COMMUNITY IMPROVEMENT/ MEJORANDO LA PARROQUIA-COMUNIDAD.

St. Therese

Lean Meeting Notes

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Those in attendance:

James Zimmer, Sara Buscher, Ellen Vissers, Doug Maki, Larry Brazner, Nancy Bourassa, Greg Pethan, Jean Pethan, Andy Somers, Father Bill Hoffman, Sister Ann Arthur, Dick Schreiter

Notes by:  Bill Kime

Doug Maki reported on his contact with a professional in marketing for the voice of the customer.  Doug’s conclusion was that we would be better served by staying simple and working internally.  He does not rule out contacting professionals at a later time.  For now we should go forward and keep it simple.

Jay and Pam Cornell are traveling.  Greg will work with Jay to get an update about contacts with Mark Mogilka.  Jay was working to get advice for our survey from Mark.

Survey (outside):  Key contact: Greg Pethan

We were in consensus that Greg should form a sub-team to further define and refine the outside survey.  Suggestions for Greg and his team:

-          Still working on wording and content

-          Subcommittee of 4-6 people

-          Use subcommittee to make adjustments to survey

-          Meet Saturday November 29 (we had this tentatively scheduled for the larger group anyways)

-          The survey needs to accommodate our Hispanic population (bilingual)

-          The sub-team should test the survey sampling 24 to 30 people.

-          When we solicit volunteers for the survey keep in mind to give them advance notice of 10 to 14 days

-          We should have the ability to summarize the data:

o   Preferred language

o   Age category

o   Number of people in family unit

o   Name

-          Should have a script:  Doug Maki volunteered to work with Greg about what was done during the Advancing the Mission surveys.

-          Let survey participants know that personal information will be treated confidentially

-          Should note if they are going to another parish

o   Why

-          Would they like to offer any anonymous comments

-          Keep a focus on the issue of communications

-          Keep It Simple (KIS)

Note:  Dioceses is establishing a web site to be used by all parishes.  We will need to keep an eye on this to see how it fits into what we are doing.

Parking Lot idea:

Do a Power Point presentation to the parish after a Mass to detail our avenues of communications:  web sites, bulletins, mailings etc.   Perhaps 6 months out?

Name ideas (brainstorming):

We discussed the issues related to a name for our committee.  The term Lean is liked by some, others are concerned about it relationship to Manufacturing and failed implementations.  We experimented with other names.

Some words ideas were thrown out relative to what we are trying to do.  Keep in mind we started with people who felt our parish was slipping, or even on the verge of failure if people did not get active.  We have gotten together to try to stop the sliding and actually improve the parish we live in.

Using the word lean:

Learning

Evangelizing and

Assisting

Neighbors

Listening

Evangelizing

And

Nurturing

Simply:

Parish Improvement Committee

Other:

Vision

Advancing the Mission

Advancing the Vision

MEAN

Forward

VIA:  Vision In Action

            Voice of the Parishioner

            Making this your parish

Vision in Action

            Via: Voice of the parishioner

            Via: Making this your parish

Lean Team - Office Survey

Subcommittee project; committee members: Ellen Vissers, Sara Buscher, Deacon Patrick Whitcomb. Interviews done by Ellen.

Final recommendations:

1. Have lay people stand up at Mass and explain an activity and ask others to join. (Hispanics do this periodically at their Masses.) People who are enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a project are the perfect ones to ask others to get involved.

2.  All bulletin info needs to be in English and Spanish.

3.  To get some of the pressure off Fr. Bill & Carlos, the receptionists could answer more questions; this would also make people happier than getting the message that someone will get back to them. Weekly staff meetings might have to be expanded a little to relay more details, or quick emails to the rest of staff as things come up during the week. If flyers are going out to parishioners, one should be posted in the office as well.

It may be helpful to have extra voice mail/answering machines to record basic Q&A in Spanish for callers who do not speak English. Longer run goal should be to hire staff who are bilingual as current staff retire or otherwise leave our employ.

4. Email information to all parishioners who provide their email addresses to the office.

If Word Perfect documents are attached, use the Save As option to save them in Rich Text Format to make sure they will also open in Microsoft Word. Those sending documents to the office, should be asked to use the Save As option in Microsoft Word and then select Rich Text Format.

