We regret to report that our chosen keynote speaker, His Eminence Francis Cardinal
George, was unable to attend because of illness. In 2011 he became the 9th Episcopal Adviser of Serra International. The 2015 convention will be held in Melbourne, Australia.
Also, please note that the old serraus.org website has been replaced by serrainternational.org, at considerable savings which you will note below. Questions are being addressed by e-mail, with great efficiency.
Also, please note that the old serraus.org website has been replaced by serrainternational.org, at considerable savings which you will note below. Questions are being addressed by e-mail, with great efficiency.
Calendar of Events.
August 6, 2014. The Transfiguration of the Lord.
August 11, 1014. Luncheon Meeting and Speaker, 12:00 Noon at the University Club. Speaker will be Reverend James Chelich.
August 15, 2014. Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Holy Day of Obligation in the USA.
August 18, 2014. Board Meeting and Luncheon, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul.
August 25, 2014. Luncheon Meeting and Book Discussion, 12:00 Noon at Ss. Peter and Paul. We will discuss Chapter Six of "The Be Happy Attitudes."
Priests' Anniversaries for August.
The Reverend Don Tufts, August 20, 1980.
The Reverend George Darling, August 11, 1984
The Reverend Stephen Dudek, August 11, 1984
The Reverend Dennis Morrow, August 24, 1985
The Reverend Dennis O'Donnell, August 20, 1983
The Reverend James Wyse, August 29, 1987
Thank you to the Saginaw Club.
On July 21, John Osterhart wrote in response to a $25 dollar donation to our club in Nate McKenzie's name:
Cy, Please express the thanks of the Grand Rapids Serra Club for your club's check in memory of our fellow Serran Nate McKenzie. Nate will be missed by all of us. It was very thoughtful and generous of you to remember him in this way, and we will make a special effort to use your gift for a cause that Nate would have supported.
Your club also sent a generous check when no one from Saginaw could attend our fund raiser dinner this past October which also honored retiring Grand Rapids Bishop Walter Hurley. Your support of that event was also appreciated very much. We are sorry that events conspired to prevent anyone from Saginaw Serra from attending and hearing a wonderful address by Archbishop William E. Lori of the Diocese of Baltimore.
Best regards to our Saginaw brother and sister Serrans.
Sincerely,
John Osterhart
Grand Rapids Serra
Serra Leadership Meeting, Okemos, Michigan
Present: Detroit-Oakland Governor Bob Barrett, President Jim Wilson, Judy Cancro, and from Grand Rapids, Beth Gumina, President Agnes Kempker-Cloyd, Michael Fiorenzo, Nancy Mulvihill, John Osterhart, Weldon Schwartz.
Highlights are as follows:
***The importance of Eucharistic Adoration (especially around the clock) was discussed. It definitely seems to be a powerful means for generting vocations to the priesthood. Lansing has 34 seminarians, and the Archdiocese of Detroit has 32. Jim Wilson, whose son is a seminarian, informed the group that in recent years 15 young men have entered various seminaries from University of Detroit Jesuit High School.
***John Osterhart presented two very helpful manuals: A "Tool Kit" for addressing common problems within Serra Clubs and Serra Districts, and a second manual with suggestions regarding, "How to Have Successful Regional Conferences." John also suggested combining each presentation of the 31 Club concept with a membership solicitation.
***Michael talked about participating in Cincinnati Serra's Bible Novena, lasting 108 consecutive hours. People take turns reading the Bible aloud for two-hour segments. The St. Joseph Bible is used. Michael suggested this as a program for Michigan Serra Clubs to consider (Muskegon has done something similar as part of an ecumenical project with other denominations in Muskegon. The project could include students reading as well. Michael spoke of St. Isidore Parish, with 24/7 Eucharistic Adoration, as being a vocation making machine!
Judy Cancro, who submitted the summary of the meeting, points out that the work of the Newman Connection is so vital, as research shows that of those who are practicing Catholics entering college, an average of only 15% continue to practice their faith upon graduation. (Various members of our club are writing to or calling various youth ministers in our diocese to confirm that they have received packets of information about the Newman Connection for those members of their parishes who are entering college in the fall).
Note: The meeting in Okemos was an abbreviated version of the annual District Spring Planning and Leadership Conference. We thank all those who attended.
First, we urge you to take the time for a careful reading of Sean Yeo's State of Serra address. It was submitted to my e-mail from several sources, including Dennis Leiber and John Osterhart. Serra International Trustee Bob Rudman prepared a summary, "Serra International Score Card."
Dear U. S. Regional Directors, District Governors and Club Presidents
As a member of the Serra International Board, I wanted to report on the Serra International Scorecard for 2013-2014.
***Lawsuit settled. Serra's National Council for the United States was re-established as the one Council in the USA, and all USA clubs are members of the council.
