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Anne Garvey Evening/Sunday Receptionist

When you walk into the Parish Center during off-hours and right away feel warm and welcomed, you’ll know that it is Anne Garvey behind the smile that made you feel that way. Anne has been dispensing smiles like that ever since she took this job about eight months ago. Part of it is because she loves everything about her job. The other part is the people she works with and the ones who show up while she’s on duty.

“They’re great,” she comments, then adds, “All this good will and goodness coming at me is hard to resist.”

On a recent Thursday night, one of the first persons to appear was Bonnie Petchel carrying some large cases that turned out to be her massage equipment. She is working on her masseuse license and using any staff who is willing as her trial subjects. She stops to chat about some of her experiences growing up Catholic.

Later Julie Madden flies down the stairs like a beam of sunshine. She says that Anne was a steadying influence during the chaos that preceded the Peace Vigil after Paul Wellstone’s death. “Anne was above it all,” she says. “No, under it,” Anne corrects her. That may come from her earlier involvement with a Zen Buddhist community. “People want a rock to stand on, instead of shifting sand,” she explains.

Pete Eichten stops by briefly to make some copies, then checks out while saying he’d be back shortly. Later he tries to help us figure out the workings of the parish digital camera.

Father George, shadowed by Penny, his toy poodle, arrive briefly on the scene. Anne gives Penny a hug, just part of her job she indicates, but obviously one she enjoys.

Richard Penland, dedicated maintenance man, sweeps through, so to speak. He gets a smile and a hello from Anne as he passes. Doug Lohman checks in next. Anne says that besides being director of maintenance, Doug plays bass for several bluegrass bands and has an email newsletter that tells the when and where of his next gigs.

There finally comes a short lull, and Anne talks a little about her life.. Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Anne grew up with five brothers and two sisters in what she calls a “good Catholic family.” She attended twelve years of Catholic school, but became disenchanted with the Church before graduation. There was one nun, though, who she never forgot. Her name was Sister Dorothy Marie who told Anne to “question everything.” Sister did, and later left the nunnery to be married. Right away, Anne began to take her advice and has been questioning almost everything ever since.

It was the early ‘70s, and probably explains why Anne alternated between being a student and being a hippie. By 1974, she says, she started to behave and finished her BA degree from UW Madison in 1977. At that point she was doing what others wanted her to do. Anne doesn’t elaborate, so we go on to talk more about her job.

Anne works at the desk from 4:30 to 8:30 evenings on Monday through Thursday. Besides that she puts in ten hours a week as Shared Ministry coordinator, a job she inherited a short time ago and is still trying to organize it in the way she thinks it should be.

Shared Ministry has been a part of St. Joan of Arc for many years. The system has not always been the most efficient or user friendly. In the past, there have typically been 2 "Shared Ministry Sundays" a year. Forms were filled out, collected and entered into a database. Lists would sometimes be sent to various ministry leaders but there were inevitable delays. The delays included time to wait for late signing parishioners to send in their forms, time to compile/enter the names, time to get the lists mailed to the leaders of the ministries, time for the leaders of the ministries to be able to call all of the signees. Often it was months from the time a parishioner signed up before they had contact with anyone concerning their interests. And, as mentioned in the article, sometimes parishioners never received a response. Anne is committed to making sure that signing a Shared Ministry form becomes more efficient and user friendly. Shared Ministry forms will still be highlighted during Sunday Masses at selected times during the year. But you can now sign up for ministries 365 days a year on this website. No matter which method of signing you use, the goal is to deliver a timely and personal response.

Anne tries to explain that Collaborative Ministry is a natural extension of Shared Ministry and generally is work by parishioners in the larger community that is inspired by principles of justice and peace that are fostered here at St. Joan’s.

Shared Ministry, on the other hand, is any participation in the shared life of the parish, for instance as greeters at Sunday masses, or communion distributors. That is just one example. The Shared Ministry form, available in the Parish Center, offers opportunities in a whole variety of areas: Liturgy, Sacraments, Charitable Outreach, Peace and Justice, Pastoral Care, Adult Formation, Community Building, Family Community Building and the Nursery.

Anne describes Shared Ministry as being “like a menu of opportunities available at St. Joan’s and a way for people to get involved in living their faith.” She believes that “It’s all about doing something about bringing your beliefs to life; a definite giving and taking.”

She remarks that in the old days Catholics were either told what to do and did it, or sat back and took whatever was offered them. All that has changed, she says, “ today we need to take personal responsibility for the life of the Church.”

Anne is aware that there have been people who say they signed up for jobs and never got a response. She explains that up until now information on the Shared Ministry forms was sent to the bookkeeper who put them in a data base. In this system the staff person had to search the database to see if there were volunteers who could help her or him. Ongoing computer problems seem to discourage staff from using that system regularly.

Now Anne is trying to change the system so that it will be easier for staff and volunteers alike. For instance, she has started to inform the appropriate staff person when new volunteers sign up. She has also been visiting staff members to find out how they work with volunteers.

She would like for St. Joan’s to have a board for Shared Ministry. “What we have now are the first steps in developing a system for getting people involved.” She sees her job as a way of moving people from passive to active roles in the church, and she says, “the more the merrier.”

Jo Youngren and her husband,Dave, have been members at SJA for a little over a year now. However, about 20 years ago Jo was a member and worked with Harvey Egan and Cy Speltz for 4 years. Her first husband, Jack Welch, was buried from there, and later Jo and Dave were married in what is now The Itaska, but at the time was a warehouse with a large gathering of SJA folks attending and Fred & Anna supplying the music - the church in a slightly different setting at the time giving us their blessing. Jo and Dave have been married for 19 years and back in Minnesota for the last 13. Jo can be reached at .

Anne wants people to know that she welcomes any comments, suggestions, or complaints. That’s because she wants to shape the system “so that it becomes what people really want.”

Jim Spensley has been a St. Joan's regular since 1980. He is an electrical engineer and product management consultant. He took up digital photography in 2001, preparing for a trip to Yunnan Province, China, where his daughter Alys is a Fulbright Research Fellow. Jim and Marilyn have 3 children, now 23, 22, and 17, who joined their parents in various volunteer activities at St. Joan of Arc. Jim is a political activist and sometime DFL candidate. He volunteers in public service, including President of the Minneshaha Creek Watershed District (1986-93) and a Member of the Hennepin County Capital Budget Task Force (1993-2004). Jim is also a Board Member of SMAAC.

“I feel so fortunate to sit at this desk twenty hours a week,” Anne says. “I have grown because of it in many ways, but particularly in joy. People seem happy to be here, and I think it may be because the intent here is to encourage personal power.”

That joy is evident in all that Anne does during those twenty hours, but most particularly in her smile that greets all visitors who walk into the Parish Center during her shift. It’s catching, that smile, and is probably another reason people seem happy to be here.