5. Re-survey Time/Talent/Treasure in the parish.

Need to have ONE bi-lingual form.

To get people to fill out surveys right away, have a coffee & donuts session where they can sit down and fill it out immediately, or take a few minutes right after Communion (would work better for the Hispanics.)

6. Expand the bulletin by keeping the current shell, but stuffing additional pages into it. This expanded information could be single sheets, or in the form of a newsletter. Convert all to PDFs and email to as many as possible, label the remainder and do Sunday pickups in the back of church, then there should be a fairly small number that would need to be mailed out to the remaining members.

7.  We suggest some team-building activities for the office staff; Sara Buscher has contacts for a professional who could do this for us at no charge.  

8. Look at getting our website up to speed and combining the two we currently have into one  Maybe the Time/Talent/Treasure survey would turn up someone who is a webmaster? 

FYI:  Buildmyownsite.com hosts web sites up to 75 pages for $25 a monthfor nonprofits.  (To see some sites that use this, go to www.wispact.org  and  www.communitybenefittree.org  )

ST. THERESE PARISH - MEMBER COMMUNICATION PILOT SURVEY SUMMARY

Sunday, November 30, 2008

6:00-7:30 p.m

 Participants: Doug Maki, Dick Schreiter, Jay Cornell, Greg & Jean Pethan

Number Called: 30

1. What is your preferred way of obtaining parish news? (select top 3 choices)

Bulletin 20

E-mail 7

Announcement in Church 6

Word of Mouth 4

Phone 2

Website 1

Other 1 Direct Mail, Lifeline, Newsletter

2. Do you own or have access to a computer?

Yes 15   No 9

3. Do you currently have access to email (work, home, friend)?

Yes 13   No 9

Would you be willing to share your email address with us for future use?

Yes 9   No 2

E-mail address: 9 people shared their email addresses

4. Are you aware that St. Therese has a Website? www.communityofsttherese.41pi.com

Yes 7  No 15

If yes, have you ever visited the website?

Yes 2  No 11

If yes, rate 1= very satisfied / 5 = very dissatisfied

1(1) 2 (1) 3 4 5

Comments: Checks website for mass schedules; shorten website address

5. Are you satisfied with the availability of the parish information?

Rate 1 = very satisfied / 5 = very dissatisfied

1(11) 2 (7) 3 (6) 4 (1) 5 Total 47/25 =Avg. 1.9

6. Are you satisfied with the content of the parish information (i.e. special events,

mass schedules, fundraisers, committees, religious education, etc.)?

Rate 1 = very satisfied / 5 = very dissatisfied

1 (15) 2 (3) 3 (4) 4 5 Total 33/22 =Avg. 1.5

Comments:

7. Are there special requests/needs you would like from St. Therese?

Comments:

a. Father Bill doing a fantastic job; great job uniting cultures

b. Need more information in bulletin on committee activities in parish

c. Bring communion to shut-ins

d. Take bulletin to shut-ins

e. Request EFT (electronic funds transfer) for payment

f. Disappointed with music in church

g. Miss the Lifeline

2007    “80 years anniversary”

             “80 años de aniversario”

revised from an article published in The Compass, as written by Joanne Fleming, a Compass Correspondent

Translated into Spanish by Carlos Herrera. Traducido al Español por Carlos Herrera.

EN INGLES:

St. Therese Parish records show that it was incorporated on Feb. 14, 1927, under the legal name, "St. Therese of the Child Jesus."

The parish history says land for St. Therese was purchased in July, 1923. Its boundaries were Morrison Street to Wisconsin Avenue to North Durkee Street to Summer Street in Appleton, Wis.

Fr. John O’Donovan, OFM Cap. of St. Joseph Parish, was appointed to organize the new parish in 1926. The first parish building was built in 1927 for $86,860. St. Joseph donated $30,000 and St. Mary Parish, also of Appleton, donated $15,000. Fr. Hauch was named first pastor. The first floor served as the church.

St. Therese School with eight grades opened in September, 1928, with six teachers from the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc. There were 329 students.

