SAINT PETER S CATHOLIC CHURCH July 26, 2015

Transcription

1 SAINT PETER S CATHOLIC CHURCH July 26, West First Street Mansfield, Ohio Mass Schedule: Saturday: 5:00 pm Sunday: 7:30 am, 9:30 am, 11:30 am Monday & Friday 5:30 pm Tuesday - Thursday 7:00 am Spanish Mass: Resurrection Parish, Lexington Sunday: 6:00 pm Phones: Rectory & Parish Center: Convent: High School, Jr. High: Grade School: Montessori: Fax: Gifts to Msgr. Dunn Foundation: Ext Parish Office Hours: Monday - Thursday: 7:30 am - 8:30 pm Friday: 7:30 am - 7:30 pm Saturday: 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Sunday: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm Parish Business Manager: Mr. Jerry Straub Sacrament of Baptism: Please contact the Parish Center to begin plans for the baptism of your baby or child. Sacrament of Reconciliation: Saturday: 3:00-4:30 pm Other times by appointment Sacrament of Marriage: Arrangements should be made at the Parish Center at least six months in advance of the ceremony. Sunday Nursery: Every Sunday during 9:30 and 11:30 am Mass, located in the Day Care Center in the basement of the High School. Bulletin Deadline: Monday, 12:00 noon. All requests must be submitted in writing or . Website: Staff s are found on the website Pastoral Staff: Fr. Gregory R. Hite, Pastor Fr. Jeremy Miller, Parochial Vicar Mr. Bill Johnson, Director of Music & Liturgy Ms. Lynne Lukach, Pastoral Associate Mrs. Elizabeth Wurm, Director of Religious Ed. & Youth Minister Deacons: Mr. Terry Philpott Mr. John Reef Mr. Dennis Striker St. Peter s School System: Mr. Michael Wasiniak High School, Jr. High School Mrs. Madalyn Bauer Elementary School Mrs. Tammy Kemerling Montessori Pastoral Care Contacts: Mrs. Vickie Palmer Hospital & Follow-up Mrs. Vickie Palmer Nursing Homes/Assisted Living & Prayer Pipeline Deacon John Reef Shut-ins/Homebound A Parish of the Saint Juan Diego Deanery, Diocese of Toledo

2 Page 2 St. Peter s Catholic Church, Mansfield, Ohio July 26, 2015 MASS INTENTIONS Monday, July 27 W eekday 5:00 pm Rosary 5:30 pm Lois Stupanski (anniversary) Tuesday, July 28 Weekday 7:00 am Charles A. Massa 4:00 pm Mass at Winchester Terrace Nursing Home Wednesday, July 29 + M artha 7:00 am Mary Ann Shook Thursday, July 30 Weekday 7:00 am Frank Russo Friday, July 31 +Ignatius of Loyola, Priest 5:00 pm Rosary 5:30 pm Cecile Boisvert Saturday, August 1 Vigil of Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 5:00 pm Virginia & Joe Boyd Sunday, August 2 Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 7:30 am Parish 9:30 am Dorothy & Joseph Peters 11:30 am Raymond Smith LECTOR / COMMUNION MINISTER Saturday, August 1 5:00 pm L C Taddeo, C Eighinger D B Schartl, V Zack, B Linkenbach, C&D Campbell, D DeCenso, M Joyce, M Monroe, B Nihei Sunday, August 2 7:30 am L M Hawkins, J Morvai D S Santoro, K Randall, J Porch, K&K Reindl, L Simmons, K Stone 9:30 am L Sr. BMC, M Meinzer D S Weber, B Genter, J Hunt, R Renie, M Riggleman, A Seiss, R Sliney, T&S Speelman, K Wehinger, S Weitzel 11:30 am L T Malec, K Paugh D F Leitenberger, J Laskey, C Mears, B Riley, M Selby, J Wendling, K Yockey, C Becker, J Liston MASS SERVERS Saturday, August 1 5:00 pm B Miller, S Miller, A Winters Sunday, August 2 7:30 am J Ramey, M Tridico, S Tridico 9:30 am J Rose, A Saltgiver, T Staab 11:30 am C Bryant, W Laskey, B Dix Counters - August 2 J Barlow, S Christian, L Steggall, R Brown MASS IN SPANISH Mass in Spanish is celebrated each Sunday at Resurrection Parish, Lexington, Ohio, at 6:00 pm. All parishioners within the tri-parish area are welcome to participate. Greetings from the Principal s desk of the Junior High and High School! This very wet summer is due for some nice warm sunshine to dry things out! Regardless of the weather, all school operations have been continuing in preparation for on a very brisk schedule. The summer started with a number of teacher departures. Ms. Beatrice Omwomo, (French) and Mrs. Monica Sved, (Spanish) resigned a month ago, along with Ms. Jessica Roth, (Guidance Counselor), who left to go back to her home school of Magnificat in Cleveland. Mr. Steve Bernath retired from the Science Department and Mrs. Tammy Haus resigned from the English Department to become the principal at Galion St. Joseph Elementary. Congratulations to both of them! Just last week Mr. Ryan Failor left our staff as well. We heartily thank all these fine people for their dedication to St. Peter s over their tenures and we wish them all