***Executive Director was replaced and new ED John Liston was hired.
***Executive Director signed a contractual agreement spelling out the limits and scope of his financial commitments for Serra International with approval of Serra International Executive Committee and Board.
This was the first time in fourteen years that this measure was taken.
***Audited Financial Results for the year 2013 were completed three months after the close of 2013, a first.
***Personnel costs were reduced from 2013 to 2014 by 20 percent.
***Technology costs were reduced from $153,000 per year to $13,000 per year.
***Consolidated Administrative Office was created whereby Serra International, Serra International Foundation and Serra's National Council for the United States share the costs of one office versus separate offices.
***Communications have been expanded to the four official languages of Serra: Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and English.
***World Magazine, "Serra Connects" has been published 12 times in the past year, making for more frequent communications in general.
***A new handbook, "Serrans Called to Holiness" has been published. Please make sure you have a copy.
***A conference has been held at the Vatican of Pastoral Ministry for Priestly Vocations, The booklet has been published in five languages indicating guidelines for support of vocations internationally.
"Thank you," Bob writes, "for allowing me to act as one of your representatives, as it has expanded my appreciation of what we can do not only in the USA but for your brothers and sisters worldwide.
We especially thank Past President of Serra International Sean Yeo and Executive Director John Liston for their outstanding leadership over the past year in bringing about these very positive changes.
Special Report: Sacramento Serra International Convention, July 10-13-2014.
The 2014 Serra International Convention was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Sacramento,
CA. As a general statement, things at the Sacramento Convention were VERY POSITIVE across the board.
The Board Meetings of both Serra International and the USA Council were held on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the start of the convention and were open to all. At the Serra International Board Meeting the fresh start committee was dissolved.
At the Annual Club Delegates Meeting votes on Serra International Bylaw amendments and wording changes incorporated therein were all decided overwhelmingly. Delegate Nancy King, representing the Grand Rapids club, and the three votes cast by John Osterhart as the proxy delegate for Saginaw, Detroit/Oakland and Clarksburg, WV were in agreement with the majority in all cases. Questions decided included the following:
1) Changing the SI fiscal year to be on a calendar year basis (the USA Council and the Serra International Foundation are also now on a calendar fiscal year basis.
2) Defeating of wording which would have added non-compliance with a Serra International "policy" as grounds for disapproval of a council (bylaws and bylaw changes are approved by votes of the Serra International Board and are readily changed.
3) Incorporating a due process procedure for Serra Councils who may be subject to formal disapproval by Serra International for not being in compliance for Serra International bylaws or policies (superfluous, as policies were not approved grounds for disapproval), or their own bylaws.
4) A change in wording that states definitively that certain specified duties are assigned to councils versus "may be assigned" to councils--wording that allows additional duties to be assigned to councils in either case
was unchanged; a proposed amendment to the above amendment to restore the "may be assigned" wording was ruled "out of order" by the parliamentarian as being a second vote on a question already decided by a previous vote at this delegates' meeting.
The convention had a very spiritual emphasis, and there were many inspiring speakers and liturgies as well as opportunities for adoration incorporated in the convention program. Serra President Sean Yeo presented a beautiful monstrance to the Diocese of Sacramento in thanks for hosting our convention.
In total, Grand Rapids, our Grand Rapids Diocese, and Michigan were represented by nine individuals (see above). On Friday evening, that local contingent, together with Serra International Executive Director John Liston's mother, were able to enjoy dinner together at the Sacramento's historic Sutter Club.Grand Rapids Bishop Walkowiak was the principal celebrant of Saturday's afternoon Mass and was a concelebrant in other liturgies at the convention as well. At Saturday evening's concluding banquet, Dan Grady gave a wonderful heartfelt speech as incoming Serra International President....
Respectfully,
John Osterhart
Editor's Note: I would like to add a couple of other notes about highlights of the convention for me.
One was a meditation on the Annunciation and painter Henry Ossawa Tanner's interpretation of it, given by presenter Fr. John Horn, S. J. Look it up by searching The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1859-1937. Tanner, whose mother was born into slavery but later escaped via the Underground Railroad, presents a very specific Mary and her very specific reaction to the news that she would become the mother of Jesus. I thought especially of how much, in those times, the great moments in the life of Jesus permeated the thoughts of people from all walks of life.
The other occurred at the dinner at the Sutter Club, graciously hosted by Dennis and Margaret, John, Dan, and Mark. As we gathered around the table, John announced that he had Nate's rosary, in its worn blue leather pouch, and suggested that we each observe a moment of silence as we held the rosary. I, for one, thought about how much he changed my life. Had it not been for him, I wouldn't have been sitting at that dinner, at that convention. He was the person who invited me to join Serra.
He loved pies, apple, blueberry, rhubarb--whatever was in season, and he loved life in general.
