Catholic Social Services (CSS) announced Friday, Sept. 1, that Kelley Henderson will serve as the agency’s next president and CEO.
Henderson’s first day with CSS will be Oct. 2. He replaces Rachel Lustig, who left in May to become the president and CEO of Lutheran Social Services in Columbus.
Henderson begins his role after serving as the executive director of Catholic Charities of West Tennessee, which he helped to grow more than 90 percent during the past three years. He also previously served as the CEO of Action Ministries.
“It is an honor to join the CSS team at this exciting point in their 77-year history,” Henderson said. “Many organizations quickly become known for what they do, but I believe they are remembered for who they are in the communities where they made an impression.”
Henderson will lead CSS in its mission to help poor and vulnerable seniors and families through implementing CSS’s strategic plan, which seeks to enhance services for low-income seniors, strengthen the community’s workforce and expand services to the Hispanic community.
CSS is an anti-poverty agency that provides case management, mental healthcare and emergency assistance to more than 13,000 working-poor families and low-income seniors each year in the 23-county Diocese of Columbus, central and southern Ohio.
"Traveling across the 23 counties of the Diocese of Columbus I have seen great need," Bishop Earl Fernandes said. "Catholic Social Services is a robust part of the response to those needs. Kelley Henderson has done extensive work with Catholic charities and brings with him experience that will further energize that response."
Notre Dame Club to hear about university’s goals
Father Robert Dowd, CSC, vice president and associate provost for interdisciplinary initiatives at the University of Notre Dame, will present the annual Hesburgh Lecture of the Notre Dame Club of Columbus on Sunday, Sept. 10. His topic: “Higher Education at a Crossroads and Notre Dame’s 21st Century Goals.”
The talk will begin at 2 p.m. at Cristo Rey Columbus High School, 400 E. Town St. Light refreshments will be served.
“Many observers have noted that higher education in the United States is in crisis,” Father Dowd said. “Data suggest that Americans are significantly less trusting of and confident in colleges and universities today than in previous decades. This lecture will reflect on the nature of this crisis, consider various ways institutions of higher education may regain trust and confidence, and discuss how Notre Dame, animated by its distinctive Catholic mission, is seeking to address society’s most pressing needs.”
Parking will be available in the Cristo Rey lot on a first-come, first-served basis. Free parking also will be available along Town Street.
In addition, guests can use the parking garage of the Columbus Metropolitan Main Library, accessed via Grant Avenue and Library Park North.
Holy Family alumni plan Sept. 9 homecoming
The Columbus Holy Family Alumni Association will have its annual homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 9. A 4 p.m. alumni vigil Mass will be celebrated at Holy Family Church, 584 W. Broad St., followed by refreshments in the church undercroft.
Festivities will include a raffle. The church and the undercroft are accessible via an elevator at the east entrance of the church.
For details, contact Genny (Welker) Temple at [email protected] or (614) 539-4815.
St. John Neumann’s Oktoberfest set for Sept. 23
Sunbury St. John Neumann Church, 9633 E. State Route 37, will host an Oktoberfest celebration on Saturday, Sept. 23 beginning at 5 pm.
There will be live music under the big tent, dancing, a Biergarten, authentic German and American food, the Ohio State-Notre Dame football game on two big screens and fireworks!
Purchase tickets after any of the weekend Masses through Sept. 17 or contact the Parish Office at 740-965-1358. Visit the parish website at https://saintjohnsunbury.org/oktoberfest for more details.
Birthright of Columbus luncheon scheduled for Sept. 23
Birthright of Columbus, a pregnancy support service, will host its annual fundraising luncheon at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23 at Mozart’s Café, 4784 N. High St., Columbus. All the money raised will help the pregnant women and others contact Birthright for free, confidential services.
Tickets are $50 for adults and $15 for children. The program will include a raffle with prizes of a handmade afghan, a handmade quilt, a 32-inch flat-screen TV and a $50 Kohl’s gift card. Raffle tickets are $2 each or three for $5. There will also be a silent auction of craft items.
Birthright is located in the old Great Western shopping center at 3445 Great Western Blvd. off of Wilson Road in Columbus. It provides a loving, respectful, non-judgmental space for expectant mothers and offers pregnancy tests, maternity clothes, baby items and referrals for other needs.
For information, call Mary Jo Mayhan at (614) 235-7465. Send checks for lunch reservations and/or raffle tickets, payable to Birthright of Columbus, by Friday, Sept. 15 to Sue Wilson, 5548 Parkshire Place, Columbus, OH 43229.
Girls invited to attend ‘Saturday with the Sisters’
The Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception Province invite girls in grades eight to 12 to a “Saturday with the Sisters” program from 8 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 23, in their convent at 2575 E. Livingston Ave.
The event is being sponsored by the Serra clubs of Columbus and North Columbus.
The day will include breakfast, Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, lunch and a talk, “All About Angels,” by Father Thomas Blau, OP.
Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to pay for food. Register at [email protected].
Serra Club sets dates for vocations lunches
The Serra Club of North Columbus will sponsor its annual vocations lunches for young men and young women in the Jessing Center of the Pontifical College Josephinum, 7625 N. High St., Columbus.
