their contact information to the Communications Coordinator. She does all she can to help new members feel welcome at group events, including making introductions or making sure someone introduces them to the other families at the first events they attend.

Communications Coordinator – Patty Lawson. Patty, with the assistance of Wendy Mongin and Darcy Bunn is responsible for the monthly newsletter, birthday list, facebook page, updates to the parish website information (Darcy) and e-mail updates including a prayer requests. She also makes sure the directory and phone tree are up-to-date and that all families in the directory are contacted (Wendy) by October 1st. The directory will be published each year with the October newsletter.

Treasurer: Nancy Omernik. Nancy holds the money for group expenses and disburses money for expenses incurred when a receipt is submitted. She coordinates any group fundraisers when necessary and collects membership fee if one is collected.