Due to inclement weather, the parish will close at noon on Wednesday, February 19th. All meetings and activities after this time are canceled.
Please also note that
- Daily mass will be held at 9:00 am in the church. Bishop Zarama will be presiding.
- The Franciscan School will begin at their regular time and start dismissal at 11:30 am.
- The preschool will not be in session.
the catholic community of st. francis of assisi
Composting With Class
As most everyone knows, ‘Care for Creation’ is ingrained in the Franciscan charism and the mission of The Franciscan School (TFS), our parish K-8 school. That’s why the school was open to a new program when members of St. Francis of Assisi’s Care for Creation (C4C) ministry contacted TFS principal Dawn Smith and JaVon Hansknecht, the Director of Justice and Peace at St. Francis Parish and Casey Slock, the Coordinator of Justice and Peace, to pilot a lunch waste composting program during May 2024. It was an idea that aligned with what we were teaching our students at TFS.
According to Pat and Paul Kelly, members of C4C, “Pre-planning involved convincing the group that lunchtime composting was feasible. Thanks to the persistence of C4C member Rebeca Cole Maselli, TFS agreed to a trial run. Casey and JaVon agreed to monitor composting procedures for the month.” Dawn Smith said, “We started at the end of last year with the 5th and 7th grade lunch. It was intentionally simple and only for one day a week with JaVon and Casey.” No one wanted to be overwhelmed during the test run, and, as a result, the pilot was successful.
Volunteer Spotlight: Pam James
Pam James can weave, and not just a great story! Pam has been in Weaver’s Guilds, each with over 200 members, in three different states, Colorado, Texas, and North Carolina, and has been an avid weaver and mixed media artist for a long time. Every two years, there is a convention where she says, “Every well-known weaver attends and is probably teaching a class.” This past year, the convention was in Wichita, Kansas, where she entered a piece in the Mixed Media category and won 3rd Place!
How does this correlate to her work at St. Francis? She weaves her love of art with her leadership of the ‘Care for Creation’ ministry at St. Francis. “I’ve always been a bit of an ‘eco-freak,’” says Pam,” I grew up with the idea that you mustn’t waste. My sister-in-law is kind enough to call me resourceful, but I’m just cheap! I’ve always asked myself, ‘Why would I throw that away? I can use that.’” She exclusively uses ‘recycled yarn’ in weaving, embracing the ‘reuse’ principle of Care for Creation.
St. Vincent de Paul
The St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP) Conference at St. Francis of Assisi (SFA) continues its devotion to those in our society experiencing poverty. It supports those in need by providing financial assistance for rent or utilities to those experiencing a temporary, acute economic crisis. Why is the ministry named after St. Vincent de Paul? Saint Vincent de Paul was an Occitan French Catholic priest dedicated to serving the poor. Vincent became the superior of the ‘Congregation of the Mission;’ the ‘Vincentians’ (in France, known as ‘Lazaristes’). With vows of poverty, chastity, obedience, and stability, these priests were to devote themselves entirely to the people in smaller towns and villages. He was renowned for his compassion, humility, and generosity.