I first met Nate a number of years ago at a dinner party at the home of John and Ellen Osterhart, but I really got to know him in May of 2003 when I, along with several others, shared a rented van headed for the wedding of Stephen (Osterhart) and Nardos in Oklahoma City Ordinarily a fifteen-plus hour van ride and back would be thought of as an ordeal, but somehow the combination of characters, and most of all, Nate, made the experience a delight to be remembered always. My dad died that Memorial Day, the day after we returned home, and Nate and Pam, (as well as John and Ellen) drove to Niles for the funeral. That same summer, always generous with the time he gave to the Lord, he offered to teach the upper level class in my Vacation Bible School, a custom he continued for several years thereafter. When the week was over, I thought about how to thank him. A gushy thank you note? Probably not. A coffee mug? That didn't hit the spot, either. Surely not flowers. But I suspected from conversations in the van that he wouldn't turn down something special from the oven. It was August, the height of the blueberry season. I sent him an e-mail saying that the Pie Fairy had left an extra on my kitchen counter and told me to pass it along to him. A few days later, he wrote back, "Tell the p.f. the pie was delicious."
Since that time, not so often, but now and then, one of those pies would show up in return for gifts from his garden in Lowell. This past spring I sent my usual message, "If you'll get me some rhubarb, I'll see what the p.f is up to. But, very much out of character for him, this time he didn't answer. I wondered about that, but went about my business and mainly forgot about it. All too soon I found out why. He was too ill to tend to his garden. I know now that he must have understood on some level that he was about to enter a new phase of his existence, with rewards far exceeding the earthly pleasures he so enjoyed. But I, for one, will miss him, and the conversations with him and Pam around their dining room table, and his appreciation for the pies and his love of life in general. Farewell. Requiescat in pace.
A Message from our President.
Please pray for me and our local Grand Rapids Serra Club. Summer is in full swing and the living is easy, or so the song goes. I just got back from Cross Village and the Catholic Church's homecoming weekend. It was reminiscent of my youth and the old time parish festivals, including bake sale, silent auction, craft booths, bingo, games of chance and a band for dancing. Everyone was enjoying the weather and the company. The air was filled with the fragrance of apple dumplings, fruit pies, brats, and barbecued chicken. Laughter and joking were all around. It reminds us to enjoy the life that Christ died to give us and to love and appreciate one another.
May the love and peace of Christ be with you and your families. Please keep Bob Paul and his lovely wife in your prayers, as she has been very ill. Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us in our vocations work to bring dedicated leaders to the call for service in the Church.
Agnes Kempker-Cloyd
Dan Grady and Bishop Walkowiak with the Nigerians in Sacramento. The Nigerians were the best represented club at the convention.
Convention photos courtesy of Mark Kubik.
***Communications have been expanded to the four official languages of Serra: Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and English.
***World Magazine, "Serra Connects" has been published 12 times in the past year, making for more frequent communications in general.
***A new handbook, "Serrans Called to Holiness" has been published. Please make sure you have a copy.
***A conference has been held at the Vatican of Pastoral Ministry for Priestly Vocations, The booklet has been published in five languages indicating guidelines for support of vocations internationally.
"Thank you," Bob writes, "for allowing me to act as one of your representatives, as it has expanded my appreciation of what we can do not only in the USA but for your brothers and sisters worldwide.
We especially thank Past President of Serra International Sean Yeo and Executive Director John Liston for their outstanding leadership over the past year in bringing about these very positive changes.
Special Report: Sacramento Serra International Convention, July 10-13-2014.
The 2014 Serra International Convention was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Sacramento,
CA. As a general statement, things at the Sacramento Convention were VERY POSITIVE across the board.
The Board Meetings of both Serra International and the USA Council were held on Wednesday and Thursday prior to the start of the convention and were open to all. At the Serra International Board Meeting the fresh start committee was dissolved.
At the Annual Club Delegates Meeting votes on Serra International Bylaw amendments and wording changes incorporated therein were all decided overwhelmingly. Delegate Nancy King, representing the Grand Rapids club, and the three votes cast by John Osterhart as the proxy delegate for Saginaw, Detroit/Oakland and Clarksburg, WV were in agreement with the majority in all cases. Questions decided included the following:
1) Changing the SI fiscal year to be on a calendar year basis (the USA Council and the Serra International Foundation are also now on a calendar fiscal year basis.
2) Defeating of wording which would have added non-compliance with a Serra International "policy" as grounds for disapproval of a council (bylaws and bylaw changes are approved by votes of the Serra International Board and are readily changed.
3) Incorporating a due process procedure for Serra Councils who may be subject to formal disapproval by Serra International for not being in compliance for Serra International bylaws or policies (superfluous, as policies were not approved grounds for disapproval), or their own bylaws.