the best in their future endeavors. New to the staff for include: Mr. Curt Lesher, as School Guidance Counselor. Mr. Lesher is from the Wooster City Schools system. His many years of experience will be gratefully accepted. Mr. Greg Henderson will be new to the Science Department. He has over ten years experience in the classroom. He comes to us from Norwalk St. Paul and was an associate of mine there for three years before I came to St. Peter s. Mrs. Courtney Cline will be new to the English Department. She did her student teaching experience here last year. We welcome them all to the St. Peter School family. At the time of this printing I am still looking for excellent candidates to fill in the roles of French, Spanish, and Art teachers as well as an Intervention Specialist. Please share any names to me of people interested in our system. We wish the very best to Sr. Paula and Sr. Bernard Marie. We have enjoyed their presence every year. We to pray for them as they move to Joliet, Illinois. I am extremely thankful for their encouragement this past year just as all parishioners have been over the many years they have been on campus. God be with them as they journey to a new home out west over the Labor Day weekend! The school has been brightened up with new coats of wax by the summer maintenance crew under the direction of Maintenance Supervisor, Mr. Larry Coffindaffer. Good job to Larry and the young men who have worked diligently on these chores. There have been many other activities brewing all over the campus as summer camps for boys and girls basketball, summer school and VBS concluded just last week. With these activities coming to an end, finishing touches can be made to waxing the remaining school hall floors and the Franciscan Activity Center floor. Other maintenance items on the list include painting several rooms and repairing concrete issues around the campus. With the constant scrutiny of our Property Committee President, Mr. Monty Friebel, we know all is in good hands and everything will be addressed as our carefully laid out budget dictates. Thanks to Monty and all his associates, both paid and volunteered, who keep our campus in great shape. Thanks a million to all of you who help provide for our children and our parish community through volunteering or by your monetary contributions to the parish. Your actions have been, and continue to be, a huge thrust to the continuing educational system in place at St. Peter s School. Many thanks for all you do! School will begin before we know it as we start on Thursday, August 20, at 7:45 a.m. and ending at 2:45 p.m. All new students will have an Orientation Day on Wednesday, August 19, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. More information will be sent the first week of August. Have a great last few weeks of summer vacation and may God s Blessings be with you! Mr. Mike Wasiniak, Principal

3 Page 3 St. Peter s Catholic church, Mansfield, Ohio July 26, 2015 Please Pray for the Sick of our Parish Krista Marshall, Michael Davis II, Madeline Taddeo, Peg Nusbaum, Don Blank, Aaron Blank, Richard Rots, John Johnson, Will Kennedy, Christy Selby, Mark Coleman, Helen Green, Beth Weiland, Dan Rhea, Sharon Berger, Ruth Woodrow, Isaac Neumann, Pat Wright, Rena Brown, Teresa Lloyd, Timothy Baules, Rose Mary Lang-Martin, Nick Schemine, Hilda Schemine, Mildred Corbin, Theresa Williams, Greg Betscher, Julianne Krous, Brenda Davis, Tom Etzwiler, Eileen Deehan, Nancy Burris, Kathy Ohl, Faye Caugherty, Joanne Glowe, Brittany McCough, Charles Koehler, Dan Gregory, Joe Burke, Greg Zak, Mark Alt, Rita McCartney, Theresa Prendergast Names will only be listed for 4 weeks. If you wish to have your name appear an additional 4 week period, contact the Parish Center at Save The Date: A NIGHT AT THE RACES 2015 Athletic Boosters event "A Night at the Races" will be held Saturday, August 29, 2015 from 6-11pm at the Mid-Ohio Conference Center. Please plan to attend and join us in some fun horsing around! Watch the bulletin for more information. VBS SUCCESS! A huge thank you to everyone who helped make Vacation Bible School a success again this year! We had so many people who really showed through their actions what it means to be a member of "God'sTeam!" In God s Arms: Karl Roesler, Cindy Harmon, Charles Moore Ted White, Robert Shriner, Sr. II Eva Reisenbuchler & Grant Linkenbach Pastoral Care Ministry Illness strikes us all with the realization of our own