See more photos from the big day:
     Ice Cream Social and All Saints Costume Event
     Church Activities
     Knights of Columbus
     Evening Dinner
   

A Heartfelt Thank You - to the scores of parishioners who played a part in making our October 28 celebration such a success. Particular thanks go to Mrs. Jan Grill, who secured the delicious and generous donation of ice cream from Grand Ol'Creamery, and to her efficient and helpful crew of servers for the ice cream social; to Diane Lesnar and her family members, who put in long, difficult hours setting up and decorating at school and in the church hall; to Mrs. Jeannie Marciniak and her amazing crew of assistants, who managed every aspect of the buffet dinner; to the members of the St. Agnes High School Pro-Life Club who provided hours of help with serving and cleaning; to Steve and Theresa Fischer, who provided and organized the beverages served at dinner; to Dan and Mary Jo Rossini, Lee Martin, Sue Schneider, and Duane Kaczmarek for their assistance with the All Saints Costume Event; to Vic Tedesco, who despite his illness made sure that we would have musical entertainment during the Ice Cream Social; to Jane Sadowski and Ruth Veilleux who cleaned and decorated the church so beautifully; to Ron and Mary Smisek and the adult choir  for providing music during Holy Mass, and Mary Smisek and the children's choir (henceforth to be called Jesus' Little Voices) for providing music during the social and dinner hours; to our Mass servers; to Mr. Mike Sirian for emceeing the evening events; to Dorothy Jordan, who took charge of distributing leftovers to the neighborhood; to the bakers of the parish who furnished the lavish dessert buffet; to the dozens of folks who helped - especially the Moris family; Julie Knapp, Theresa Fischer, and Jack Davidsen who helped with clean-up. Finally, thanks to Deacon Terry and Mrs. Sue Schneider, Greg Cosimini, and Deb and Duane Kaczmarek for organizing and publicizing, creating and printing of tickets and placing the history of the Church of St. John's and many pictures on our website, and to Fr. Thomas Wilson for inspiring it.

All Saints Costume Contest Winners - The costume contest drew 17 participants. Judges Sue Schneider, Dan Rossini and Lee Martin had the difficult task of selecting the most creative, knowledgeable, and poised of the contestants.

Winning entrants were as follows:
  3rd place - Eliza Knapp as St. Barbara
  2nd place - Anthony Tarnowski as St. Anthony of Padua
  1st place -  Julia Knapp as St. Lucy

Thanks to all who made the contest possible-the hardworking, creative students, their supportive family members, the judges, tellers Mary Jo Rossini and Duane Kaczmarek, and the donor of the prize money.

WHAT IS THE INSTALLATION?

Most simply from the perspective of the parish, the installation is the reception of a new pastor. The parish receives the pastor as the delegate of the bishop. This act of reception should indicate a willingness of the parish to receive a priest's ministry. It can also be a welcome, an act of support, a mutual affirmation of faith, a prayerful intercession for the future. How this is articulated in a particular parish may vary.

0ne of the guidelines in planning such an event should be the careful attention to the season. One of the most appropriate ways of doing this is by using the readings of the day. This integration with the season or feast is placing the parish and pastor in a broader rhythm which is catholic. This seems most appropriate at an installation because of the continuity expressed.

From the perspective of the priest, an installation is an official designation and support by the Archbishop for the priest's ministry. It is not so much a question of jurisdiction as mission, at least as it is expressed liturgically. In the installation, the priest assumes a relationship to the Church which gathers at the parish. It is there that he extends the ministry of the bishop.

The rite of installation is an opportunity to say a pastor and parish are in communion with the Church. Such an expression recognizes the truth of a diocesan and universal communion of faith. In this wider view we also find a sense of mission which the  Church is called to take up. The rite is an opportunity to voice the mission and to charge a pastor and parish with that vocation.