Frank Dirks 

Tim Sinclair shares the story of his conversion to the Catholic Faith and the powerful gift of God’s grace through Reconciliation and the Eucharist.

Frank Dirks 

Randall Goldman movingly shares how Christ’s mercy and love have been a saving refuge during a time of personal suffering. As he prepares to come in full communion with the Catholic Church he offered that while others may be turning away, he is racing toward Christ. “I can’t wait to receive the Eucharist!”

Frank Dirks 

For the first, last, and only time, Randall Goldman, formerly a local leader of the hospitality and tourism industry will share publicly how a man can be brought down by the world but raised up for the greater glory of Christ.

Join Carolina Catholic Professionals for our First Friday Networking and Fellowship Lunch at the Diocese Chancery Meeting Hall on Friday, October 5, 2018 from 11:45am to 1:15pm.  This event is open to both members and non-members.  Lunch will be $15 for members and $25 for non-members.  

Our scheduled speaker, Tim Sinclair, Director of Business Development Webster Rogers, LLP and member of the finance council at Saint Clare of Assisi Parish graciously has offered to share his time with Randall for his important witness to Christ.

Our theme for these lunches is how we engage the world in faith and bear witness to the Gospel in the way we live our lives.  With one foot in the Church and one in the world we are all on the same journey.  We ask our speakers to discuss their personal journey of faith and their work in the world and what they see to be meaningful trends and developments in our community, state, and nation.

Thank you to those who have already reserved a space!  For those who have not, please RSVP online today!

The Diocese Chancery Meeting Hall is at 901 Orange Grove Road Charleston, SC 29407.

Frank Dirks - Hurricane Florence Relief - Lucis Via Charities

Join us in helping our brothers and sisters in three North Carolina parishes: Saint Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Lumberton, Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Mission in Elizabethtown, and Saint Stanislaus Catholic Church in Castle Hayne.  Your gift will be evenly split between the three with every dollar we receive going directly to the parishes. For your information, the links below are to the three parishes:

http://www.stfrancisdesalescatholic.org/about.html
https://ladyofsnowselizabethtown.org/
http://www.ststanislauscatholic.org/

Click the Donate button below to contribute via PayPal.  This button will redirect you to the PayPal site.  Carolina Catholic Professionals (CCP) is a membership organization associated with Lucis Via Charities, Inc., a Charleston-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Frank Dirks - Daughters of Saint Paul

Sister Margaret leads a discussion on the role of the laity in Church. She shared a quote from Saint John Paul II: “The laity should be conscious of their own standing in the Church: not as mere recipients of doctrine and the grace of the Sacraments, but as active and responsible agents of the Church’s mission to evangelize…”

Frank Dirks - CCP Event 

Join Carolina Catholic Professionals for our First Friday Networking and Fellowship Lunch at the Diocese Chancery Meeting Hall on Friday, October 5, 2018 from 11:45am to 1:15pm. This event is open to both members and non-members.  Lunch will be $15 for members and $25 for non-members.  

Our speaker will be Tim Sinclair, Director of Business Development Webster Rogers, LLP and member of the finance council at Saint Clare of Assisi Parish.

Our theme for these lunches is how we engage the world in faith and bear witness to the Gospel in the way we live our lives.  With one foot in the Church and one in the world we are all on the same journey.  We ask our speakers to discuss their personal journey of faith and their work in the world and what they see to be meaningful trends and developments in our community, state, and nation.

Thank you to those who have already reserved a space!  For those who have not, please RSVP online today!

Mary B - Charity Event - Daughters of Saint Paul - Fun Nun Bowl - Lucis Via Charities 

The Fun Nun Bowl is an annual event held each year in Charleston, SC by Lucis Via Charities to help benefit the Daughters of St. Paul.  This year’s event was rescheduled from September due to Hurricane Florence.  Deadline for registration is November 1st.  The event will take place on November 11, 2018.  For more information, please visit: https://www.lucisvia.com/funnunbowl

• Team sign up link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0a4da8a922a1f49-funnun and by email to FunNunBowl@gmail.com
• If you want to bowl, but do not have a team, please email FunNunBowl@gmail.com and we’ll try to help you get on or form a team.

