Parish Life

Opportunities to Serve

FAITH FORMATION CATECHISTS / YOUTH MINISTRY

Joanne McLaughlin (607) 437-4923

As a community of faith, we have an obligation to God and to the Church to pass on that faith to our children. Parents need to show their children, by both word and example, what our faith means and how it should be lived. The parish helps parents fulfill their responsibility through the faith formation program. In order for our program to be successful we need dedicated, committed catechists to teach our kids the beauty of the Catholic faith that comes to us through Scripture and Tradition.

Teaching children is a wonderful experience. Teaching children about our faith and about all that God has done for us and expects from us is an extraordinarily important job. Yes, it requires substantial personal sacrifice of time and energy, but it also rewards with deep personal fulfillment. You will be helping form the future members and leaders of our Church, and you will grow in your faith as well.

RCIA TEAM / ADULT FAITH FORMATION

Fr. Paul Mijas (607) 652-7170

The RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) is the process by which non-Catholics are prepared for and received into full communion with the Catholic Church. Team members meet with catechumens (non-Christians) / candidates (non-Catholic Christians) regularly to lead both instructional and faith sharing sessions. They also prepare for and participate in the liturgies celebrated for catechumens / candidates along the way to their reception into the Church at the Easter Vigil. Depending on where a person is in his or her life of faith, that journey can take one to two years.
There’s no better way to evangelize than to help people come to the fullness of the truth in the Catholic Church. Seeing the joyous response of catechumens / candidates as they discover Christ in their lives can spark renewed faith in one’s own life, as well as in the lives of fellow parishioners.

RESPECT LIFE COMMITTEE

Paul Wenner (607) 779-8803

The Respect Life Committee promotes awareness and coordinates activities to foster and strengthen a deeply felt and lived respect for the sanctity of all human life, from the moment of conception to natural death. All of us are responsible for witnessing to the Gospel of Life in this world. The respect life committee works hard to advocate for human life and to keep the manifold moral issues related to human life and its sacredness front and center in our Catholic Christian consciousness. Advocacy can include trips to meet with elected officials and participation in the annual March for Life. The committee also helps protect and support those whose lives are vulnerable to violence or neglect both materially and spiritually, through our Mother’s Day Baby Shower collections, School Supply collections and collecting clothes for the homeless. Coming to the aid of others whose lives are not as blessed and secure as our own is a natural response to the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.

RESPECT LIFE COMMITTEE

Paul Wenner (607) 779-8803

The Respect Life Committee promotes awareness and coordinates activities to foster and strengthen a deeply felt and lived respect for the sanctity of all human life, from the moment of conception to natural death. All of us are responsible for witnessing to the Gospel of Life in this world. The respect life committee works hard to advocate for human life and to keep the manifold moral issues related to human life and its sacredness front and center in our Catholic Christian consciousness. Advocacy can include trips to meet with elected officials and participation in the annual March for Life. The committee also helps protect and support those whose lives are vulnerable to violence or neglect both materially and spiritually, through our Mother’s Day Baby Shower collections, School Supply collections and collecting clothes for the homeless. Coming to the aid of others whose lives are not as blessed and secure as our own is a natural response to the commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.

SOCIAL COMMITTEE

Carleen Russell email: carleenrussell3@gmail.com

Parishioners on this committee are responsible for planning, organizing, and hosting social events for the parish to provide fun and fellowship for our people, thereby fostering a stronger sense of identity and belonging among the community. Committee members won’t be expected to do all the work for these events themselves, but will be free to tap the time and talent of people in the parish to help out as needed. Events include regular bingo and other family fun nights, as well as those described elsewhere in this booklet.

VOCATIONS COMMITTEE

Jim & Roxie King (518) 299-3011

As a Roman Catholic parish community, we seek to support the Diocese’s effort to assist others in determining if they are called to a vocation. We encourage women and men who through prayer and direction wonder if God is calling them to be a priest, to inquire into the life of Sisters who live in Religious Communities and share a community’s spirituality, or to know if the brotherhood in a monastery will be one’s home. At the present time Sacred Hearth Parish is sponsoring two people in our diocese who are discerning their call. Our sponsorship includes regular prayer support for their discernment process, invitation and transportation to various parish activities and individual parishioners providing material and spiritual support to these persons. In addition, individual parishioner households in each of our churches are assigned to make a weekly commitment to pray intensely for more vocations to the priesthood, taking a prepared prayer booklet and a chalice from Father at the end of mass. More families are needed to commit to this public support of vocations.

COMMITTIES FOR ANNUAL PARISH EVENTS

Parish Office (607) 652-7170 x 102

Flag Day Parade Committee– As a part of our evangelization effort, the parish participates in the Flag Day Parade held every June 14th in Stamford. Parishioners are needed to build and maintain our parish float, and to march in the parade: carrying signs and distributing candy to the children who are watching the parade.

Annual Picnic Committee – our annual parish picnic is held on the 3rd Sunday in August at Mine Kill State Park in Gilboa. Volunteers are needed to help organize the activities at the picnic and to cook, set up and clean up at the picnic.

National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC)
Pat Dengler (607) 267-7862
Every two years, the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry (NFCYM) holds a national conference in Indiana for high school students who are sent by their parish. In a distinctly Catholic setting, the National Catholic Youth Conference invites participants to encounter Christ, experience church, and be empowered for discipleship. Sacred Heart Parish historically has sent 10 – 14 youth and 2 or 3 chaperones to the event.

PRAYER GROUPS

Opening ourselves to God through prayer is at the heart of our Catholic experiences. Our parish has a number of prayer groups that meet regularly. Everyone is welcome to attend.