Work on a church and rectory began in 1938, with the first Mass said in the new structure in 1940.

The school had a ninth grade for two years from 1948 to 1949. A convent for 19 sisters was built in 1949. "Now this is new Catequetical Center opened in 2005.

An addition to the school was built in 1954. In September, 1957, the parish subdivided to form St. Pius X Parish. The school had 1,200 students.

The parish subdivided again in 1963 when St. Thomas More parish was formed. St. Therese opened an activity center with gym and cafeteria in 1966. In 1969, it closed its seventh and eighth grades. The school closed in the mid-1980s, Fr. Gilsdorf said. The church was renovated in 1987.

In January 2002, the Fox Valley Hispanic community joined St. Therese as members.

The Hispanic ministry brought in 400-plus families, added to a parish membership of 550 units.

The parish celebrated its 75th anniversary on Sunday, April 28, 2002. Bishop Robert Banks celebrated a 2:30 p.m. Mass with the congregation. Former St. Therese pastors and area priests were invited to the celebration and to concelebrate the Mass with Bp. Banks.

A part of the ceremony included the ringing of carillon bells that were donated anonymously in honor of Thomas Flanagan, a founding member of the parish. The carillon bells were installed in January 2002 in the church bell tower and were dedicated on Feb. 10, 2002.

The carillon bells can play more than 1,000 pieces and ring the Angelus daily at 8 a.m., noon and 6 p.m. They also play a hymn at noon and are used for funerals. The early morning Angelus is traditionally rung at 6 a.m. but was changed out of courtesy for the neighborhood.

Parish records show that St. Therese also had carillon bells installed on its 25th anniversary in 1952. The earlier carillon bells were dedicated to Fr. Mathias Hauch, the first pastor, and they could play 25 selections. They also could be rung manually from the organ console.

IN SPANISH:

Los archivos de Santa Teresita muestran que la iglesia fue incorporada el 14 de Febrero de 1927, bajo el nombre legal de Santa Teresa del niño Jesús.

La historia de la parroquia dice que el terreno para la iglesia fue comprado en Julio de 1923. Sus límites fueron de la calle de Morrison a la Avenida de Wisconsin y de la calle North Durkee a la calle de Summer en Appleton, WI.

El Fraile John O’ Donovan, OFM capellán de la Parroquia de San Joseph, fue requerido para organizar la nueva parroquia en 1926. El primer edificio de la Parroquia fue construido en 1927 con $86,860 dólares. St Joseph donó $30,000 y La Iglesia de St Mary, también en Appleton, donó $15,000 dólares. El Padre Hauch fue nombrado el primer pastor. El primer piso sirvió para uso de la iglesia.

La escuela de Santa Teresita inició en Septiembre de 1928 con 8 grados, seis maestras de la orden de las hermanas franciscanas de la Caridad Cristiana en Manitowoc.  Tuvieron 329 estudiantes.

El Trabajo en la Iglesia y rectoría empezó en 1938, con la primera misa dicha en la nueva estructura en 1940.

La escuela tuvo el noveno grado por dos años de 1948 a 1949. Un convento para 19 hermanas fue construido en 1949. Ahora se utiliza como Centro de Catequesis a partir del 2005.

Se construyó un añadido a la escuela en 1954. En Septiembre de 1957 la parroquia se subdividió para formar la parroquia de San Pius X. La Escuela tuvo 1,200 estudiantes.

La parroquia se subdividió de nuevo en 1963 cuando la Parroquia de  Santo Tomás More fue formada. Santa Teresita abrió un centro de Actividades con Gimnasio y cafetería en 1966. En 1969, cerró sus 7mo y Octavo grados. La escuela cerró a mediados de los 80’s, el padre Gilsdor lo dijo. La Iglesia fue renovada en 1987.

En Enero de 2002, la comunidad Hispana del Fox Valley se incorporó a Santa Teresita como nuevos miembros.

El ministerio Hispano trajo 400 familias más, que se añadieron a las 550 unidades de miembros de la parroquia.

La parroquia celebró su 75to. Aniversario el Domingo 28 de Abril del 2002. El obispo Robert Banks celebró la misa a las 2:30 pm con la congregación. Los pastores  de Santa Teresita y los sacerdotes del área fueron invitados a la celebración para concelebrar la misa con el Obispo. 

