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, jeff@stjoan.com.

Ken and Pat Keller are two of the nicest people I have ever met.

This interview makes resoundingly clear that parishioner involvement is the Faith-life of the parish that draws people to a richer and deeper spiritual appreciation of their Faith - What Christ means in what one does - even those, as Pat pointed out, who would otherwise not be involved at all.

Pat: Back in seventy-eight, we were looking for a parish to join… Ken had been in Korea during the Vietnam War, where I had joined him for a year… The absence of a parish in that year taught us the value of it…

Ken: Upon returning to the States, I was assigned to a post in Kansas… The parish there had Mass outside in the park in the summer for vacationers… It had a nice diversity among the congregation… Spanish immigrants…Ft. Riley soldiers…members of a small community

Pat: That parish regenerated the sense that our faith could be lived as more than a habit, more than a requirement, more than the threat of hell… It could be vital, real, exciting, meaningful… Something has to draw one on…

Ken:This was not new to me… I had started high school in a progressive seminary in Wisconsin. So back as far as fifty-eight to sixty-one I had the English Mass and contemporary music…( Ken spent nine and a half years in the seminary. He decided to leave just prior to taking his Deaconate vows. )

Pat: When we came to the Cities, we looked around, one Sunday we landed at St Joan’s, and we’ve never left.
One wonders how St Joan’s could survive as a functioning parish without the phalanx of people who gladly give so freely and lovingly of their time to the Church. Either the staff or the services - probably both - must suffer without them. Ken and Pat are exemplars of the many parishioners who contribute time and effort. More than just allowing the parish to function effectively, they and the others like them enhance the life of the parish in its faith and love.

As people differ in the measure of their love, so do they differ in the expression of it. Ken and Pat, if this interview is an indication, are of the more expressive kind of people. Much more expressive.

Pat: I had not been actively involved before in church activities - other than when I was a kid, and that was only out of obligation - but as my faith deepened during my time at St Joan’s, I felt the need to give back. I had gotten so much… I looked for ways to help…

Ken: We started out baby-sitting during Mass…

Pat: Yes, and then I signed up to do whatever needed to be done. I remember a project… cutting something from a pattern…

Ken: Baptismal gowns…

Pat: Yes, they found the pattern and I started making them. In the first year I cut 120…

Ken: We’ve also been greeters…and work at the Cabaret…

Pat: Oh, then there’s the reason, perhaps, that you’re talking to us…

Interviewer: What might that be?

Pat: I ride the lift.

Interviewer: Say again?

Pat: I’m the installer.

Interviewer: I see…

Pat: Of the holiday decorations.

Ken: St. Joan’s uses professional designers to create the projects and Pat tries to implement their ideas in the gym and church.

Pat: I’m from the country, so I’m comfortable on ladders…drilling and installing all the pieces on the rafters…
Turns out, this is almost a year around job. The decorating committee, of which Pat is a member, color-coordinates the church - at this time of year, the colors of fall (golds, reds), then with blue for Advent, after that, the Christmas displays, and then the somber pastels of Lent, followed by the glorious displays of Easter.

After a time, apart from the fun and delight Ken and Pat take to the parish work, one begins to appreciate that much more is involved - a commitment to their Faith, to Christ and to the parish. If the intensity is an indication, one suspects it is unshakeable.

Pat: I remember doing an installation for the Easter Masses. I worked at my nursing job all Friday night then came to St. Joan’s to create the designed project on Saturday morning. Many bolts of fabric were used, multi-colored, with a beautiful yellow backdrop of the altar showing Christ rising up in glory… The fabric draped all the way across the altar with a light behind it, and when the Easter Vigil light went up - it was a fabulous display of the Good News…

Ken: The gym was transformed, beautifully…
They finished this work an hour before the Easter Vigil service began.
Ken: People are as amazed as we are at what happens to them when they get involved in the effort…
That’s the point.

Ken and Pat have three children - two sons and a daughter. Now grown, they have all been involved in St Joan’s parish.

On the priests of the parish:

Pat: What is the difference for us at St Joan’s, as we see it, is that Fathers Wertin and Cassidy, due to the efforts of the Congregation, can devote themselves to being spiritual leaders, not over-burdened with administrative details…

Ken: They can pay more attention, for example, to the homilies, which are good, don’t you think?… And they have time to keep up on the issues affecting the spiritual life of the parish…

Pat: Yes, that really adds to the depth of the spiritual experience at St Joan’s.
Ken is a businessman, selling printing and business products. Pat is an RN, teaching nursing at Minneapolis Community College.
Ken: …If the need arises, people are encouraged to get involved as much as they can… We are always looking for volunteers. Please join us… It’s a give back... Give what you can… We promise that the committee assignments will be fun and rewarding…
On being Christ-like:
Pat: It’s in doing a service…in doing things for others…

Ken: Like Christ, the priest should be out among the people, doing things for them, ministering to them… We, as members of the parish, should be a part of this. We are more of a parish for being active, Christ-like members of it…

Pat: And the diversity of St Joan’s sends a strong message of Christ’s love and acceptance of all people…

Ken: It has changed my life…

Pat: Yes…absolutely…
Pat O'Regan is a technical and business writer. He has been attending Mass at St Joan's for the past year and a half, finding a renewed and burgeoning commitment to his faith in the loving company of the St Joan's congregation. Pat hails from a small Minnesota farming community -- Montgomery -- and is a graduate of St Thomas University and the University of Minnesota.
People who serve others without personal gain beyond a strong and uncomplicated love of serving are truly being like Christ. This conversation with Ken and Pat teach us something about one of the dimensions of love. How could we miss it?
Bill Cameron was a pilot at Northwest Airlines for 32 years until his retirement in June of 2001. Also an attorney, Bill now practices law about half-time. The rest of his time is spent taking pictures (... a serious photography habit), playing tennis, and working on volunteer projects. Bill's wife Connie is an educational consultant and they have three adult sons.


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