St. Monica Parish organizes new
Black Catholics Ministry, website
By Mary Ann Wyand
St. Monica parishioners and staff members celebrated Black History Month in February with a new African- American ministry and website at the Indianapolis West Deanery parish.
Pastoral council members approved the Black Catholics Ministry on Jan. 12 as the newest parish ministry under the Community Life Commission as a way to support African-American parishioners through spirituality, community, culture and growing God’s Church.
The Black Catholics Ministry website address is www.blackcatholics.org . It was launched on Feb. 26.
Committee members worked with Father Kenneth Taylor, director of the archdiocesan Office of Multicultural Ministry, to start the new parish ministry based on some of the goals of the Archdiocesan Black Catholics Concerned.
“The St. Monica Church family is very blessed to be multicultural,” said parishioner and committee member Eileen Taylor of Indianapolis. “By embracing their many differences, they are made spiritually strong to love God through serving others.”
St. Monica’s Black History Month celebration included spiritual reflections on the lives of St. Monica and St. Katherine Drexel during Masses on the second and fourth weekends in February as well as a fellowship luncheon and discussion about change on Feb. 27 using Spencer Johnson’s book Who Moved My Cheese?
More than 2,000 households are registered at St. Monica Parish, Taylor said, so outreach ministries must welcome and include every member in parish life.
Taylor joined the parish in 1990 and serves as a lector during Mass in addition to her membership on the nine-member Black Catholics Ministry committee.
“I believe that we are a very multicultural parish, not just in race, gender and socioeconomic backgrounds,” she said. “A lot of us are transplants to Indianapolis so we bring to the table sort of what Scripture says are many unique gifts. When you are involved in a parish with a body that is so diverse like that, you feel blessed because we can all learn from one another and be spiritually enriched by each other’s backgrounds. We do things differently, but we all serve and believe in one God, and that’s the one thing that unites everyone in our parish, regardless of race, gender, economic background or where we were born.”
Although the parish is large, she said, “we feel a sense of family at St. Monica. All Black Catholics Ministry wanted to do was to bring just a little bit more participation in activity opportunities for people to experience yet another culture.”
St. Monica Parish also has a large number of Hispanic members.
“We absolutely love the Hispanic community,” Taylor said. “We’re learning so much about their community. …We now have the Black Catholics Ministry, and I’m certain tomorrow there will be another new ministry.”
Taylor said members of the Black Catholics Ministry committee promised Msgr. Paul Koetter, pastor, that they would provide positive, meaningful value to the Catholic Church and St. Monica Parish.
“The website is still under construction, but it’s a perfect roadmap,” she said. “Last Sunday, we had the Who Moved My Cheese? seminar. This is all God’s will because it turned out wonderful. People were so moved by the Holy Spirit in sharing ideas and expressing their love for our parish. When I was cleaning up, I noticed there was a yellow Post-It Note on a table. Someone had drawn a picture of a procession of parishioners walking into the church. They were diverse, and on the left side it had the sign ‘Change’ and on the right side it had the sign ‘Heaven.’ I think it was a sign of a job well done for the day. It was anonymous. We have no idea who left it there.”
During the seminar, St. Monica parishioners also discussed ways to get more people involved in parish ministries, such as serving as lectors and eucharistic ministers or helping with scouting and other programs.
“We also talked about Christ Renews His Parish,” Taylor said. “We talked about being more actively involved in spreading the word that some people who may not be as active at St. Monica need to see Jesus in us, and we need to reach out to get them involved and to enjoy some of the ministries that the Church offers here.”
Msgr. Koetter said he is pleased that the new ministry will help strengthen parish life.
“In recent months, as I have worked with this developing ministry,” he said, “I have seen a spirit of enthusiasm and cooperation that has been refreshing. I want to thank all the members who have worked hard to bring this ministry to life.”
David and Carrie Kemp are 40-year members of the parish and are serving as the spiritual mentors for St. Monica’s Black Catholics Ministry.
She also was a member of the Archdiocesan Black Catholics Concerned, which was active from 1973 until 2000. At St. Monica, she is a member of the women’s club and has coordinated parish blood drives for 25 years.
“The main thrust that my husband and I have is to encourage the African-Americans and the native Africans, who are so much a part of our parish, to become involved in activities,” Carrie Kemp said. “Our feeling is that the more you’re involved and participate with different activities, the more of a role model you can be in parish life. I just want the African- American parishioners to realize that even doing the least little thing to participate in parish life will be so beneficial.”
St. Monica was an African woman who formed her son, Augustine, into a man who would achieve sainthood, Kemp said, and she is a wonderful role model and inspiration for black Catholics.
“There is a need for bringing to the front all the things we can do as African-Americans,” she said, “and how our culture can be joined with the others, to become one [unified community].”
She said committee members also hope to connect with African-Americans on the “fringe” of parish life, present educational programs about black Catholics for junior high students, work with high school seniors to keep them connected to parish life after graduation and encourage young people to consider vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
David Kemp volunteers as a hospitality minister, is active in the men’s club and enjoys parish golf outings. He also served as a Catholic Youth Organization coach for a St. Monica basketball team when their son was in school.
“It seems like if people don’t know about parish activities they just come to Mass and go their own way and never make contact with others,” he said. “It helps a lot if you can get people involved in social events at the church. We want people to feel welcome and say, ‘This is a nice church.’ ” †