Una parte de la ceremonia incluyó el concierto de sonidos de las campanas de Carrillon que fueron donadas anónimamente en honor de Thomas Flanagan, un miembro fundador de la parroquia. Las campanas de Carrillon fueron colocadas en Enero de 2002 en la torre

Las campanas de Carrillon pueden tocar más de 1000 piezas y el Angelus diariamente a las 8 am y 6 pm. Ellas pueden tocar un himno a medio día y son usadas para funerales. El Angelus era tocado tradicionalmente temprano en la mañana las 6 am. pero fue cambiado en consideración del vecindario.

Los archivos de la Parroquia muestran que Santa Teresita también tuvo campanas de carrillon  instaladas en su 25to aniversario en 1952. Estas campanas de Carrillon en el inicio fueron dedicadas al Fraile Mathias Hauch, el primer pastor y podían tocar 25 selecciones. También podían ser tocadas manualmente desde la consola del órgano.

Act can free you from the pain that holds you captive, some say

By Cheryl Sherry
Post-Crescent staff writer

The Rev. Dottie Mathews never will erase memories of being abused by three close relatives beginning at age 13.

Nor can she forget the man she first saw as rescuer, who later perpetrated and compounded the abuse during their marriage. It was a time she describes as tragic and horrific, not only scarring her but also her three children.

Mathews has, however, chosen to forgive.

"The fact that I chose to move forward in my life has nothing to do with absolving any of those people who used and abused me," the 55-year-old Darboy woman said. "In my mind, it is not in my power to tell them it is OK. It is not OK and it never will be. …

"But what I came to know is that those people stole big chunks of my life from my early teens to my late 20s and I did not want to give them any more of my one precious life by focusing my energies on them or becoming engulfed in anger. … They've gone on in their world. For me to continue to allow them to define me is something I was unwilling to do."

What is forgiveness?

Today is Easter Sunday, when Christians celebrate Christ's resurrection from the dead. Christ set a noble standard when it comes to forgiveness.

Forgiveness, as defined by Webster, is the act of giving up the resentment held against an offender.

While forgiving someone who has done you wrong is essential to mental health, forgiveness can be a difficult thing for people who aren't clear about its purpose.

"By forgiving someone, you are saying that you will not hold what they did against them," said Appleton clinical psychologist Rob Burkham. "That means that you will work to let go of the anger, bitterness and blame that ties you to them in an unhealthy way. It is a process to forgive someone and it takes time. It is a process of changing your thinking and feelings about what the other person did to you. It is a process that can lead to more peace for you, even if the other does not accept forgiveness."

Carlos Herrera, Hispanic ministries coordinator at St. Therese Church in Appleton, points to Jesus' sacrifices, the ones being celebrated today by Christians, as a path toward finding forgiveness even in the most difficult of circumstances.

"If we forgive each other we are also part of the new power of love that the Lord risen has given us," Herrera said. "Therefore we will be apostles of the resurrection, with joy, hope and forgiveness."

Mathews said she's a testament to those words and the need to find forgiveness in your heart before joy and hope can return to your life. Around the time she turned 30, Mathews came to the realization that no matter how worthless she believed herself to be, she needed to begin making decisions that would permit her to be the parent her children, then ages 6, 4 and 2, needed her to be. So she left her husband.

Mathews' road to forgiving those who hurt her took more than 20 years and involved taking responsibility for her life.

"My healing involved years of counseling, diving into spiritual practices, shedding buckets of tears, borrowing hope and strength from a community of support when I became shaky — but with all that I trudged forward and moved toward accepting that my past will never not be my past," she said. "The only thing I had any control over was the future I might live."A skilled counselor helped Mathews know she did not bring those past events upon herself. "But that's what children do," she said. "When I realized I didn't make those things happen to me I remember that being very freeing."

Since then her spiritual progress has been steady, so steady that in 2006 she was ordained and now serves as assistant minister at Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Appleton.

Benefits of forgiveness

The need to forgive is often intertwined with other struggles in life, said family therapist Lynda Savage, owner and director of the Center for Family healing, a mental health outpatient clinic in Menasha. Savage also is founder and director of Practical Family Living, a nonprofit Web and radio Christian outreach.

