The Diocese of Madison announced that its Rural Life Office has been transferred to Catholic Charities effective July 1.
Month: July 2009
John Kortendick, father of diocesan priest, dies
John Kortendick, father of Fr. Steven J. Kortendick, pastor of St. Jude and St. Thomas the Apostle Parishes in Beloit, died on July 6, 2009.
Catholic women learn about value of leadership
First in a series.
MADISON — In her keynote address at the Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women’s (MDCCW) annual convention June 17, M. Elizabeth Tardola of Beloit stated that she wanted to share some thoughts on women and leadership.
She began by saying that, at a recent, local, mixed-gender meeting of Catholics on the subject of social justice within the Church and community, one attendee, a woman, referring to the role of women within the paternal hierarchy of the Church, said that today’s Church of the 21st century could not function without all the work that women perform and contribute to its success. Then everyone, including men, nodded and openly agreed.
Annual baseball outing scheduled for Aug. 7
MADISON — Some say that the only prayers left unanswered are those interceding for sports and weather.
This August, prove them wrong by joining the seminarians for the Diocese of Madison at their annual Summer Seminarian Baseball Outing.
The annual event, sponsored by the Serra Clubs of Madison and Janesville, and the Southwest Vocations Club, will take place on Friday, Aug. 7, at Warner Park in Madison. The hometown Madison Mallards will take on their Northwood League rivals Eau Claire Express in a night game under the lights at the “Duck Pond.”
She’s passionate about faith, family, football, and Gilda’s Club
MADISON — For Cindy Alvarez, her passions in life have been faith, family, and football.
But in more recent years she’s also become passionate about Gilda’s Club, which offers social and emotional support for people affected by cancer.
Cindy, wife of University of Wisconsin-Madison athletic director and former football coach Barry Alvarez, talked about “Passions in My Life” at the Madison Catholic Woman’s Club’s 95th annual Spring Celebration held recently at Blackhawk Country Club.
A sad farewell to Brian Kelly and Relevant 2 U
MADISON — One of the casualties of the recent staff cutbacks in the Diocese of Madison was the elimination of the media specialist position in the diocesan Office of Communications.
That position was held by Brian Kelly for over three years. Prior to working for the diocese, Kelly was station manager at Relevant Radio 1240, the Catholic radio station in Madison.
Bishop will miss him
Bishop Robert C Morlino expressed his appreciation for Kelly’s work and lamented his departure. “Brian Kelly has been absolutely an invaluable coworker in my mission, as bishop, to preach the Gospel of Christ and to teach the people of the Diocese of Madison,” said Bishop Morlino.
Serra Club holds annual Bishop’s Dinner
MADISON — The Serra Club of Madison held its annual Bishop’s Dinner on May 22 at the Bishop O’Connor Catholic Pastoral Center.
All priests of the diocese were invited to join Serrans, their spouses, and guests at the annual dinner.
Msgr. James Bartylla, club chaplain and diocesan vocation director, introduced all the priests present, noting especially two golden jubilarians attending: Frs. Henry Kalscheuer and Roger Nilles.
Reflections on July 4th: We owe our ancestors a debt of gratitude
Many of us celebrate the July 4th holiday with family picnics or other fun activities. I imagine few of us take time to reflect on the meaning of this holiday and its significance in our lives.
However, with news reports about the recent political upheaval in Iran, I began thinking how lucky we are to live in the United States of America. We owe our freedom and democratic system of government to the earliest Americans. They had to fight to establish this country — and we should fight (not necessarily in the physical sense) to preserve the freedoms they gained for us.
Independence Day helps us to appreciate our blessings
Independence Day offers us an opportunity to thank God for our country’s blessings. Some visitors from poorer countries express amazement at the cornucopia of blessings that we Americans enjoy and sometimes take for granted.
We celebrate some of our blessings when we sing “America the Beautiful.” The words “God, mend thine every flaw” from this song can also invite us as responsible Catholics and citizens to try to help make America even more beautiful.
Independence Day is a federal holiday when we celebrate the anniversary of the day that the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. On this day we can also thank God for the brave men who risked their lives and fortunes to eventually sign this great document.
Converting diocesan parishes to QuickBooks
Last in a two-part series
Part one of this article described the parish software conversion to ParishSOFT and related activity in the Office of Planning. This week finishes the series as I discuss our process of converting a parish to QuickBooks and some other activities involving that program.
QuickBooks
Just like with census data, parish financial data also needs to be cleaned so that it, too, is consistent and predictable; that is, each parish posts to the same accounts in the same circumstances. For this reason it’s important for all parishes to use our diocesan Chart of Accounts and to follow a common set of financial procedures.