March 22, 2008
Parishes offer range of activities to nourish mind, body and spirit
By Bitsy Kemper
Herald correspondent
At left, members of St. Paul Parish in Sacramento, from left, Terry Shaub, Hank Morrow, Patti Morrow and Kiki Forsyth, learn Tai Chi in an evening class with instructor Don Wahl, right. Photo courtesy of St. Paul Parish
Gone are the days when a parish’s social hall or center is used solely for spaghetti dinners and pancake breakfasts.
Now one can learn ballroom or interpretive dance, take yoga, get health screenings, gain computer skills or hear about the history of baseball. Parishes are embracing the whole person — body, mind and spirit.
At St. Thomas More Parish in Paradise, for example, parishioners are given the chance to work their brain at computer classes. Instructor and parishioner John Pooler says the five- to seven-week classes offered are a social event just as much as they are educational.
“We start by making the classes fun and less ‘techy,’” he said. “People know their fellow parishioners, so a challenging concept is easier in an environment they are comfortable with. When they learn how to access the online parish calendar, they get better connected to events going on at church.”
Pooler’s assessment is that although Mass on Sunday gets people involved in their parish, activities such as computer classes and other programs offered on site are a new way to keep interest in the parish community.
Virginia Fletcher, a member of St. Peter Parish in Dixon, says she feels a more integral part of the parish by participating in organizations such as the Young Ladies Institute. “I really feel like a part of this big parish family when I participate in things like this. It’s a win-win for everyone involved,” she noted.
Monsignor James Kidder, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in El Dorado Hills, said any activity that promotes fellowship or social interaction is a great way to extend the arm of Catholic friendship. “The church is your extended family,” he said, “especially to newcomers.”
Parishioner Gene Murphy agrees. He’s happy to see regularly-scheduled community events and feels more involved in his parish than ever before, he said. Even without being a member of every ministry, he can attend Knights of Columbus dances, buy a latte to benefit teen mission trips or cookies that benefit Girl Scouts, appreciate a liturgical movement performance, and donate canned goods at a food drive.
“There is still great respect for Mass and liturgical activities, but now it’s like everybody is celebrating,” Murphy said. “We study Scripture in small, friendly groups, and pitch in to help others. Even at night it’s hard to find a place to park at the church,” Murphy said.
St. Paul Parish in Sacramento has 12 social ministries that range from an annual white elephant sale to a monthly friendship group, ensuring that the parish hall is regularly booked. Shirley Brown, business manager, isn’t surprised to see a high level of social activity.
“We’re very multicultural, so there’s always something going on here,” she said.
Ballroom dancing classes started at St. Paul four years ago, and after surveying parishioners the health ministry just started weekly Tai Chi (Chinese martial art) classes. More than 30 people joined in the first class there this month.
Parishioner Clara Heimericks says physical fitness classes are one way the parish’s care giving ministries help the “body, mind and spirit.” More parishioners involved in different ministries is a mechanism for them to participate more in the church community overall, she said. “I think the more we reach them in body, the better chance we have to reach them in spirit.”
At St. Anthony Parish in Sacramento, the St. Anthony Seniors, one of the parish’s many organizations, aims to provide “friendship, love and spiritual enrichment” of its members. Monthly meetings in the parish’s memorial center, built in 1996, are usually brown-bag luncheons supplying the more than 180 members with speakers on a variety of topics.
According to board member Al Franks, the group is both social and religious. “We have speakers on just about everything,” he said. The group has grown every year since it started in 1974, giving seniors a reliable time and place to socialize and learn.
St. Anthony Parish also brings the parish community closer with a health ministry, with the goal of emphasizing “the wholeness of body, mind and spirit for our church, our parishioners and their families.”
Started in 1999, the ministry offers fitness classes such as strength training and fitness for seniors, yoga, health and safety classes, medical equipment rental, and free in-home visits.
Parishioner Sharon White recently took over as the parish nurse and has found it a rewarding way to get to know fellow parishioners. As a hospital-based nurse for many years as well as a community nurse, parish nursing is a field that allows her to blend her faith with her love for nursing, she said.
“We address the body with yoga and medical screenings, the mind with classes and other health resources, and the spirit by praying and listening. I see this as a blend of my spiritual life with my life as a nurse,” White said.
St. Joseph Parish in Redding uses recipes in its weekly bulletin to feed the body, with Gospel readings that serve as food for the soul. Recipes are contributed by parishioners and were specifically added to stimulate parish participation. “The parish seems to like it and we have had a great response,” said volunteer Jean Russell.