Forgiveness, however, is not the first subject she introduces when meeting with new clients.

"One needs to hear the person's genuine concern and hurt, anger and loneliness before you say forgiveness is part of your healing, a part of your adjustment, a part of your goal of getting through this," Savage said. "Forgiveness is a part of the process of understanding letting someone off the hook and no longer blaming lets you off the hook and become more free to get unstuck from their pain and hurt."

Forgiveness, Savage added, is not trusting or agreeing with the offender. "It's not saying I agree with your actions that hurt me. It's agreeing we all fall short of perfection and that we all need forgiveness."

The practice of forgiveness not only has been shown to reduce anger, hurt, depression and stress, it also leads to greater feelings of hope, compassion and self-confidence. Practicing forgiveness leads to healthy relationships and physical health.

"Living in a state of un-forgiveness is living in a state of stress," Savage said. "And when you are living in a state of stress your body is emitting all kinds of things that we call hormones that are the fight or flight kind of hormones. …That type of stress is hard on your body, hard on your heart. … It's a physiological thing as well as a spiritual thing."

Acting out bitterness

In 2006, the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University conducted a study on whether child abuse and child neglect caused crime. The findings suggested criminal behavior increases not only with the incidence of maltreatment but also with the severity of maltreatment. Until a child comes to terms with the experience, accepts it and learns to forgive the abuser for what they did, they will never be able to disassociate themselves from the experience.

Many of the troubled and at-risk teenage boys who live at Rawhide Boys Ranch south of New London have been hurt by life, said clinical supervisor Mark Tegtmeier. "They come out of some difficult family situations such as abuse, neglect, family conflict; there are a lot of addictions, a lot of blended family issues as well as many others."

Rawhide is a Christian-based organization that works to equip at-risk boys to become responsible young men through family-centered care, treatment and education. Therapeutic treatment addresses their emotional needs.

"As they work with us, they come to a place where they make a conscious decision to forgive a parent or a family member who has deeply wounded them in some way," Tegtmeier said. "Sometimes that entails sitting down and writing a letter. It may even be a letter to someone who is deceased, but it's a conscious decision on their part to let go and to release, to overcome bitterness and resentment or hard feelings that may have developed as the result of some injury or offense that was caused to them."

Forgiveness, Tegtmeier said, is essentially wiping the debt clean. "You're saying that that person is released and you are letting go. It's a very freeing experience for those that do. A lot of the boys realize they can have peace in their hearts and they can stop feeling revenge or retaliation toward someone that's hurt them. It's a tremendous feeling of release and just a liberation that they experience."

A softer side

There is no universe in which Mathews' abuse or the suffering of others is acceptable, "but it is up to me to say I don't have to carry it around anymore," she said. "I don't have to be identified as their victim anymore. But it took me a lot of years and a lot of tears and a lot of counseling and enormous love for my children, which was the motivator.

"There's a Buddhist writer, Pema Chodron, who says when you can touch the center of your sorrow and let it soften you then can be useful in helping to heal the world. Don't hide from it. Don't deny that it happened, but really go there and touch it and realize this is the truth and allow it to soften you.

"I can't erase my experiences, but I have a choice — are they going to harden me toward the world or soften me? My choice is how do I be soft now. How do I turn this into an open heart that allows me to be compassionate toward the world?"

Forgiveness, Mathews said, is "acknowledging my past will never not be my past, so tomorrow I can move on. And that one I can do something about."

213 E. Wisconsin Av. Appleton, WI. 54911

PADRE ELIAS NIEVES. MARTIR DE DIOS.

MARTYR OF THE CHURCH.

 
Celebrating in Appleton, WI.

1.    El Sábado 8 de Marzo a las 5:30 pm. Tendremos Misa en Santa Teresita conmemorando el martirio del  Padre Elías Nieves Inmediatamente después tendremos convivio, drama, música y baile, a las 6:45 pm en Monarch Garden. Entrada por adulto $5. Dlls. Niños Gratis. Tacos del Jaripeo $2 cada uno.

