CHARLOTTE — St. John Paul II once said, “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” He called this universal truth “the Law of the Gift.” To see this in action, look no further than the volunteers who staff the Diocese of Charlotte’s annual Eucharistic Congress.
The Eucharistic Congress – this year to be held Sept. 7-8 at the Charlotte Convention Center – relies greatly on volunteers from parishes across the diocese to be a success.
And a success it has been, with attendance each year growing by leaps and bounds. Last year’s event attracted an estimated 20,000 Catholics.
In the earliest years of the Eucharistic Congress, most of the volunteers came from the Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group, which is how Mary Catherine Surface first became involved. Now, Surface oversees volunteer recruitment for the congress and is a pivotal member of the event’s organizing committee. And the majority of volunteers, about 90 percent, now come from parishes and about 10 percent come from the women’s group.
“Over the last eight years, the Congress has grown, and the need for volunteers has grown vastly,” Surface says.
Volunteers are grouped into more than a dozen areas of responsibility, such as the Eucharistic Procession or greeters at the convention center’s entrance. Captains of each group recruit volunteers for their group – from their parishes or ministry groups, by word of mouth and through personal testimony.
Some people learn about the Eucharistic Congress from the event’s website, www.goeucharist.com, but many more hear about it from personal visits that Surface and many other volunteer captains make around the diocese.
“It’s surprising how many people don’t even know about the Congress,” Surface notes, and the personal invitation they hear from previous volunteers really serves to inspire people to try it themselves.
“Once someone volunteers the first year, they love it!” she adds.
Eighty percent of the volunteers each year are repeat volunteers. This return rate is so high, Surface believes, because volunteering at the congress gives people a sense of being involved in something that glorifies God and is larger than themselves. They join planning committees, they offer suggestions on increasing inclusion and improving the congress for the following year.
Volunteers work a two-hour shift at the congress. They get free parking at the convention center for the event, and preceding the start of the congress on Friday they attend Mass and enjoy a free lunch with their fellow volunteers.
It is amazing, Surface adds, that in just a two-hour time slot, a volunteer can touch so many other lives and their own lives can be touched, too.
Volunteering for the congress is a great way to get to meet other Catholics from around the diocese, Surface says. “It’s really a small commitment of time with a huge reward.”
It’s a sentiment that many other volunteers share.
Bea Madden has been an EC volunteer for more than 10 years. She registers the kids in the K-5 Track on Saturday morning, then works as an usher during the closing Mass. Over the years, she has watched many of the children grow in their faith. They come to the congress year after year and she has been blessed to watch their faith in Jesus bloom.
When she speaks to others about volunteering, Madden always says the same thing: “I tell them about the joy it gives you.”
Silvia Echeverria has been serving as a volunteer for seven years.
“Thank God I am serving in many places, helping others to become a volunteer,” Echeverria says. “I still help everywhere they need me. Now my husband and I are on the diocesan committee as volunteer recruiters. We visit other churches to invite them to the congress.”
She likes every part of the congress, but the closing Mass is special, Echeverria says. “Especially when the bishop raises the Body and the Blood of Christ, that is the most wonderful thing for me. And I am also very happy to see that each year we have more and more people getting closer to the Lord.”
Like so many other people who give of themselves, Theresa Isibor is very busy. She teaches public health at UNC-Charlotte, runs an after school non-profit for inner city kids, volunteers at St. Thomas and St. James churches, and for several years has been a volunteer at the congress.
“I’m originally from Nigeria,” she notes. “It’s a little different here. In Nigeria, you are expected to be of service; they sign you up. Here, you have to actually volunteer!”
When Isibor first learned about the Eucharistic Congress, she knew she had to be involved, she says. She has volunteered with the children’s tracks and as an usher. Now, she recruits people to be greeters.
“When people come to the congress, they are the first people you see,” she says. “We help them find their way to where they want to go. We welcome them to the Eucharistic Congress, to the convention center. If they are not from Charlotte, we are prepared to tell them where to go for parking and hotels.”
Since the minimum time commitment is just two hours, the volunteers have a lot of time to enjoy the congress themselves. For Isibor, the best part of the congress is “the Mass, the Mass!”
“I know a lot of people say the Eucharistic Procession, but I don’t really get to experience the procession due to my work,” she says. “You get to see all kinds of people (at Mass) – the faithful lay minister, the families, the children, and all the priests from all over.”