The young women’s lunch will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 3, and the event for young men will be at the same time on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
The guest speaker for the young women’s event will be Sister Elfie del Rosario, FMA, national vocations director for the Salesian Sisters and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. Several communities of religious sisters will be promoting their orders and explaining their charisms at the event. Details of the young men’s program will be announced.
Students interested in attending are asked to make reservations through their Catholic high school or, if they attend a public school, through their parish religious education director or youth minister.
Indulgence granted visitors to Theatine churches
To celebrate the 500th anniversary of the foundation of the Order of Clerics Regular (the Theatines), the Holy See has granted a plenary indulgence to the faithful who visit churches entrusted to the pastoral care of the Theatines from Sept. 14 of this year to the same date in 2024.
In the Diocese of Columbus, those churches are Powell St. Joan of Arc, Columbus St. Peter and Dover St. Joseph.
During this privileged year, the faithful are invited to perform an extra sacrifice that shows their desire to deepen their conversion of life as an indication of taking a step on the path to holiness.
In practice, this means going to a church served by the Theatines to receive the sacrament of reconciliation, celebrate the Eucharist and pray for the intentions of the pope and invoke the intercession of St. Cajetan, who founded the order on Sept. 14, 1524.
As part of the yearlong event, every Theatine community will celebrate an inauguration Mass and offer other opportunities for people to know more about the order’s charism.
Marysville church presents series of concerts, lectures
Marysville Our Lady of Lourdes Church, 1033 W. 5th St., will resume its Music on the Hill concert series this month.
The season will feature guest artists from the diocese and across the nation. Highlights include a Bachtoberfest, Handel’s Messiah and a performance by the Ohio State University choirs.
The concerts are free thanks to donations of sponsors, including season sponsor Dr. Teresa Caulin-Glaser, in memory of her husband, Dr. Walter Glaser.
All the concerts will be on Sundays at 3 p.m. except for the Messiah presentation, which will be at 5 p.m. The schedule:
Sept. 17, Sound the Horn!; Oct. 15, Bachtoberfest; Nov. 19, lecture and viewing of Mozart’s Requiem; Dec. 17, Handel’s Messiah; Jan. 21, piano recital; Feb. 11, Love Notes, featuring faculty and students of RED School of Music in Marysville; March 3, Ohio State choirs; April 21, lecture and viewing of Bach’s Easter Oratorio; May 26, organ recital; June 23, Storytime.
For more information, go to https://olol.cc/index.php/programs/music-on-the-hill or the Facebook page Music on the Hill Marysville.
St. Michael Church adds weekday Masses, Holy Hour
Worthington St. Michael Church, 5750 N. High St., will add 8:15 a.m. Masses on Wednesdays and Thursdays to its schedule, effective Wednesday, Sept. 6. This means there will be 8:15 a.m. Masses in the church every day except Saturday, in addition to a 6:30 a.m. Mass Monday through Friday.
Also starting Sept. 6, the parish will have a weekly Holy Hour on Wednesday evenings, with Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at 6:30 p.m., followed by confessions, with Benediction at 7:30.
For more information, visit the parish website, www.saintmichael-cd.org.
Nominations open to women for St. Teresa of Calcutta Award
Nominations are currently being accepted in the diocese for the St. Teresa of Calcutta Award.
The award, which was formerly known as the Catholic Woman of the Year Award, is returning for the first time since 2019.
The award recognizes a woman with strong faith, engaged and involved in parish communities and whose devotion and dedication is in the tradition and spirit of St. Teresa of Calcutta.
The Columbus Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) is collaborating with Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference and the Daughters of Isabella on the award.
Nominations will be accepted until Sept. 30. Forms can be found on the Diocese of Columbus website, www.columbuscatholic.org/diocesan-council-of-catholic-women/TeresaNom.
The award ceremony will be on Nov. 5 with Bishop Earl Fernandes at Grove City Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
For more information, questions can be directed to DCCW at [email protected].
Dominican sisters relaunch associate formation team
The Dominican Sisters of Peace are relaunching their central Ohio associate formation team, PeaceCRAFT (the Columbus Region Associate Formation Team), for people who have an interest in becoming Dominican associates.
The team will provide encounters with Dominican spirituality and experiences of prayer, community, study and ministry in collaboration with current groups of Columbus-area associates.
Dominican associates serve as companions to the Dominican Sisters of Peace. They ar e Christian women and men, married and single, clergy members and laypersons who were drawn to and then called to live out the sisters’ mission to praise, bless and preach.
Associates do not take vows, but rather make a commitment to be partners with vowed members and to share the Dominican mission and charism in their lives, families, churches, neighborhoods, workplaces and cities.
Associates participate in the life of the congregation in many ways. They are engaged in all walks of life and try to live their daily lives intentionally as Dominicans. They preach the Good News and build peace through the voices of their work, art and lives, following the example of St. Catherine of Siena, who said, “Preach the truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.”
For more information, contact [email protected].
Healing Mass to be held at St. John Neumann
A Healing Mass sponsored by Columbus Catholic Renewal will be celebrated by Bishop Earl Fernandes at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13 at Sunbury St. John Neumann Church.
Anointing of the Sick will be provided. The evening will begin with a Rosary at 5 p.m., followed by praise and worship with Dr. Steve Kebe at 5:30 p.m.
