SHELBY — Applause welcomed Father Peter Ascik on Sunday as he was installed as pastor of St. Mary, Help of Christians Church and its mission in Kings Mountain.
Father Ascik was officially installed during a bilingual Mass Aug. 1 celebrated by Bishop Peter Jugis. The first-time pastor comes to Shelby after serving three years as a parochial vicar at St. Matthew Church in Charlotte.
He succeeds Father Michael Kottar, who died unexpectedly in May after battling a rare brain infection.
“I am grateful for the gifts that Father Kottar brought to this parish,” Father Ascik recently told the Catholic News Herald. “I know that I am reaping the benefit of his years of prayer and hard work.”
Any change in pastors can be challenging, he acknowledged, especially under such tragic circumstances. “Prayer and patience with one another will be important for our parish as we go forward together,” he noted.
In his homily at the installation Mass, Bishop Jugis encouraged Father Ascik to lead following Jesus the Good Shepherd as his model.
The bishop described the roles a pastor has in teaching, sanctifying and governing the parish, from teaching the faith to young and old alike to celebrating the sacraments and comforting people in their times of need.
Overall, he emphasized, the work of a pastor is about preparing people and helping them get to heaven. “That is his mission.”
In addition, the bishop noted, a pastor helps unify his parish family and connect them to the larger Church.
“No parish exists in isolation from another, but each is part of a larger communion,” he said.
Father Ascik told the Catholic News Herald that among his primary tasks is to foster the parish’s faith formation program and youth group, “so that we can continue to prepare the youth of our parish to receive the sacraments and help parishioners of all ages to grow in their knowledge of the faith.”
Building unity and communion – both as a multilingual parish family and as part of the larger community – are also important, Father Ascik said.
“I also want to provide opportunities for our parish community to socialize and grow in friendship and fellowship. This has been difficult during the past year due to the pandemic, and I want to safely bring back these opportunities,” he said. “I also want our parish to be part of the wider community in Shelby and Kings Mountain, especially through charitable outreach and collaboration.”
At the conclusion of the installation Mass, Father Ascik expressed gratitude to the bishop and to the people of the parish.
“I look forward to getting to know each of you and your families, and I thank you for the welcome that you have given me,” he said.
“There is a story about St. John Vianney that recounts that he met a small boy when he was trying to find his way to his parish in Ars for the first time. He said to the boy, ‘Show me the way to Ars and I will show you the way to heaven.’ A pastor's job is to show his flock the way to heaven, which is by living a life of communion with Jesus Christ through His Body the Church. A pastor must faithfully pass on the teaching of the Church, which is the teaching of Christ passed on to us by the Apostles. He must make the sacraments, which make God's power work in us to heal and sanctify, available to his parishioners. And he must accompany them in life, helping them to bear their burdens with hope.”
“I found Shelby with the help of my GPS,” Father Ascik quipped, but “like St. John Vianney I do wish to show you the way to heaven. That way is not my way, but is the way of Jesus Christ.
“I invite you to join me on this way to heaven, which we will walk together as a parish in the years ahead.”
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor. Photos by Giuliana Polinari Riley, correspondent.
At top: Bishop Peter Jugis leads the congregation of St. Mary, Help of Christians Parish in congratulating their new pastor, Father Peter Ascik, during his installation Mass Aug. 1.
CHARLOTTE — Abuse-prevention training for volunteers is ramping up as activities return to parishes and schools in the Diocese of Charlotte.
Volunteers, like staff, undergo VIRTUS training, called “Protecting God’s Children,” and undergo a background check. “Protecting God’s Children” helps adults learn to recognize the warning signs of abuse and the many ways that sexual abuse harms victims, families, parishes and communities. It teaches them appropriate ways to respond to suspicious behaviors and how they can help to prevent abuse.
While VIRTUS training never stopped when COVID-19 forced parishes and schools to halt in-person gatherings, activities and volunteerism, Amy Ankenbruck, the safe environment program coordinator for the Diocese of Charlotte, said she is thrilled to see an increase in both the number of in-person training sessions and the number of volunteers completing training.
“I see a real uptick of volunteers now, especially parents registering to complete training to help at their child’s school,” Ankenbruck said. “Schools and parishes rely heavily on volunteers.”
After a year without in-person training sessions, there are nine scheduled from July through September. For all of the last fiscal year, ending in June 2021, there were only 20 in-person training sessions held. That’s down from 127 the prior year ending in June 2020 and 196 in the year before.
From July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, 1,383 people completed this training, about 10 percent of them in live sessions.
That’s a third of the number of people who completed the course the year before. And more than half of those were trained in-person. The year prior, which was not impacted by the shutdown, had nearly 4,500 people complete VIRTUS, with 3,352 trained live.
Background checks obtained by the diocese are also starting to trend toward a typical year’s amount. There were nearly 5,000 background check requests in the fiscal year prior to COVID-19. The fiscal year of 2019-’20, which was only affected by the shutdown for a few months, saw 4,644 background requests.
Last fiscal year’s total was 3,786. That number was only that high because the diocese switched vendors and had a “free” grace period where they completed a lot of renewals during that time to save money, diocesan officials noted.
“Background checks are definitely picking up again,” said diocesan Human Resources Director Terri Wilhelm.
VIRTUS has always had online training available and some people did take advantage of that during the shutdown, Ankenbruck said. There were even a couple training sessions held virtually over Zoom.
“We prefer the live training,” she said. “You get so much more out of having a facilitator there to answer questions and to lead group discussions.”
A challenge for Ankenbruck and parish-level facilitators now is that some volunteer accounts lapsed over the past year. If you need help with reinstating your account, contact Ankenbruck or your parish.
Updated program coming
People often ask: “Why do I need this training?” Ankenbruck said.
“Protecting God’s Children” focuses on how to create a safe environment for children – not looking at everyone, including those who attend the classes, as a potential abuser, she noted. “We don’t teach fire safety because we think you’re an arsonist. We all learn about fire safety. It’s not because you think you’re going to set the world on fire. It’s learning how to conduct ourselves to be safe and identifying if someone else isn’t acting in a safe way.”
“Protecting God’s Children” is releasing a new, updated program with revamped videos, discussion points and more precise language. Ankenbruck said she hopes to start training parish facilitators with the new program next month.
“The biggest thing with the training is it really focuses on how to detect something that is of concern, not even to the level of abuse,” she said. “It’s recognizing something wrong and being able to report what is happening.”
She said the revamped program emphasizes the message of hope and that we do have the ability to make a difference in others’ lives. The new program also has clear directives on what to do if you notice something that isn’t right.
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter
More online
At www.virtusonline.org: Find an upcoming training session or continue your ongoing training