              We will celebrate our 5:30 pm Mass to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Fr. Elías Nieves Following the Mass there will be Tacos and celebration at Monarch Garden. Entrance, per adult $5.  Children do not pay. Tacos $2.00¡Infórmate y participa!  More information 920-739-0794

Latinos, educators help others hold onto cultural traditions far from home

By J.E. Espino
Post-Crescent staff writer

APPLETON — Maria del Carmen Leon will always remember her late grandfather, Melecio Muñiz, for the nurturing attention he gave her while growing up in Guanajuato in the heart of Mexico.

He had an upbeat attitude every time they met and never turned down her invitations for a "tamalada," a tamale-making gathering for family and friends.

When he died three months ago at age 78 in their small, rural hometown, no one cried or lamented his death, said Leon, now an Appleton resident.

"You just remembered all the good he did," she said in Spanish. "We were that happy."

Families across Latin America are visiting the graves of loved ones today and Friday as part of the ancient ritual, Day of the Dead. The festival is a celebration of memory highlighted by the bright-colored altars that adorn homes, churches and cemeteries. Included are marigolds, sugar skulls and candies, basket fruits, tequila bottles, candles, pan de muerto (bread of the dead), pictures and savory dishes the dead enjoyed in life.

In the Fox Cities, St. Therese Catholic Church began leading celebrations Wednesday by teaching its youngest members to build altars. Masses will be held today and Friday at 7 p.m. The altars are on display through Sunday, said Carlos Herrera, the church's Hispanic ministry coordinator.

Latinos "don't sever their ties with their deceased relatives. The ties remain strong, and the Day of the Dead is one of those times when they reaffirm those ties," said Pete Brown, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh professor of anthropology and coordinator for Latin American studies in the International Studies division.

This isn't to say Catholic Latinos aren't struggling to keep such celebrations alive in northeast Wisconsin, where they are far from their homeland.

In his 34 years living in this country, Jose Gracia Sanchez, a native of Durango, Mexico, has yet to observe the holiday. "It's not a case that you don't want to celebrate it," he said. "It's just that you don't have time. You're depending on five-minute time frames."

The cobwebs and spiders dangling from the ceiling and Frankenstein figure at Carniceria Mexico in Appleton, for instance, have more prominence than the baked goods he and his wife, Kay, sell for Day of the Dead.

"It's difficult to order the (sugar) skulls," he said. "Then we have the problem that these aren't the things that people are buying."

Kay adds, "We get a lot more teachers who are showing (these items) to their classes than we do customers."

Leaders at St. Therese Catholic Church began to reclaim the traditions three years ago by organizing formal events targeting its youth. Of 90 youths who could have participated in Wednesday's activities at the church, however, only a dozen were available.

"We don't have to forget these kind of celebrations because they are part of our indigenous and Hispanic roots," Herrera said.

"More importantly, we are saying to the children … that our lives don't end with death. We have another life. We don't have to be afraid of death."

This was 9-year-old Salvador Montoya's first time observing the holiday with his mother, Fabiola Torres, and his grandmother, Celia Ochoa.

"I've talked to him about how this holiday is celebrated in Mexico," said Ochoa, a Veracruz native.

"He asks why I light candles. I tell him for my son. Now he understands."

Teachers in the Menasha Joint School District, one of the districts with large Latino population, feel a burden to teach the holiday.

Some "kids have been born here in the United States … and all they've grown up with is Halloween," said Tracy Sandberg, a retired Menasha High School Spanish teacher.

She and Spanish teachers Gina Munig and Emily Behnke are in Mexico City this weekend on a Day of the Dead shopping spree. They hope to return with six suitcases full of authentic ornaments.

It will take a year of planning and possible financial support from national Hispanic organizations, but their goal is to fill the entire fieldhouse with altars in 2009. The project would involve students of all grade levels.

The reaction the project gets makes the work worthwhile, said Sandberg as she recalled how emotional a student became after she saw last year's exhibit.

"I don't even know who it was," Sandberg said. "But she said, 'I just can't believe that you did this whole thing for our culture.' It just makes me feel happy that something that belongs to our culture is displayed like this.'"

