What a great way to appreciate volunteers at SJA!!! A clever, fun recognition party hosted by the SJA staff.
On Friday, May 4, the gym was turned into the Holy Rollers Casino. Roughly 300 attendees enjoyed great entertainment, excellent food and beverages, a fun Chapel of Love, door prizes, and, of course, pretend gambling.
The SJA staff created the event and provided most of the person-power normally supplied by volunteers. The entertainment included the Mark McPherson comedy act, music by Joe Chouinard on keyboard and Pete Johnson on percussion, impersonations by a thinly disguised Rachael Kroog, and improvised vocals by Julie Madden and Deb Harley.
The Holy Rollers Casino included poker, craps, roulette and blackjack. Novice gamblers were patiently coached by helpful dealers. It was hard to lose. Eventually each person's gambling chips were converted to door-prize raffle tickets.
The Chapel of Love, a marriage chapel, included a presiding minister and 2 heckling witnesses. Couples received a Holy Rollers Casino Marriage Certificate with Annulment Coupon, valid until 10:30pm. The line for this fun spoof was continuous.
Just as cars run on gasoline, SJA runs on volunteers. Perhaps 1000 of them, many who volunteer in more than one ministry. The staff can organize and coach and lead and pray, but most of the real work gets done by our fantastic volunteers. Here is a partial list of SJA ministries largely driven by volunteers.
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Charity and Justice - ISAIAH; TRUST, Housing Ministry, GLBT, Justice Fund, Sister Parish, Peace events, International Ministries, Grace House, SJA-WAMM
- Pastoral Ministries - Mental Health, Befrienders, Marriage, Funerals, Baptisms, Grief Support, Annulments, Adoption, Pastoral Visits, Separated & Divorced
- Education - Nursery, Pre-school, Grade School, Youth, Communion, Reconciliation, Camp St. Joan, Family Camp, CIC, Confirmation, Teachers
- Liturgy - Gym Liturgy (Cup Ministers, Hosts, Readers, Projectionists, Decorations), Music (Choir, Concerts, Cabaret), Family Mass (Cup Ministers, Hosts, Readers, Projectionists), Prayer Services, Seder
- Community Building - Parish Picnic, Concerts, New Parishioner Dinner, Lenten Soup Suppers, Seniors
- Adult Formation - Small Christian Communities, RCIA, Eco-spirituality, Speakers, Retreats, Womens Group
- Communications - Website, Parish Directory, Office Support
- Fiscal - Finance, Stewardship, Buildings and Grounds, Memorial Garden, Green Carpet Club
- Committees and working teams - Pastoral Council, Personnel Board, many committees
An impressive, amazing list. Where else but at SJA could you find the depth and breadth of our ministries and involvement? For those who have volunteered but weren't able to attend the party, the staff says, "Thank you, thank you, for your time and talent."
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| Jerry Hartlaub commutes from New Brighton with his wife, Trish, to be refreshed and challenged at the "SJA spiritual oasis". He's a Sunday mass slide jockey and "worker bee" at many SJA events. For fun he has written a bunch of poetry, printed his first book, and invented lots of stuff in a 30-year bioengineering career. These days he teaches cardiac physiology (but he's mostly retired), serves on non-profit boards, does Junior Achievement gigs and plays softball. But most rewarding is providing child-care for two of the world's smartest, cutest grandchildren.
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Door-prizes closed the evening for those especially lucky. As Julie would say, " the ubiquitous SJA cup, some literature, some music and maybe a certificate, enjoy. The winning number is:" But everybody was a winner. What a great way to appreciate volunteers at SJA!!!
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