Volunteering at the congress makes it a special experience for that person, she notes. She hopes more people will consider volunteering, and if someone is unsure of which area they might like to volunteer in, the congress organizers will help them find a good fit.
“You form a network, a Catholic family and people will share things with you…even people who are not Catholic,” Isibor says. “It’s a human thing, a human contact to share with them. It’s a blessing for me, a blessing.”
— Annette K. Tenny, correspondent
For more information
At www.goeucharist.com: Get details about the upcoming Eucharistic Congress Sept. 7-8, plan ahead for your parish’s group to attend, and find out how to volunteer.
Parishioners Jim Strauss and Ellen Smith gave talks during St. Luke Church’s most recent “evening of reflection.” (Lisa Geraci | Catholic News Herald)MINT HILL — It’s difficult not to take notice of Jim Strauss at St. Luke Church. He is at almost every Mass, just outside the wooden doors, sporting a huge smile and a radiant spirit.
Standing next to a folding table, Strauss greets parishioners, sells biscuits for mission trips, collects supplies for Thomasboro Academy, or sells golf tickets for the Knights of Columbus fundraisers. He has his hand in about every ministry at the Mint Hill parish and shows no signs of stopping, committed to doing “anything he can to help a friend.” And who is that friend? It’s Jesus Christ.
He wasn’t always this active in his faith and relationship with Jesus, though.
During a recent “evening of reflection,” an event which St. Luke Church hosts once a quarter, Strauss explained the impetus behind his work.
He had been going to Mass for decades and had a successful sales career, but one day at the age of 55 he began to reflect.
“I began to think what it means to be Catholic,” he recounted. “For me, I was Catholic with a capital C. But I started to take a look and ask, why? I had all the things I need. I’ve got all the check boxes marked, but I was missing something.”
He met with long-time parishioner Steve Daly, who encouraged him to “go do something.” That “something” was the prison ministry called Kairos.
“I did, and that has changed everything, because all the stuff I had been working for, through my life experiences, helped me work for God,” he said. “I love working for God! All I had to do was say yes.”
“I just call His name and He says, ‘Jim, do it,’” he said. “I’d do anything for a friend.”
During his talk, whose theme was ‘Hunger for a Relationship with God,” Strauss encouraged others to befriend Jesus and follow Him.
“If you look back and see everything that God has ever done for you, it all has been a blessing and so beautiful,” he said. “All you have to do is say ‘yes.’
The event where Strauss spoke grew out of an idea the parish had over a year ago to establish a spirituality ministry aimed at encouraging stewardship and spiritual growth among parishioners.
The evening reflections are among the group’s activities designed to be “a fun, family and faith event would provide the best format to spread the good works being done at St. Luke while encouraging parishioners to find a path to God,” Strauss explained.
Each evening reflection features two lay people who give presentations. Dinner and child care are included so that the events are accessible to everyone.
The parish has hosted five evening reflections since they started in the spring of 2017, as well as an Advent retreat last year.
“St. Luke has over 2,000 adult parishioners, all with their own unique story to tell,” Strauss said. “We have only begun to tap into this resource.”
During the same evening reflection where Strauss spoke, fellow parishioner Ellen Smith also spoke of her “Hunger for a Relationship with God.”
“I am a two-time breast cancer survivor,” Smith declared to everyone gathered in the room. “Nobody wants to hear the news they have cancer. But in 2008 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. During that time, during prayer and meditation, a scripture verse kept coming to me, from Luke: ‘She came out behind Him and touched the fringe of His clothes and immediately her hurt stopped.’”
“This became my scripture,” she said. “That scripture helped me to know all I had to do was touch, in faith, the fringe of Jesus’ garment. I didn’t have to not be afraid. I didn’t have to have it all figured out. I just had to have enough faith to be able to touch the fringe of Jesus’ garment.”
Smith described receiving the sacrament of anointing of the sick on the feast of the Assumption. One of the hymns sung during Mass that day was “How Can I keep from Singing,” she recalled. “This became my fight song.”
Smith offered the crowd some advice about getting through tough times: “To get through life’s innermost struggles, it is helpful to have a scripture, a symbol, a song.”
Parishioner Teresa Scott said she enjoys the evening reflections. “The parishioners’ stories are always, uplifting and inspiring. They help us get to know our congregation better, while making it easier to establish relationships with people.”
St. Luke Parish’s next evening reflection is scheduled for 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, in the church. All are welcome to attend.
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent