“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;
there are different forms of service but the same Lord;”
1 Corinthians 12:4-5
There are many ways to get involved at St. Angela Merici Parish. Stewardship is a fundamental Christian value. As you get involved, you meet others who share the same desire to serve the parish and community. You will strengthen your personal relationship with God by doing His work. God is the ultimate giver of gifts! We are blessed with the gifts of time, talent, and treasure and we are called to share them.
Alpha Course
Is there more to life than this?” “Why am I here?” “Is this it?” “Who is Jesus?” Do you ever ask yourself any of these questions? If so, the Alpha Course may be just what you are looking for! Maybe you have a friend or a family member that could benefit from the fellowship of the Alpha Course. We begin each session with a meal, listen to a presentation, and then share in small group discussions. There is no charge for Alpha. Here at St. Angela, The Alpha Course runs twice a year (spring and fall) for 10 consecutive weeks. The course helps us to answer some of our basic questions about Christianity and faith. Visit our Alpha webpage by clicking HERE or contact Diane Kratochvil (Coordinator) for more information at 835-0324 ext. 306 or alpha@stangela.org
Bridge to Naim
Bridge to Naim is a support group for the recently widowed. If you are newly widowed, consider joining Bridge to Naim Support Group. A professional leads each meeting. Bridge to Naim meets at 10:30 am on the 2nd Tuesday of each month in the Conference Room at St. Angela Merici. There is no charge or obligation. For more information contact, Jo at 504-833-9470.
Coping with Life Alone
Coping with Life Alone is a ministry to help men and women who have lost their spouse through either death, divorce or separation. The program is designed to aid those who have lost their spouse deal with their grief and to manage the many changes happening in their lives due to their loss. It is a 10-week program meeting on Wednesday evenings at 7 pm in the St. Angela Merici Conference room. The 10-week program is offered twice per year, typically beginning in June and December. For more information, please contact Mike Caruso at mcaruso622@gmail.com
CYO
St. Angela Merici C.Y.O. is open to all high school teens in the 8th through 12th grades. We meet monthly on Sunday evenings from 6-8 p.m. in the gym. We participate in several archdiocesan events annually including World Youth Day in the fall and Abbey Youth Festival in the spring. We participate in C.Y.O. athletics with Co-ed Volleyball (spring and fall) and Cabbage Ball in the summer. Twice annually we host a Troops Drive for service members deployed overseas. One of the highlights of our year is our annual retreat in January, held at Camp Abbey. We also host the “Rose Rally for Life” in July, which brings C.Y.O.’s from all over the archdiocese to raise money for pro-life organizations. Our C.Y.O. helps teens to stay connected to God, to their parish family, and to each other as they spread out to all the different high schools. Throughout the year many service hour opportunities are available through C.Y.O. For more information contact Diane Kratochvil at cyo@stangela.org or 835-0324 ext. 306.
Family Life Apostolate
FLA is a ministry within our parish that serves, encourages and celebrates all families in our homes and church community. We welcome new parishioners, we support the families of the bereaved, we offer up our prayers through the prayer line, and we host various Parish-wide events during the year. Membership meetings are held twice a year and Chair meetings are held once a quarter. For more information, please contact Kay Dornier at edornier@aol.com.
Grandparent’s Club
The Grandparent’s Club of St Angela Merici provides support and services to further the mission of the school as a Catholic educational institution. Grandparents serve as an additional support system in academic, spiritual, social and personal growth by involvement through committees in the daily lives of the children who attend SAM. The club meets monthly during the school year, dues are $10.00 annually per grandparent. For more information or to receive our meeting or activity schedule please contact Sue Doody at sdoody5897@aol.com or Toni Serpas at toni.serpas@gmail.com.
Hospitality Ministry
The Hospitality Ministry invites all who are interested in becoming involved in serving the parish. Stop by one of the monthly meetings in the Conference Room to find out more about our ministry. Before monthly meetings, we gather for a social to enjoy food and fellowship. Join us to help plan and coordinate parish events. If interested, please contact Tammy Cardinale at tammycard920@gmail.com or 504-905-2505.
