The students at St. Mary School in Alma visited the Impressions 5 Museum in Lansing during Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 29-Feb. 4) Courtesy photo

ALMA — The students at St. Mary School thought about what makes their school special during Catholic Schools Week (Jan. 29-Feb. 4) and about what makes that single week unique. Here is what some of them wrote: (more…)

Owosso’s St. Paul School takes on an international flavor thanks to three visitors

By Brandi Schueller
Special to The Catholic Times

OWOSSO — The majority of students who attend St. Paul School are from the surrounding area.

This year, however, the fourth grade has an international flavor, thanks to three new boys from South Korea.

Ben Park Won-Woong, Andy Lee Hyung-Woo and Charlie Lee Ji-Hoon, all from Ulsan, South Korea, will spend the year in the U.S. thanks to Scott and Stephanie Lahmann of Owosso. The Lahmanns spent the past year teaching English at Boston Prep, an after-school academy in Ulsan. (more…)

CLARE — Nine young people from St. Cecilia Parish — Emily Yob, Katie Warner, Vincent Gray, Brittany Fields, Ethan Hall, Samantha Gray, Duane Hall, Joel Wamer and Marilyn Gray — were among the more than 400 youth and adults from the Diocese of Saginaw who accompanied Bishop Joseph R. Cistone to Washington, D.C., for the March for Life on Monday, Jan. 23. In the rain, the group marched from the National Mall to the steps of the Supreme Court to protest the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.

The following are what some of the St. Cecilia youth had to say about their experiences: (more…)

LANSING — What do you do when you’ve accomplished all of your goals?

That is a question the Professional Pastoral Ministers Association faces in this, its 26th year.

When the organization was founded in the Diocese of Lansing in 1986, its goals were to establish a network for lay ministers; bring recognition to and promotion of lay ministry; establish ongoing education and spiritual formation; to encourage and promote diocesan activities that would integrate clergy and lay ministers; and establish a more standardized salary compensation package for lay ministers across the diocese or creation of personnel policies and compensation practices for lay ministers in the diocese. (more…)

SAGINAW — Saginaw Area Catholic Schools Regional Superintendent and Nouvel Catholic Central High School principal Irene Hensinger has announced she will retire at the end of the 2011-12 school year.

Hensinger, who has held the dual position for three years, made the announcement Monday, Feb. 13, to allow adequate time for a replacement to be found and to offer support for a smooth administrative transition. (more…)

Declining enrollment, red ink force Adrian Dominicans to close St. Joseph Academy

ADRIAN — The Adrian Dominican sisters announced Tuesday, Feb. 7, that St. Joseph Academy, founded in 1896 by the sisters on their home grounds in northeast Adrian, and the Montessori Children’s House, founded in 1971 at the academy, will close at the end of the 2011-12 academic year.

The congregation cited declining enrollment and multiple-year deficit budgeting as the reasons to close the institution after 115 years of educating tens of thousands of children — Catholic and non-Catholic, ages pre-school through high school, and from Lenawee County and beyond. The Adrian Dominican sisters are the corporate sponsors of the academy. (more…)

Jessica Coffelt (left) joins Sr. Roselyn Nichols, S.S.M., and Dr. Angel Valdez of FUMSIL to examine an ambulance Coffelt acquired for the border region of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Courtesy photo

By Jeff Wack
The Catholic Times

PINCKNEY — St. Mary School graduate Jessica Coffelt embodies a life lived in service to others.

The 2001 St. Mary grad, while attending college, got involved with FUMSIL (the Fundación Mariana San Isidro Labrador), a nonprofit organization that operates along the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. FUMSIL is governed by the Catholic parish St. Isidore the Laborer in the province of Eli’as Pin’a and is a provider of health care, nutritional, religious and educational assistance to more than 25,000 people. (more…)

Fr. Edward Konieczka gives the homily during the all-schools Mass on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at St. Hyacinth Church in Bay City. Fr. Rick Varner and Fr. Rick Filary (background) listen. Sharon Pagryzinski/Catholic Weekly

BAY CITY —  The All-Schools Mass for the Bay Area Catholic Schools (BACS) was Wednesday, Feb. 1, at St. Hyacinth Church, 1515 Cass Ave.

Fr. Edward Konieczka was the celebrant with concelebrants Fr. Craig Albrecht from St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Fr. Rick Filary from St. Stanislaus Parish, Fr. Dale Orlik from St. Boniface Parish and Fr. Ricky Varner from St. John the Evangelist Parish in Essexville. Pastoral administrators Sr. Virginia Scally, S.N.D.deN., from St. Maria Goretti Parish; Sr. Gail Addis, I.H.M., from St. Joseph Parish, and Sr. Joann Plumpe, O.P., from St. Hedwig Parish, also joined the worshippers in representing Vicariate IV in the celebration of Catholic Schools Week. (more…)

ANN ARBOR — Pro-life members of the Ann Arbor community will join together for the kick-off event of 40 Days for Life from 7-9 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, at St. Luke Lutheran Church, 4205 Washtenaw Ave.

The opening rally will feature motivational talks by Christen Houck, president of Students for Life of Michigan; Deb Ives and women from Heartfelt Family Services; Deacon Larry Randolph of Christ the King Catholic Church in Ann Arbor and Fr. David Rosenberg of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Saline. The rally also will feature an informational fair of pro-life organizations. Light refreshments will be available. (more…)

SAGINAW — As part of the Planning Tomorrow’s Parishes process, Bishop Joseph R. Cistone will lead a holy hour each month throughout this year in churches located across the diocese.

The intention for the holy hour will be Planning Tomorrow’s Parishes, a strategic planning process designed to engage parishioners to assess the state of churches across the 11-county Diocese of Saginaw and develop recommendations to enhance the vibrancy of future parish life.

The second holy hour is 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, at St. Elizabeth Church,12835 E. Washington Road in Reese. (more…)