fragility and our powerlessness to change things. The Gospel of Mark tells the story of a father who desperately asks Jesus to help his daughter who is on the threshold of death. He is an example of both profound trust in Jesus and of how fear can challenge our faith. Your role, like that father, is to bring the sick to Jesus and Jesus to the sick. Consider becoming a minister of the Eucharist to the sick in our parish or visit fellow parishioners who are homebound - a simple, profound act of compassion that can overcome fear. Prayerfully consider doing pastoral care ministry (bringing Jesus to the hospitalized, nursing home or homebound.) Call Vickie Palmer ( ) for more information. Also, if you have a family member or friend who is homebound, in a nursing home or hospitalized, especially if they go through the emergency room, call the Parish Center to let us know. If they go to a hospital other than Ohio Health/ MedCentral, let us know when they return home. Someone from St. Peter would visit them and bring them the Eucharist. Parish School of Religion (PSR) Registrations are now being taken for the 2015 PSR school year! PSR classes are for those in first through twelfth grades. If you have not received a registration form in the mail, please contact Elizabeth Wurm at the parish office ( ) or by at wurm.elizabeth@myspartans.org. Registrations are also being taken for Confirmation and First Eucharist. If you have not received a registration form in the mail, please contact Elizabeth Wurm. Fr. Jeremy and team VBS Thank you to all who contributed financially or through supplies, to all of our adult helpers and youth helpers, and most especially to parents for bringing their children to share the week with us! We look forward to seeing you all next year for Vactation Bible School! Regular Sunday School Children July 19, 2015 $ 9, $ 4, $ Mailed In Sunday $ 2, Mailed In School Direct Deposit Totals WITH GRATITUDE We wish to acknowledge a gift to our parish from Annette Togliatti, in memory of her husband, Albert. A Mass in his memory will be celebrated on Sunday, August 23, 2015 at 11:30 a.m. Please keep Albert in your prayers. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord! $ $ 3, $ 20, Weekly Average Needed = $ 25, Building Improvement Fund = $

4 Page 4 St. Peter s Catholic Church, Mansfield, Ohio July 26, 2015 Reflections on the Same Sex Marriage Ruling By Fr. Jeremy Miller *This is the second in a serious of five articles on same sex marriage. For the previous article in this series, check out our St. Peter s website. What is the best family arrangement for children? Are having a mother and father really better for children than same sex parents? What about all the heterosexual couples who do a poor parenting job? Aren t having same sex parents better than children suffering neglect and abuse in other situations? Even if we grant that society is in the marriage business for the sake of children, why would that rule out same sex marriage? First, same sex couples can have children through artificial means and through adoption. Second, by all accounts, same sex parents can do a wonderful parenting job and even care for their children more lovingly than many heterosexual couples. On these questions, the first principle is laid out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child: mankind owes to the child the best it has to give. Thus, our laws as a society should reflect the ideal for children and provide them the best chance of flourishing in life. On the first point above, we must state boldly that the gold standard for children according to decades of sociological research is being raised by one s biological mom and dad. This is not to disparage other family arrangements; in fact, single mothers and other parents in difficult situations are often the most heroic parents. However, this still does not change the statistical ideal for children as being raised by one s biological parents. Adoption, of course, has been the age old exception to this norm. For often good and noble reasons, many parents find themselves incapable of effectively raising their children. This represents the exception to the historical norm of raising the children born of one s own sexual union. This is quite different than a same sex family arrangement in which it is impossible to raise a child born of that union. On a personal note, my adopted brothers have been fortunate and blessed to be received into our loving family, but my parents and I are still convinced that if their biological parents were capable of raising them, that would have been the ideal. This is not a criticism of my parents, but rather the realization that children do best when they are connected with those who brought them into the world. On the question of whether children need a mother and a father, I m convinced that experience and statistics will eventually bear this out. The early statistics on this are quite muddied and need some time to mature. This is a relatively new phenomenon, and both sides of the debate can find some ammunition in the early research. However, as Rutgers University sociologist David Popenoe explains, The burden of social science evidence supports the ideas that gender-differentiated parenting is important for human development and that the contribution of fathers to childrearing is unique and irreplaceable. This last point on the importance of fatherhood is significant in the same sex marriage debate. I always find it quite ironic that many people who support same sex marriage speak so confidently regarding the statistical fact that absent fathers lead to higher levels of dysfunction in their children. Consider this quote: We know the statistics: that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of schools, and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves, and the foundations of our community are weaker because of it. Who s the author of this quote? U.S. President Barack Obama, who has become one of the heroes of the same sex marriage movement. How can one speak of the necessity of dads in the home and then endorse a lesbian family arrangement in which a dad is always absent? On this issue, I would recommend searching on Google for an article entitled, Kids Like Me Need a Mom and a Dad, which was a letter sent by the child of a same sex couple to the Supreme Court prior to the recent decision opposing same sex marriage. The author, who was raised by a lesbian couple for over thirty years, makes an argument against same sex marriage based on the love she has for her two mothers. She argues that just as her moms were irreplaceable in her upbringing, so too are dads irreplaceable. Just as she would like no one to grow up deprived of the maternal love that she experienced, she finds it unfortunate that she was forced to grow up without the paternal love that she needed. One of the most challenging objections to this mother-father ideal was articulated to me by a student: Aren t having same sex parents better than children suffering neglect and abuse in other situations? This is a difficult objection, and if you isolate the issue in this way, it is easy to make a case that a particular child who lives in a dire Romanian orphanage would be better off with two loving same sex parents. However, one social injustice is never remedied by compounding it with another social injustice. In Catholic moral theology, we say that a good end never justifies an evil means. If we are convinced that mother-father parenting is ideal for children, this should be the standard for adoption. The tragic fact that children are born in unfortunate circumstances (which will always be the case) does not justify advancing another social injustice which deprives children of a mother and a father. In addition, this objection is a non-issue in most parts of our country as there are adequate numbers of heterosexual parents hoping to adopt. (continued on page 5 )

5 Page 5 St. Peter s Catholic Church, Mansfield, Ohio July 26, 2015 ( Continued from page 4) So while we know that not all heterosexual unions live up to the ideals of marriage and parenting, it is something entirely different to sanction a family arrangement in which this ideal of mother-father parenting is never possible. No same-sex union can produce children without artificial intervention. No same sex union can give children the advantage of biological parenting. No same-sex union can provide the qualitatively different parental love of mothers and fathers. Thus, the fact that many heterosexual couples fail to live up to this ideal does not change the truth that same sex couples can never in principle reach this ideal. References: The Consequences of Redefining Marriage by Ryan Anderson Next week s question: How will this redefinition of marriage affect everyone else? Why would recognizing same sex marriages in any way impact heterosexual marriages or the country as a whole? Sammy Tridico Montessori Scholarship Fund PANCAKE BREAKFAST Saturday, August 8, 2015 Walker Lake Pavilion 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 Noon All donations benefit the Sam Tridico Montessori Scholarship Fund. For more information, call Judy: SCHOOL NEWS Both high school and grade school offices are now closed. They will re-open on August 3rd from 9-3 pm. SCHOOL UNIFORM SALE July 28th 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Church Basement ST. PETER S JOB OPENINGS St. Peter's Cafeteria: Part time dish room worker & part time evening cleaning. If interested, you may fill out an application that is found on the school website or you may send a letter of interest. Please send your application or letter to: Brenda Schuck, Manager St. Peter's Cafeteria 104 W. First St. Mansfield The High School and Junior High School Grades 7-12 currently has several teaching openings for the school year. Please apply to the school principal, Mr. Mike Wasiniak, if interested at wasiniak.mike@myspartans.org. Also, call the school office for an appointment at The openings are: Introductory Spanish, Spanish 1, 2, 3 & 4. Introductory French, French 1, 2, 3, & 4. Junior High Art, Art 1, 2 & 3. All new hires must be fingerprinted and have a background check. They must also complete the on-line diocesan protecting youth workshop course. A Special Message from Deacon Dennis Striker When I came to St. Peter s parish last century (1997), I thought that I would get lost in its largeness. The people of St. Pete s not only welcomed me but supported me spiritually and enabled me to grow in my faith and desire to serve the Lord. You all supported me during my deaconate formation and in ordination and continue to lead me in ways everlasting. Please accept my humble gratitude and thanks for all you have meant to me. My wife and I will be leaving the area for a time and are trusting in the guidance of the Holy Spirit. May God bless you all and I pray to return to St. Peter s sometime in the future. Thank you, St. Peter s! ~ Deacon Dennis Striker See Pope Francis with Fr. Jeremy Our parish is organizing a pilgrimage to see Pope Francis in Philadelphia the weekend of September Details of the trip, including costs and itinerary, are available on the Pro Catholic Tours website. Go to the website, click on Trips with Bishops, Priests, and Deacon, then click on Pope Francis Meeting of Families, then click on Ohio, then click on the St. Peter s Mansfield trip. There are limited spots available, and considering that there will be significant travel and walking on the trip, health and age limitations should be considered. Feel free to me at miller.jeremy@myspartans.org with any questions. Andrew Gast, D.D.S. General Dentistry

6 Page 6 St. Peter s Catholic Church, Mansfield, Ohio July 26, 2015 You can support St. Peter's every time you shop at Amazon.com by using Amazon Smile. The process is simple. Go to and search for the Msgr. Dunn Foundation to link your account. Then use smile.amazon.com to shop and make purchases For every eligible purchase, Amazon will donate a portion of your purchase back to the Msgr. Dunn Foundation. If you're already shopping at Amazon, it's an easy way to help. HEARTS & MINDS will meet July 27th at 6:00 p.m. in Assisi Hall. The Power of Prayer & Forgiveness will be the topic of discussion. There will be no meeting in August. New meeting time starting in September: Meetings will be every fourth Tuesday. The first Tuesday meeting will begin on 9/22/15 4:00-7:00 p.m. Hearts & Minds will still meet in Assisi Hall on the fourth floor of the high school building. Enter through the Parish Center. The Confirmation Preparation program is looking for teachers to help prepare our 7th graders for the sacrament in the Confirmation year. The commitment to teaching is minimal, about three sessions a year, but the gratification you receive by walking with young people on their faith journey is second to none. All people interested must complete the diocesan requirements for working with youth. If you are interested in this amazing opportunity to make a difference in young people's lives, please contact Elizabeth Wurm at wurm.elizabeth@myspartans.org RECYCLING ~ The next Recycling date is: August 14, 2015 in the Franciscan Activity Center parking lot. HOURS: 10 to 11 am and 2 to 4 pm. IMPORTANT: Please honor these drop off times. Do not leave your recyclables on the sidewalks or curbs.