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus are a fraternal organization of Catholic men. They lead the way by helping to integrate more completely the life of the family and laity within the life of the parish. Through membership, they help our pastor and parish community in real and concrete ways. Monthly meetings are held on the 3rd Thursday of the month in the Kern Center. For more information, please contact Mark Nuss at marknuss1@gmail.com or 504-390-6877.
Linen Committee
Our Church Linen Committee welcomes all Parishioners willing to share their talents, skills, and gifts to join in the cleaning and ironing of our liturgical linens. The two types of Liturgical Linens requiring cleaning by our Committee are: Purificators and Finger Towels, which are used to cover or purify the liturgical vessels used during our Eucharistic celebrations at mass and for washing the Celebrant’s hands. The Purificators are rectangular white pieces of linen used to clean/purify the chalice and other ancillary vessels for the Precious Body and Blood of Christ after Communion. The Finger Towels, or Lavabo Towels, are used during the washing of hands and also after Communion.
Our Committee plays a vital role by ensuring the proper cleansing of these linens that are used out of reverence for the celebration of the memorial of the Lord and the banquet that gives us his body and blood.
If you would like to join in the fellowship of our parish community and have fun while doing so, please contact Marie Desalvo at 504-339-3015 for more information.
Parish School of Religion (PSR)
St. Angela Merici Parish School of Religion strives to provide the young church with the knowledge, experiences, and skills necessary to become faithful and fruitful disciples of Jesus Christ. The PSR Program is predominantly remote learning for grades K-8, utilizing curriculums with fully embedded online platforms. PSR lessons will be assigned by catechists on a weekly basis and students will have one week to complete all lesson components (i.e. readings, videos, games, and assessments) at home with their family (requiring approximately one hour of time per week). Adult volunteers to teach and form children in their faith are greatly needed. Safe environment training is a requirement. For more information, contact Audrey Huck, Catechetical Director, at audrey@stangela.org.
Prayer Group- Wednesday Morning
The Wednesday Morning prayer group has been active in our parish for over 50 years. Anyone interested in participating is welcome. We meet in the Religious Ed Library every Wednesday morning at 9:45 am. Mass is celebrated on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. There is time for prayer and fellowship at our meetings. For more information, please contact Puddin McNamara or Elsa Hodges at johnandelsa4719@gmail.com.
Pro-Life Ministry
The purpose of the Pro-life Group is to advance the belief that each human being regardless of age, health, talent, limitations, or condition, deserves respect, care, and recognition and protection of the law and social policy. We sponsor events throughout the year to encourage respect for life including prayer, education, regular prayerful presence at abortion centers and public marches, and offering material assistance to women at pregnancy crisis centers. For more information, please contact Erin Kalus at 504-265-0278 or eed543@cox.net
RCIA
The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults guides interested non-Catholics through a process of initiation into the faith. We offer this program for individuals who have never been baptized in the Christian faith; for individuals who may have been baptized in another Christian denomination but wish to become members of the Catholic Church or individuals who have been baptized in the Catholic Church but have not received all the Sacraments of Initiation (Communion and/or Confirmation). For more information, please contact Deacon Tom Kratochvil at tkratochvil@arch-no.org
St. Joseph Altar
St. Joseph’s Altar Committee welcomes all friends of St. Joseph willing to share their talents, skills, and gifts to join in the planning and executing of our Parish Family Celebration in honor of St. Joseph’s intercession for us to God our Father. During our most active months, January through March, we meet to prepare for our celebration by baking thousands of Italian cookies, decorative fig pastries, and decorative breads. We also have sub-committees that assist with Altar decorating, obtaining donations of food supplies, working with the media, ensuring bulletin announcements reach our parishioners, working with charities that will receive items from our Altar, and coordinating volunteers to work during our celebration. All of our members can attest to now feeling a bigger part of our Parish Family, with our love for St. Joseph has brought us closer together! For more information, please contact Renee Lauland at fishinfe@msn.com, 504-371-2101 or Janet Cruppi at janet.cruppi@yahoo.com,
504-338-2957.