By J.E. Espino
Post-Crescent staff writer

For the Hispanic Catholic community in the Fox Valley, the commemoration of martyrs comes second only to the celebration held for Mexico's patron saint, Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This Saturday will be a time of reflection at St. Therese Church in downtown Appleton. Members plan to gather for a mass in remembrance of Elias Nieves, a parochial vicar from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, who was killed during the government's persecution of Catholics and clergy in the 1920s.

The mass, on the anniversary of Nieves' death, March 10, 1928, will bring Diocese of Green Bay Bishop David Zubik to the area.

It will be his first visit to St. Therese, where Latino membership fluctuates from 800 to 1,000. The event takes on more meaning because a large segment of the church's population has migrated from Guanajuato.

"In the past, perhaps, the bishop has been focusing more on the area of Green Bay, where there are more Hispanics," said Carlos Herrera, Hispanic ministry coordinator. "He celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe feast at St. Willebrord (Parish) in Green Bay. And so now we get to invite him to this special celebration."

Zubik also will attend the celebration that follows mass at Plaza Azteca, 808 W. Wisconsin Ave., Appleton. Activities include song and dance, a feast and reenactment of Nieves' priesthood by church members.

Under then-Mexican President Plutarco Elias Calles, hundreds of priests were killed. Churches were being forced to close, but Nieves refused to abandon his parish in La Cañada de Caracheo, Herrera said.

Several members are old enough to remember that Nieves held mass in secret and was in hiding when soldiers discovered him disguised in peasant garbs at a farm.

"He was a humble priest and wanted for people to have faith in God," said Jose Leon of Appleton, whose family had given the priest shelter.

Leon's two uncles were arrested and executed with Nieves on the side of a road. Nieves was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1997. Canonization is pending.

Leon will perform with his church's drama group at the banquet hall. He said he is hopeful the audience will see Nieves' faith in and service to God.

"Diosito (God) uses people to reach those who don't know him," Leon said.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe observed at St. Pius X

By J.E. Espino
Post-Crescent staff writer

APPLETON — The story goes that in 1531, a "Lady from Heaven" appeared to a poor Aztec Indian, Juan Diego, in Tepeyac, a hill northwest of Mexico City.

She told him she was the mother of the true God and instructed him to have the bishop build a temple on site. As a sign of her apparition, the Virgin of Guadalupe left her imprint on his "tilma," a poncho like mantle made of cactus fiber.

The event was significant in that la virgen — pronounced veer-hen — was an indigenous young woman, spoke Nahuatl, the Aztec language, and appeared to an indigenous man. Christianity had come to the New World, not from a Spaniard, but from an indigenous source.

Catholic Hispanics say the story is one that unites all Mexicans. It has since been reason for major celebrations throughout Latin America and in places as far north as northeast Wisconsin.

"On the streets, the celebration is different, but inside the church, it's all the same," said Alejandra Rivas, speaking in Spanish about the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe being celebrated Sunday at St. Pius X.

The liturgical holy day, observed by millions, falls on Tuesday this year. Festivities here got off to a start Nov. 27, said Carlos Herrera, coordinator of Hispanic ministries for St. Therese Church in downtown Appleton.

Since late November, three images of "the brown virgin" have been traveling from home to home as part of the festivities.

At 11:30 p.m., tonight, parishioners will hold a vigil of songs and serenade Guadalupe with "Las Mananitas," a birthday song in Spanish, at St. Therese. It is a birthday celebration, after all.

A mass will be celebrated on Tuesday. Spanish services will begin at 6 a.m. and in English at 8 a.m.

This is the second year St. Therese parishioners converge at St. Pius X. Given the growing number of Latino families residing in the Fox Cities, parishioners have outgrown their facilities.

Participation in Sunday's mass and fiesta was about 1,000 members strong.

A procession was part of the tradition.

The image of the Virgin of Guadalupe was placed on a truck at St. Therese. In no time, she made her way through downtown Appleton to the St. Pius X sanctuary, where she was greeted with dozens of roses, songs and "Viva la virgen" cheers.

"We just don't come and pray," said Mariel Rodriguez, an Appleton teen.

"We celebrate with music. We see the dances that they do for her, and we sing to her."