4) A change in wording that states definitively that certain specified duties are assigned to councils versus "may be assigned" to councils--wording that allows additional duties to be assigned to councils in either case
was unchanged; a proposed amendment to the above amendment to restore the "may be assigned" wording was ruled "out of order" by the parliamentarian as being a second vote on a question already decided by a previous vote at this delegates' meeting.
The convention had a very spiritual emphasis, and there were many inspiring speakers and liturgies as well as opportunities for adoration incorporated in the convention program. Serra President Sean Yeo presented a beautiful monstrance to the Diocese of Sacramento in thanks for hosting our convention.
In total, Grand Rapids, our Grand Rapids Diocese, and Michigan were represented by nine individuals (see above). On Friday evening, that local contingent, together with Serra International Executive Director John Liston's mother, were able to enjoy dinner together at the Sacramento's historic Sutter Club.Grand Rapids Bishop Walkowiak was the principal celebrant of Saturday's afternoon Mass and was a concelebrant in other liturgies at the convention as well. At Saturday evening's concluding banquet, Dan Grady gave a wonderful heartfelt speech as incoming Serra International President....
Respectfully,
John Osterhart
Editor's Note: I would like to add a couple of other notes about highlights of the convention for me.
One was a meditation on the Annunciation and painter Henry Ossawa Tanner's interpretation of it, given by presenter Fr. John Horn, S. J. Look it up by searching The Annunciation, Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1859-1937. Tanner, whose mother was born into slavery but later escaped via the Underground Railroad, presents a very specific Mary and her very specific reaction to the news that she would become the mother of Jesus. I thought especially of how much, in those times, the great moments in the life of Jesus permeated the thoughts of people from all walks of life.
The other occurred at the dinner at the Sutter Club, graciously hosted by Dennis and Margaret, John, Dan, and Mark. As we gathered around the table, John announced that he had Nate's rosary, in its worn blue leather pouch, and suggested that we each observe a moment of silence as we held the rosary. I, for one, thought about how much he changed my life. Had it not been for him, I wouldn't have been sitting at that dinner, at that convention. He was the person who invited me to join Serra.
He loved pies, apple, blueberry, rhubarb--whatever was in season, and he loved life in general.
I first met Nate a number of years ago at a dinner party at the home of John and Ellen Osterhart, but I really got to know him in May of 2003 when I, along with several others, shared a rented van headed for the wedding of Stephen (Osterhart) and Nardos in Oklahoma City Ordinarily a fifteen-plus hour van ride and back would be thought of as an ordeal, but somehow the combination of characters, and most of all, Nate, made the experience a delight to be remembered always. My dad died that Memorial Day, the day after we returned home, and Nate and Pam, (as well as John and Ellen) drove to Niles for the funeral. That same summer, always generous with the time he gave to the Lord, he offered to teach the upper level class in my Vacation Bible School, a custom he continued for several years thereafter. When the week was over, I thought about how to thank him. A gushy thank you note? Probably not. A coffee mug? That didn't hit the spot, either. Surely not flowers. But I suspected from conversations in the van that he wouldn't turn down something special from the oven. It was August, the height of the blueberry season. I sent him an e-mail saying that the Pie Fairy had left an extra on my kitchen counter and told me to pass it along to him. A few days later, he wrote back, "Tell the p.f. the pie was delicious."
Since that time, not so often, but now and then, one of those pies would show up in return for gifts from his garden in Lowell. This past spring I sent my usual message, "If you'll get me some rhubarb, I'll see what the p.f is up to. But, very much out of character for him, this time he didn't answer. I wondered about that, but went about my business and mainly forgot about it. All too soon I found out why. He was too ill to tend to his garden. I know now that he must have understood on some level that he was about to enter a new phase of his existence, with rewards far exceeding the earthly pleasures he so enjoyed. But I, for one, will miss him, and the conversations with him and Pam around their dining room table, and his appreciation for the pies and his love of life in general. Farewell. Requiescat in pace.
A Message from our President.
Please pray for me and our local Grand Rapids Serra Club. Summer is in full swing and the living is easy, or so the song goes. I just got back from Cross Village and the Catholic Church's homecoming weekend. It was reminiscent of my youth and the old time parish festivals, including bake sale, silent auction, craft booths, bingo, games of chance and a band for dancing. Everyone was enjoying the weather and the company. The air was filled with the fragrance of apple dumplings, fruit pies, brats, and barbecued chicken. Laughter and joking were all around. It reminds us to enjoy the life that Christ died to give us and to love and appreciate one another.
May the love and peace of Christ be with you and your families. Please keep Bob Paul and his lovely wife in your prayers, as she has been very ill. Mary, Mother of Vocations, pray for us in our vocations work to bring dedicated leaders to the call for service in the Church.
Agnes Kempker-Cloyd
Dan Grady and Bishop Walkowiak with the Nigerians in Sacramento. The Nigerians were the best represented club at the convention.
Convention photos courtesy of Mark Kubik.
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