St. Vincent DePaul Society
Members of St. Vincent De Paul assist our parishioners in need of food or emergency funds for rent and utilities. Throughout the year, parishioners generously donate non-perishable food items for SVDP to distribute to those in need. At Thanksgiving, SVDP distributes groceries and gift certificates to people in need in both our parish as well as any others. For more information, please contact Fern Carr at 504-835-0324 ext 308 or fernlambertcarr@gmail.com.
SALA
St. Angela Ladies Auxiliary (SALA) was organized in 1966. We have provided many opportunities over the years for the ladies of our parish (especially our members) to come together for spiritual, cultural and educational growth. We work together with other organizations to provide service and support for our church, school, and community. A ministry is chosen for each of the months that we meet, which allows the members to participate in a need (i.e. church housekeeping, linens, St. Vincent de Paul, diaper donation, Advent wreaths, baking and working the sweet booth at different functions and many other things) to support our church community. Meetings are usually on the first Tuesday of each month. Light snacks and refreshments are served at all meetings. For more information, please contact, Diane Gregoire at dkbgregoire@hotmail.com.
SAMA
This is an organization of men from our parish who join monthly for great food and fraternity. Additionally, our members provide help at parish and school events such as the Catfish Festival and Lenten Fish Fry’s. If you are looking for a quick way to get involved at St. Angela Merici, become a member today. SAMA meets the third Tuesday of each month in the Kern Center. For more information, please contact Greg Schmidt at greg@gilscarpet.com.
Substance Addiction Ministry
Addiction is a spiritual illness that disconnects a person from self, loved ones, and God. The Substance Addiction Ministry (SAM) mission is to help these individuals reconnect through education, prevention, referral and family support. SAM provides educational awareness of the pain in people’s lives and refers those in need to places where help can be found. Support, acceptance, understanding and healing are extended to those touched by addiction. In any addiction, the entire family is “Affected” not just the “Afflicted” member. For every person “afflicted,” at least four others are “affected.” Nothing can destroy a family or relationship quicker than addiction. If there is an addict or alcoholic in the family, the whole family needs to be treated. SAM group meetings are open to both afflicted as well as affected members of the community. The meetings will focus on education, referral and spiritual help and are held on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month in the church at 7pm. Please use entrance on Melody Dr. closest to parking lot. For more information, please contact Deacon Dave Aaron at daaron@arch-no.org or Lisa Carroll at lisacrrll2@gmail.com.
Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible
Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible is an 8-week bible study by Ascension Press. It is an amazing journey through Sacred Scripture which uncovers the incredible story of salvation history woven within the pages of the Old and New Testaments. It presents the complexity of the bible in a way that is easier to understand. Participants discover how their lives fit into God’s saving plan and gain a deeper understanding of the readings at Mass. Weekly sessions include a video presentation followed by group discussion. Purchase of an accompanying workbook is required. Announcements will be made when the study is offered throughout the year. For more information contact Diane deFrance at dmdefrance@gmail.com.
Vacation Bible School
Vacation Bible School is a summer adventure with Jesus Christ through music, love and laughter. Our camp is open to elementary school aged children. For this ministry, we seek adult and high school volunteers. Safe environment training is a requirement. For more information, please contact Kimberly Mouledoux at kmouledoux@stangelaschool.org
Young at Heart
Membership in our Senior Citizens group is open to parishioners aged 55 years or older. The goal of this organization is to provide for the spiritual, cultural and social enrichment for each of our members. We also support parish activities and programs throughout the year. We meet at 12:00 noon on the first Thursday of the month from September through May at Lakeshore Playground, Meeting Room #3 (across from the gym). For more information, please contact Darlene Cavalier at 504-231-7683 or darlenecavalier66@gmail.com