Deacon Community At St. James
Jerry Gau is a long time member of St. James Parish. He is involved in baptism, visiting the sick, and many caring ministries. Jerry and his recently deceased wife, Vera, have two children and five grandchildren.
Randy and Pam Grosse are longtime parishioners, active at St. James and in the diocese. Randy is advertising manager and assistant editor of the Catholic Voice and Pam is nurse manager at Essential Pregnancy Services. Among their many ministries at St. James are baptism classes and marriage preparation. They also are active in marriage preparation at the archdiocesan level. They have four children and five grandchildren.
Rich and Linda Hopkins are active in many ministries as Rich is business manager for the school and Linda teaches in OPS. Their ministries keep them busy at St. James and especially in Art and Environment. They have two children.
Rita Kessler Rita keeps us singing, literally. As the organist for the 9:30 Mass for many years, Rita has gifted St. James with her music ministry. Rita is also a medical technologist at St. Joseph Hospital. As the mother of nine and grandmother of an ever expanding group of children, Rita keeps busy ministering to her family. In addition to her love of music, Rita can often be found gardening. Rita's husband, Joe, died unexpectedly several years ago, and we still miss his quiet dedication to the people of St. James.
Stan and Pat Kurtz are busy folks. Stan is a retired administrator at Girls and Boys Town and Pat has an administrative position at St. Pius X Grade School. They keep busy with ministry in marriage preparation and scheduling. They have three children and several grandchildren.
Pat and Rosie Lenz Rosie Lenz is a Spanish teacher at Millard West High School and has taught at several local schools. She is active in ministry at St. James as a support to many families experiencing illness or death. She has been instrumental in helping Vietnamese refugees, the youth group, and Sara Prenosil, heart transplant patient. As a mother of four, she ministers to her large extended family and is a cheerful, encouraging role model. Pat Lenz is a minister at St. James Parish and an ordained Deacon in the Omaha Archdiocese. Pat has many ministries especially to the youth of our parish and to the ill and dying. Pat has weekly meetings with the youth and young adults, yearly lock-ins, trips, and fun events planned for the teens. Pat also helps families at the time of death and assists them with funeral information, grief counseling and networking for the needs of the family. Pat visits the hospitals and home-bound. Pat was in the Navy and was a pilot. His dedication and joy sustain us all. Pat and Rosie are from Carroll and Dedham, Iowa.
Wayne and Chris Young
Wayne
and Chris have been members of St. James Parish since 1972. They have
seven children and seven grandchildren. Wayne is an Associate Professor at
Creighton University and is director of the Technology Fellowship at Creighton.
They have been involved in RCIA, the prayer group, the
youth group, home communion and adult education.
Contact Chris at
bchrisyoung@hotmail.com
St. James is fortunate to have a couple in Diaconate Formation at this time. Please keep them in your prayers as they learn and discern. We encourage parishioners to consider applying to the Diaconate. We have many unordained deacons at St. James. Perhaps God is calling you to be ordained!
For information on the Diaconate Program in the Omaha Archdiocese, please contact Father Rod Adams at 733-9327 or visit www.omahadeacon.org Another site for Diaconate Information in the Omaha Diocese is the Omaha Archdiocese Deacon website: http://www.omahadeacon.org/