The Rev. Bill Hoffman also blessed a group of children who dressed like Juan Diego for the occasion.

The unity of the Latino community at such functions is such that even if you are not Catholic, you can't feel out of place, said Romer Matos, a student from the Dominican Republic, who'd been invited to the feast by friends.

"It's about the devotion to the virgin," said Manuel Vivas of Menasha, recalling festivities in his native El Salvador.

This was his fifth celebration at St. Therese with family.

"We're just continuing to follow that devotion here," he said.

Hispanic drivers get help with license test

New program eases language barrier in Fox Cities

By John Lee
Post-Crescent staff writer

APPLETON — When Mito Kudaka started checking the citations Appleton police officers had written for motorists driving without a valid driver’s license, he discovered a disturbing pattern.

The city’s Hispanics make up an estimated 2 percent to 4 percent of the population, but the 44 citations written to Hispanics without valid licenses in the first five months of this year represented 42 percent of the 107 tickets for such offenses.

It’s a problem Kudaka heard about two years ago from police and the Latino community when he first became the city’s intercultural relations coordinator, but seeing the proof in numbers still was surprising.

Now, with the help of $7,500 in grants, the city and Latino Link have partnered in a program that will explain the need to get driver’s licenses to Hispanics, help them apply for licenses or learning permits, get them interpreters if necessary, and pay for behind-the-wheel training if they need help after failing a road test.

The grants will provide up to three hours of training for each of 50 drivers — more if some drivers only need an hour or two of behind the wheel, he said.

The state Department of Transportation said people applying for driver’s licenses or learner’s permits must show documentation of proof of residency and proof of identity.

Kudaka said the program will help everyone in the Fox Cities, especially Hispanic drivers who don’t use public transportation.

“If you don’t have private transportation (in the Fox Cities), you are (limited),” he said. “Public transportation is available, but it doesn’t provide the flexibility some of this population needs” to get to jobs or needed services.

“If you don’t have a license but still need to get there, you will still drive.”

The program will give independence to Hispanics who are limited because they lack a driver’s license, according to two individuals who work with Spanish-speaking people.

“They can get a job and they don’t have to ask for help from anybody,” said Azminba Vela-Jones of the Fox Valley Literacy Coalition.

“If you have a driver’s license, you can move easy. You can get to a job. You can get to the bank. You can go to the doctor. You can go to the library.”

Carlos Herrera, Hispanic ministry coordinator for Appleton’s St. Therese Catholic Church, said the license also is an important identification document.

“It’s important the people can get the document for themselves,” he said.

Sometimes a language barrier is more of an obstacle in getting a license than driving skills, he said.

“I think if you are a very good driver. you would not have a problem,” he said.

Kudaka said the city and Latino Link are working with Sears Driving School, which plans to hire a Spanish-speaking teacher to help with the program.

A bilingual officer on the Grand Chute Police Department also has helped him with the program, as has a trooper from the Wisconsin State Patrol.

The funds come from a $3,750 grant from the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region Inc., and a similar amount from Goodwill Industries.

Besides saving the drivers fines of more than $180, the program will make Fox Cities roads safer, Kudaka said.

“If drivers don’t know the rules of the road it is a safety issue for everybody,” he said.

An officer who stops a driver without a license still has to verify that person’s identity, and that often means waiting for an interpreter and spending a couple hours checking the identity.

“That’s about two hours of an officer’s time when he could be patrolling or taking care of other things,” Kudaka said. “What could have taken three minutes took about three hours.”

John Lee can be reached at 920-993-1000, ext. 362, or by e-mail at jlee@postcrescent. com.

PARA CELEBRAR SUS QUINCEAÑOS EN SANTA TERESITA

1. Platique con nosotros al menos con SEIS MESES de anticipación, debido a los preparativos de la Misa así como la preparación de la candidata a quinceañera.
2. Requiere tomar dos pláticas de preparación que se realizarán en esta Parroquia.
3. Por causas de adaptación y crecimiento de nuestra comunidad, las celebraciones de quinceaños podrán no ser especiales para una sola quinceañera; es decir, es posible que se celebre a más de una en una sola misa. Por lo tanto se pide mucha apertura ante esta situación si se presenta.