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Sunday, October 7, 2012

Women Priests in Inclusive Catholic Ministries: Sacraments, Prayer, Theology, Cupcakes..../Wanda Russell, ARCWP and Miriam Picconi, ARCWP Share Stories About their Ministries in Palm Coast Florida




Inclusive Catholic Ministries Newsletter
Florida East Coast
October, 2012      Palm Coast, Florida

 Rev. Miriam Picconi 502-320-6817 miriampicconi@gmail.com
 Rev. Wanda Russell 502-320-6814 wandayrussell@aol.com
 Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

INCLUSIVE CATHOLIC MINISTRIES
For the time being we are using the name, "Inclusive Catholic Ministries."
We want to maintain the best of our Roman Catholic heritage and traditions so we include CATHOLIC in our name. We want to invite EVERYONE to participate in God's love and our ministries, so we include INCLUSIVE in our name. We want to offer what you the people of God want and need. We are starting with several ministry outreaches and so we include MINISTRIES in our name. Come and see if this is the faith community you are seeking.

Dear Family and Friends,
My Mother went home from rehab.  Praise God!!  But, Miriam’s sister was just moved from the hospital to rehab in Cocoa, FL.  Miriam is with her now.   Please pray for her sister’s healing and peace for Miriam.
Some of you live out of state and cannot participate in our ministries but we ask that you keep God’s work and our families in your prayers.  We hope that those who are local will be able to participate with us over the next months.  Listed below is our calendar of ministries for October.  Call or e-mail us for additional information.
Wednesdays, October 10, 17, 24 and 31 from 3:00 to 4:30 P.M. 
INTER-FAITH THEOLOGY CLUB OF PALM COAST
For seven weeks we will be discussing “RECLAIMING THE WORLD.”  Topics this month include:  Restoring Relationships; The Prophetic Jesus; Evil, Suffering and a God of Love; and The Myth of Redemptive Violence.  As we share our journey of faith with each other we live sharing our questions.  Come join us!  We will use the “Living the Questions” series.  (Google, “Living the Questions,” to see more about the series.)  You do not need to be a scholar to share in the discussion.  We will watch a DVD and then discuss the topic and respectfully share our insights and questions. 
Place:  St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 5400 Belle Terre Pkwy, Palm Coast

Thursday, October 7, 2:00 P.M.  CUP CAKE MINISTRY
Want to make or help deliver cup cakes to firemen this month?  Contact Wanda or Miriam
Saturday, October 13, 4:00 P.M.  MONTHLY MASS in Palm Coast
Come join our community as we celebrate Eucharist.   God's transformative power works through an invitation to the table, not exclusion from it. It is our firm desire to offer a welcoming place of worship to all those seeking to be fed, all those desiring communion and community, all those desiring healing in mind, body and spirit, all who have been alienated and or ostracized by the institutional church or other denominations for whatever cause or reason.  All are welcome to the table in a community of equal discipleship.  If you like, bring your favorite appetizer or desert to share afterwards as we get to know each other.  We will provide the drinks. 
Place:  2 Westmill Ln., Palm Coast, 32164. 

Inter-Faith Dialogue, Thursday, November 15 in St. Augustine
More details next month.  Mark your calendar.
“Pink Smoke Over the Vatican”   We need someone to host a showing.
This is a documentary about women in priestly ministry in the Roman Catholic Church since the early founding days of Christianity to our current time.  Want to know more about who we are?  Come watch the documentary and we will respond to any questions.  We have learned that speaking truth to power is a necessity if ministry is to be life giving in all of our churches. 
Place:  2 Westmill Ln., Palm Coast, 32164

ADDITIONAL MINISTRIES: 
We would like to show the documentary, “Pink Smoke Over the Vatican” in your area.  If you would host us we will be glad to come to you.  Invite friends into your home and show the documentary.  We will be glad to come and answer questions about our movement.  This DVD helps people understand the history of discrimination of women in the churches over the centuries and we can discuss what we can do about it.  Invite a friend.

Call to Action is a movement of Roman Catholics who are working together to overcome injustices in the Church and in the communities.  If you are interested in becoming a part of the solution, let us know and we can work on getting a chapter formed in this area.  www.cta-usa.org

Additional Faith Communities may be formed in other areas.  If a few people in different areas want a Mass, let us know and we will come to you.  Just get a few folks together and let us know when you would like to gather and we will work it out.  Some interest has been expressed in Ormond Beach and Jacksonville areas.  New Smyrna Beach area?

