What would you like to know about St. Joan of Arc? Do you have a story about our parish or of general interest that you think others would like to hear? For story ideas, contact Jeff Rholl, webmaster@stjoan.com.

 I t is easy to blend in at St. Joan of Arc. Sitting watching the people going up to Communion, you would not point to a small trim woman with reddish hair and say “She is the parish Trustee", but she is, and her name is Susan Sell. The word ‘Trustee’ in our lexicon indicates someone who might be in a prison population or it can, and does mean a chosen person of trust whose responsibility it is, to insure that all things temporal at St. Joan of Arc, are in order and safe. It is a sophisticated way of saying that they can’t sell the church out from under us, without the signatures of the Trustees. Actually nobody can sell the church because by Canon Law it really belongs to the bishop, but that is another whole long story. Susan Sell because she is a good trooper agreed to the role along with Trustee Ruth Shriver, and she also agreed to serve on the Parish Council in the role of trustee and to insure that we don’t cook the books or don't do well by things temporal.

 T alking and listening to Susan on a beautiful October Friday morning, I learned a lot about the woman who on first glance, blends into the crowd. She is on the surface a quiet soft spoken but the words spelled out a story of a determined and creative leader. We sat talking in a remodeled fire station on 46th and Nicollet. It was a good choice for conversation and symbolism. Susan Sell is a firestorm of activity and after she recited a long list of accomplishments, I began to realize that I was talking and listening to one of the creators of the Twin City WomenSpirit.

 F or the first forty minutes of our conversation she had responded to my questions about her growing up years in Madison, Wisconsin. She spoke about going into teaching and then the years she and husband Jack raised their four now grown children. Just as the youngest was becoming more independent, Susan decided she wanted to go back to graduate school and she became part of a small group of laywomen who shortly after Vatican II started to enroll in placed previously populated by clerics and religious. Susan was one of the first wave of women who earned a degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola of Chicago. We have come so far, that we forget that women in any role of church leadership or ministry didn’t exist. Finding hospital chaplaincy work rewarding, she focused on clinical pastoral education, first in Chicago and then in Minneapolis at Metropolitan Medical Center and then Methodist Hospital. She was into her third year as Chaplain Resident and exploring the possibility of a staff position when she heard those words we Catholics sometimes use.... “We would love to offer you a position, but we really need a priest.”

 A t that point in the conversation she looked at me and said “There are many ways to minister", and for the rest of the conversation she spoke to me in all the ways this remarkable woman has found her way to lay hands and spirit onto others.

 W ith all the years of working in pastoral care and volunteer coordinator, Susan Sell knows her way around town and where resources are. As she said, “The Twin Cities is one of the richest communities of women with outstanding training in theology and scripture. We are a city awash in women poets, writers, scholars, artists . Many are listened to and read, but these women still suffer the fate of being prophetesses in their own town. The group in the League felt we should go after national names like Kathleen Norris, Joyce Rupp, Sue Bender and others. The pragmatic problem was funding, so as in many things in life, the announced problem is also the answer. The League decided to partner with other women’s groups and to focus on the big urban groups. With talent and wit, these women created a formidable coalition. They joined forces with the Episcopal women of St. Marks Cathedral, House of Hope, Plymouth Congregational, Central Lutheran, Westminster, Presbyterian, and the Basilica of St. Mary. In all, ten well organized women's groups in the urban area. They came up with a name for this new coalition of ecumenical women, WomenSpirit. For the last three years they have built a reputation. When Joyce Rupp spoke at St. Olaf Catholic Church in downtown Minneapolis, some 900 women and men were in the audience. These women know they are on to something because they see the response their activities have brought. They also knew they needed a seasoned leader and so they selected Susan Sell as Chair Person.

 W hen the conversation came around to how she came to St. Joan of Arc, her well mannered upbringing came through loud and clear. For years we attended the Catholic Church that we should attend because of where she lived. “From time to time we just wondered across to the other side of the freeway to St .Joan of Arc. Jack and I decided we had to worship and pray in a community that was more linked to the wider world." "But” she said, “I went to the pastor of our church and thanked him very much for what he and that community are doing, I just needed something else.” At St. Joan of Arc, Susan just appears to blend in; she became involved in the Sister Parish concept and has traveled to Guatemala, she is a member of a Small Christian Community, and serves on the Social Justice committee. When asked what or who influenced her the most, she spoke about a woman mentor from years past who taught her how to be welcoming to others. Susan spoke at length on the importance of knowing how to listen to another person, to allow the other to sing her own songs and tell her story in freedom and she mentioned more than once the writings of Henri Nouwen. But what I left this conversation with was a profound sense of her understanding ministry. Susan Sell, like so many others in these times in which we live, has learned that ministering is something all of us are called to, we are just called in different ways. .

Chuck MacDonald and his wife Beth are parishioners of St. Joan of Arc. Chuck serves on the Board of Open Arms of MN, an AIDS food ministry. He is a new member of the St. Joan of Arc Parish Council. He is actively involved with efforts to help victims of AIDS in South Africa. Chuck can be reached at chuckmacdonald@mediaone.net.

Rochelle Zemke found St. Joans 2 years ago on her journey for an "active and alive" Catholic church. She is married to Jason and together are members a wonderful Small Christian Community. Rochelle is the webmaster for the Osseo School District.