7 # bulletins please St. Peter Church 104 W First Street Mansfield, OH Attn: Claudia/Cindy

8 Page 8 St. Peter s Catholic Church, Mansfield, Ohio July 26, 2015 FEEDING THE WORLD With today s two accounts of feeding miracles and the psalm response about the Lord s hand feeding us, it is easy to gloss over the marvelous hymn in Ephesians. It is built around the most potent biblical numbers: one, three, and seven. The core of it is the word one expressed seven times. Three of these describe the church: one body, one Spirit, one hope; the next three are the foundations of the church: one Lord [Jesus], one faith, one baptism. All of these are bound up together in the one Father of all. While we might feel daunted by the prospect of duplicating the wonders worked by Elisha and Jesus in the feeding of multitudes, Ephesians gives us a more realistic way to live and feed others as the church: by living in humility and gentleness, by acting with patience, bearing with each other in love, and always seeking and striving to preserve unity through peace. Who among us cannot increase the way we feed the church and the world by living this way? We are always called upon to feed the world in the literal sense; but our mission as church tells us that others are also fed by the way we live and act each moment of each day. Copyright J. S. Paluch Co. TREASURES FROM OUR TRADITION Sooner of later, as they plan their wedding liturgy, a couple will receive some advice about a unity candle. They need one, they are told (at great expense); it is a tradition; it is what Catholics have always done. Not so. In the last thirty years or so, the custom has enjoyed wide popularity in the United States. It has never been officially part of our liturgy, and it exists in tension with some of our core symbols. Usually there are two smaller candles and one larger one to be lit from the smaller. Large candles in our tradition always mean Christ, and smaller ones are always tokens of our baptismal candle. If the candles are meant for a kind of renewal of baptismal vows, then the meaning is clearer, yet this is seldom the understanding. Why, then, are those smaller candles extinguished? It s hard to tell where these pesky candles came from. Some suggest that the Presbyterian Church, which has a very lean wedding liturgy, introduced them as an option for extending a short service. Generally, it s been experienced as a photo opportunity rather than a genuine liturgical ritual. The unity candle, a recent invention rather than an authentic tradition, has not been approved as an adaptation to our rite, and it is to be hoped that it will gradually disappear from view. Rev. James Field, Copyright J. S. Paluch Co. READINGS FOR THE WEEK Monday: Ex 32:15-24, 30-34; Ps 106:19-23; Mt 13:31-35 Tuesday: Ex 33:7-11; 34:5b-9, 28; Ps 103:6-13; Mt 13:36-43 Wednesday: Ex 34:29-35; Ps 99:5-7, 9; Jn 11:19-27 or Lk 10:38-42 Thursday: Ex 40:16-21, 34-38; Ps 84:3-6a, 8a, 11; Mt 13:47-53 Friday: Lv 23:1, 4-11, 15-16, 27, 34b-37; Ps 81:3-6, 10-11ab; Mt 13:54-58 Saturday: Lv 25:1, 8-17; Ps 67:2-3, 5, 7-8; Mt 14:1-12 Sunday: Ex 16:2-4, 12-15; Ps 78:3-4, 23-25, 54; Eph 4:17, 20-24; Jn 6:24-35 TODAY S READINGS First Reading Elisha feeds a hundred people with twenty barley loaves (2 Kings 4:42-44). Psalm The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs (Psalm 145). Second Reading Paul urges the Ephesians to live in a manner worthy of the call they received (Ephesians 4:1-6). Gospel Jesus feeds a large crowd with five barley loaves and two fish (John 6:1-15). The English translation of the Psalm Responses from the Lectionary for Mass 1969, 1981, 1997, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved. PRESSURE A diamond is a chunk of coal that has made good under pressure. Anonymous Bonnie Barnes & Jenny Wala Bonnie has been a member of the choir 12 years. Jenny for 45 years! CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION FLASHBACK: Music Liturgy It was Sr. Raphael Wand who echoed the words of St. Ambrose, Singing is twice praying. Music has always been an important part of St. Peter s parish and school. Not much is known about the first church but it is possible that at least a pump organ was used and probably a small choir sang the chants of the Mass. The Joliet annals kept by the sisters recorded that in 1871 one of the two teaching sisters who arrived on August 28, Sr. Lucia Raub, served as organist. Professor Carl Adams is recorded as being on the staff teaching music in school and directing the church choirs. Florence Westrick served as organist for twenty years at the turn of the century. The parish s first pipe organ, built by the Schantz Organ Company of Orrville, Ohio was installed in With the arrival of Msgr. Goebel in 1924, a new organist/choirmaster, Peter Lesch, was hired. Gregorian Chant was reintroduced into the liturgy and the choir became strictly male. Raymond Baum, a St. Peter s High School graduate, began a distinguished tenure as organist in Except for a few years of military service, he served until the early 1960 s. With the help of the Franciscan sisters in the school he developed an outstanding choir of men and boys from the parish. Raymond Tess was organist in He taught music in the schools and organized a choir of women to sing for funerals. In 1969, associate pastor, Fr. Robert Thomas, organized a mixed choir that gave its first public performance in May of The choir also sang for special liturgical celebrations. At its height, the choir numbered 80 members. In 1969, the High School Glee Club began singing at the 9:30 Mass. This marked the beginning of the Folk Group at St. Peter s. In June of 1970, Fr. Thomas asked for guitar players to join the singers. The Folk Group has gone through many changes throughout the years but still provides leadership to this day at the 9:30 Sunday Masses.

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