YOU CAN HELP:
Please pray…..  Gather people together and invite us to come…… Work on publicity for our movement…..Make phone calls…..  Bring a friend with you……  Talk about what is happening in the Church today and how others can help……  Help us create a web site….. Make cup cakes……  PLEASE PRAY

We are attaching a copy of an article about Vatican II.
Please pray for all lay and religious leaders.
HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY, VATICAN II
The attached article is written about priests at the start of Vatican II.  Miriam and I were in religious communities at that time and it was a period of much anticipation and excitement.  At last women would be able to be leaders in ministry.  At last the laity would be heard.  At last the Bible was no longer to be interpreted literally and only by the priest.  At last we could trust our consciences.  We could finally start asking out loud the questions previously kept in our hearts.  We no longer had to check our brains at the church door.  What an exciting time to be alive!
I was in the Sisters of Loretto at Nerinx, Kentucky.  Mother Mary Luke was one of the few women observers at the Council.  When she returned she shared all the news “right off the press.”  She was optimistic and shared her enthusiasm with us.  We immediately knew what was happening even though we were not allowed to watch television during our formative years.  After one return trip she shared about her long rosary getting caught in the airplane door.  The realization hit her about the potential dangers to all of us should we continue wearing the long rosary with our habits.  This event made it easier for us to make adjustments in the habit as Vatican II called us to return to our community’s roots.  Most religious communities referred to wearing the “dress of the day” in their earliest constitutions.  Thus it was relatively easy to change from our religious garb to “street clothes.”
I have talked with many who left their communities and have met many people over the years who are former religious.  Most of us have been very active in ministry in the Church and in our secular communities.  We believed Vatican II when it told us that ALL are called to share the Good News of the Gospel.  Priests are not the sole guardians for evangelistic outreach.  All baptized are called to go out into the vineyards wherever we live and share God’s love.  We are ALL called to bring about justice wherever we find injustice.
If we each do our part in our small corner of the universe, what a wonderful world we would have!  Reach out and share your love and your giftedness! The people are the Church!
Mass, September 15, 2012             Palm Coast, Florida
We had six people join us for Mass.  Two were wonderful children.  One asked her mother some very good questions and the younger colored and read for a while and then had a peaceful nap. 
One woman was moved to tears.  She shared that she knew her mother was present at our Mass and that meant her mother was okay with her participating.  Her mother was very conservative and would not have approved had she been alive.  She was very encouraged and at peace.
Do you want a Mass with inclusive language and open communion?  Are you divorced and re-married without an annulment?  Are you or a family member or friend affected by sexual abuse in the Church? Are you gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgendered and not allowed full participation in the Church?
 Whatever has kept you from a Catholic Church, please come and see that there is a Catholic community where you can worship, be loved and accepted for YOU just as you are right now. 
As Jesus said, “Come and see.”  Come and see if this is the faith community for you.
OTHER FIRSTS:  As Roman Catholic Women Priests, we are ordained to administer the sacraments.  Miriam heard her first confession and was as blessed by the opportunity as the penitent.  It was truly a special encounter with our loving, forgiving God.
I too had a “first”; actually, two “firsts.”  A staff member at Mom’s nursing home asked me if I would bring her communion since she had not received in about six months.  She works weekends and many overtime hours because she truly cares about the people for whom she works.  My mother and I grew to appreciate all she did and came to love her.  She loved Mom.
I told Mom I was going to bring communion and asked if she also wanted to receive.  She paused and said yes.  This was very big for me as she did not come to my ordination since the hierarchy said people would be excommunicated if they came.  (At 87 she did not want to tempt the Lord.)
Needless to say, I brought communion to the staff person and to my Mother.  We had a special time in the small chapel.  As a priest I was able to pray with them more than I was trained to do as a lay Eucharistic minister.  It was my first time to give communion to my Mother as a priest.  It was all I could do to keep my emotions in check as God’s love was ministered to all three of us.  What a special time of prayer.

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATLANTA FOR SIX ORDINATIONS!
Saturday, October 20, 2012        1:00 PM
First Metropolitan Community Church, 1379 Tullie Rd., Atlanta, Georgia 30329

On October 20 there will also be five women ordained deacons:Barbara Ann Duff (Macon, GA), Debra Meyers (Batavia, OH), Joleane Presley (Manassas, VA), Rosemarie Smead (Bedford, KY), and Irene Scaramazza (Columbus, OH).  Please pray for all of our ordinands.                          
Go to links below for more details.  Have your Atlanta friends join us.  




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