An Invitation to Serve
What skills and time do you have to contribute?
We invite you to read about each ministry and to email the appropriate person or contact the Office. We hope you can find a ministry where you can serve, connect, and grow.
“St. Catherine’s is my spiritual family.” ~Margaret
Ministry opportunities
Servant Leadership
Parish Council
Instituted throughout the Diocese by Bishop Dingman in the late 1960s, Parish Councils help identify the needs in a parish and develop plans to respond. In our parish, in collaboration with the pastor, the Parish Council identifies the gifts and needs of the parish community, develops plans to utilize those gifts and serve those needs, clarifies the parish’s mission, and assumes responsibility for an Annual Report to the Parish. Parish Council members are appointed for staggered three-year terms, renewable for a second term.
Contact: John Chesser, Chair
Stewardship
Finance Council
The Finance Council is a canonically mandated body established to advise and consult with the pastor in the administration of the temporal goods of the parish. In our parish, it ensures the accuracy of financial accounts, provides expertise related to budgets, and assists with fundraising initiatives. It also has final responsibility for ensuring that the parish building and grounds are safe, attractive, and well maintained, and that human safety procedures are in place to be followed in the event of an emergency on parish property.
Brendan Comito, Chair, Finance Council
Building and Grounds
Responsible for upkeep within the building and adjacent gardens, including repairs, painting, replacement of HVAC units, yearly deep cleaning, assisting with outdoor gardens, etc.
Contact Kristi Ryan, Chair, Building & Grounds
Emergency Operations
Responsible for developing and updating emergency procedure plans, as well as training of staff and volunteers
Contact: Annette Roth, Chair, Emergency Operations
St. Catherine of Siena Foundation
Promote the advancement of the parish by managing the funds entrusted to our care and funding parish projects that support campus ministry, community outreach, and education.
Contact Mike Stamper, Chair
Faith Formation
Serve St. Catherine’s resident and student parishioners by organizing faith formation programs and activities for all ages that increase knowledge of our faith and nurture spiritual growth and transformation. This ministry includes four programs.
Encounter
Plans curriculum and organizes logistics for Encounter, the monthly parish-wide intergenerational faith formation program featuring activities designed for all ages to grow in faith while in community.
Contact: Laura Carruthers-Green, Chair
Family & Children’s Ministry, including Sacramental Preparation
Organizes and staffs the Children’s Liturgy of the Word during the 10:30 a.m. Sunday Mass, prepares children for First Reconciliation and First Communion, and leads a two-year Confirmation preparation program of small group meetings and service projects for teens.
Contact: Laura Carruthers-Green, Family & Children’s Ministry Coordinator
Lifelong Learning for Adults
Offers programs and experiences designed specifically to help adult parishioners grow in our faith, search for spiritual meaning in our everyday lives, and share with each other our ongoing faith journeys over the arc of our lifetimes.
Contact: Brian Smith, Chair
Other Faith Formation Initiatives
Become a sponsor for Order of Christian Initiation for Adults (OCIA) sponsor. For information about the OCIA and Marriage Preparation programs, call the parish office at 515-650-8646.
Campus Ministry
Unique among parishes in the Des Moines metro, St. Catherine of Siena serves Drake University students as well as those from other colleges in the area by providing a place for worship, prayer, community, and service. The Drake Newman Community is a “home away from home” for students regardless of their faith or background. In a relaxed atmosphere, this ministry encourages students to build community; study, share, and grow in their faith; and be challenged to reach out to serve the local community. Activities include service projects, social activities, student suppers, retreats, THAM (Thursday After Mass), the Newman Speaker Series, and many others.
Contact: Megan Schultz, Campus Minister
Liturgy, Music & Prayer
Serve parishioners by creating inspiring and relevant communal worship, and providing consistent opportunities for deeper prayer and maturing faith as we seek God through a variety of worship styles; to maintain the high quality of liturgical music presently enjoyed; and to ensure that there are adequate numbers of trained liturgical coordinators, lectors, musicians, and others to assist in the celebration of liturgies.
Contact Dennis Hendrickson, Co-Chair, or Margaret Hanson, Co-Chair
Service
Outreach
Serve St. Catherine’s parishioners by challenging us to engage in acts of charity, service, and social justice, to live our faith according to the example of Jesus. Current activities include assisting with stocking our Little Food Pantry, collecting plastic containers for the Catholic Worker House, assisting with organizing spring/fall clothing drives, coordinating cookie collections for the homeless in collaboration with St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, raising support for an addiction treatment center in Ghana, and soliciting support to provide full scholarships for eight Kenyan schoolchildren.
Contact Margaret Cavanagh, Chair
Caring Committee
Closer to home, our Caring Committee provides meals and other services for fellow parishioners recovering from surgery, experiencing a death in the family, welcoming a new baby, etc.
Contact Jan Wise, Chair
Community Formation
Reach out to new parishioners and serve current parishioners by organizing programing to build community, membership, and hospitality, after the model of the first Christian communities, where all are welcome, supported, loved and cared for, and collaborative conversations and decision-making are valued.
Contact Melinda Hendrickson, Chair
Families interested specifically in community-forming events for young children are invited to contact Laura Carruthers-Green, Family & Children’s Ministry Coordinator
Communications
Share the Good News with internal and external communities in a timely manner for the purpose of informing, building membership, and uniting the parish. Initiatives include developing parish guidelines for submitting communications for external publicity, ensuring consistent messaging, compiling an annual Parish Calendar, developing parish signage, and assisting the pastor and the various ministries with parish-wide communications.
Contact Brian Gongol, Chair