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Stewardship
Minutes
Al & Pat Gaffney Menard
Hello my name is Al Menard …
And I am Pat Gaffney Menard…
As we reflect on our faith-filled response to the Stewardship concept
at St. Nicholas we can identify that the 24 years we have been parishioners
has been a slow and steady conversion to our present attitude, frame
of reference and way of life that we experience daily.
Having not moved and relocated home and family as much as some,
coming to VA Beach from our humble upstate New York roots was a
big leap of faith for us. Our children, parenting skills and careers
were real young and we came to establish our Virginia Family and
step in line for changes and challenges.
Being blessed with the advise that the Little Neck Peninsula was
the place to find a home, we started to attend St. Nicholas Church
right away and saw immediately that our extended Virginia Family
was also here.
We had witnessed that St. Nicholas Church offers a superb spirit
of welcoming hospitality and a burning desire to serve the spiritual
and temporal needs of its members and surrounding community.
In this kind of setting, we could recognize God’s gifts to
us and show our gratitude by offering our time, talent and treasure
to the various active ministries and our new stewardship journey.
“AL"… When offering my time and talent I had taken
to my favorite past time of singing! I joined the ST. Nicholas Family
and Seasonal Choirs with an eventual assignment as Cantor. From
there I also had been fortunate to be part of the casts of some
of the Musical Productions such as the “ Music Man”
and sang some Barbershop at the same time being an outstanding River
City, Iowa Citizen. Much fun and fellowship was experienced.
I have also been a member of several committees here such as Ways
and Means, Pastoral Council and now Stewardship.
Pat offered her time and talents as an instructor to the children
liturgy and later as member of ways and means, pastoral council,
and presently as Eucharistic Minister and stewardship committee
Co- Chair.
“Pat”… Over and above Al and I giving of our time,
talent and treasure We are most grateful for the influence the St.
Nicholas faith community has had on our children’s religious
education.
“ Pat “ … for instance, our daughter who was
shy and self- conscious teenager grew through her experiences with
the Folk Group. There she was able to improve her musical talents
and personal faith and make these things a major part of her life.
“Pat” …Our Son Jim experienced a revelation through
his Antioch weekend. During the confirmation process, candidates
are encouraged to attend an Antioch weekend that begins early on
a Friday evening. As the weekend approached Jim decided that he
couldn’t attend due to his commitment to playing football
on Friday night for FC High School. Well it happened that the Antioch
leaders allowed Jim and fellow team mate start the weekend a little
late. Our most reluctant son, after much parental encouragement
agreed to attend. And he was so moved by his experiences during
the weekend that he volunteered to join the planning committee for
the next Antioch Weekend. His faith had grown.
“ Pat “… The experiences of his older brother
and sister influenced our third child, Joe. He also benefited from
the Antioch process and to this day his faith is even deeper.
Our ultimate need however came when our daughter who had numerous
respiratory illnesses was diagnosed with a tumor in her lung, but
also attached to the lining of her heart. As a result a biopsy could
not be done prior to surgery. As a family we were devastated and
felt so alone so far from our families. But the morning of the surgery
our St. Nicholas family came to the waiting room to be with us throughout
the ten hour surgery. It was their prayers and presence both then
and throughout Mickey’s recovery that showed us the true meaning
of stewardship.
“ AL” …Well we all have our stories and our journeys
with the Lord. We thank you for allowing us to share ours with you.
But if you have not yet experienced the challenges and rewards of
giving of your self through offering your God given gifts of your
time, talent and treasure to our church family and community please
do so in whatever area the Lord has blessed you most. And for those
of who have given of yourselves, give even more for the needs of
our parish continue to grow and it is truly in giving that you will
receive. We can witness to that.
In this spirit let us take a minute to collectively offer ourselves
to the Lord and ask the Lord to help us be good stewards to our
faith and one another through song. Please take your hymnals and
open to # 686 “Here I am Lord” # 686 and please join
me in singing the refrain to this song.
“ HERE I AM LORD, IS IT I LORD…I HAVE HEARD YOU CALLING
IN THE NIGHT…I WILL GO LORD IF YOU LEAD ME… I WILL HOLD
YOUR PEOPLE IN MY HEART…
Thank you! Keep Smiling and God Bless!
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