Frank Dirks - Community Events

On Thursday, 20 September, Sister Margaret will host a Brown-Bag Lunch Discussion on the Role of the Laity in the Catholic Church at the Daughters of Saint Paul, John Paul II Room during the noon lunch hour.  Sister Margaret will explore the history of the laity in the Church and discuss the duties of the laity in today’s Church.

Mary B

Fred McKay, Principal of Charleston Catholic School, kicks off the First Friday Lunch season with a talk on Catholic education in Charleston. Before lunch,Father Gabriel Cruz Rodriguez celebrated Mass in the Chancellery Chapel.

Frank Dirks - CCP in the Community - Gentrification in Our Community - A Faith Community Response Community Report and Action Plan

OUR LADY OF MERCY-NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE-ST PATRICK’S CHURCH-TRINITY WORLDWIDE OUTREACH MINISTRIES

Gentrification in Our Community
A Faith Community Response
Community Report and Action Plan
Working Document

Overview

In response to changes in our community related the process of gentrification, three faith-based organizations hosted communities meetings open to the public for the purpose of gathering information from residents.  The meetings were held on Tuesday, 24 April at Our Lady of Mercy-Neighborhood House; Sunday, 29 April at Saint Patrick’s Church; and Wednesday, 2 May at Trinity Worldwide Outreach Ministries.  We asked participants to complete surveys and participate in group discussions during which we took notes.  More than sixty people attended the meetings and forty-seven people completed surveys.

Findings

• Residents have witnessed profound changes in our community. These changes have had positive and negative effects in their lives.

• The energized real estate market has increased the value of their homes but also brought an array of aggressive buyers that have brought real and perceived pressure (most of it unwelcome) on predominantly older and elderly home-owners.

• As neighborhoods change, residents are encountering increased property taxes and new neighbor with expectations for property maintenance that may be beyond the financial resources of long-time homeowners.

• In some cases, unscrupulous buyers are exploiting and, potentially swindling elderly, vulnerable homeowners. Added to this dynamic is the fact that many buyers are white and many of those feeling pressured to sell are black.

• Homeowners often do not feel confident that they have in the community or in government advocates that will protect their interests. While not all, many feel that they lack adequate information to make informed decisions related to their property; whether it regards maintenance, taxes, and sales.

• Residents have confidence in their churches and are willing to look to churches for information if they know that the churches have resource capacity. 

Recommendations

• Establish resource centers at select churches and faith-based institutions.

• Develop resource materials to be shared through the participating churches and faith-based institutions.

• Facilitate the development of collaborative operational partnerships that will develop and maintain necessary resources.

• Provide venues for periodic community training and information sessions.

• Develop an ongoing process for tracking community changes and conducting periodic quantitative analysis

• Stimulate the involvement of a broad array of community volunteers to provide specific services such as limited home improvement.

• Facilitate, on an ongoing basis, opportunities for discussion and community-building among new and long-term residents.

• Develop and private, nonprofit, faith-based, self-sustaining community fund to provide support for homeowners in the areas of property improvement and tax relief.

Action Plan

Phase One

• Identify community support volunteers willing to educate residents, assist, advocate and more

• Compile community resource guide to answer resident questions and provide points of contact

• Develop a database for distributing news and information among community networks

• Define collaborating partner roles—organizations, groups, and, professional service providers

• Determine web/social media strategy and presence

• Raise awareness- publish findings, share findings

• Follow up with meeting attendees by providing progress updates

Phase Two

• Schedule community education and information sharing sessions

• Finalize resource guide and summary fact sheets for distribution at various collaborating partner locations

• Develop and schedule volunteer roles

• Prepare plan to conduct in-home maintenance service for residents in need

• Conduct awareness-raising outreach to realtors, attorneys, and others on action plan and community concerns

• Develop and refine assessment methods

• Track interactions with residents through Phase Two efforts and monitor potential changes in community needs

• Seek funding to support efforts

Phase Three (ongoing)

• Establish micro-financing fund for home-owners in need

• Conduct “tip sheet” mailings to residents for continued education and information sharing

• Develop neighbor-to-neighbor meetings to share neighborhood history with new comers

• Develop neighbor-to-neighbor meetings with new and legacy businesses

• Schedule neighborhood-oriented ecumenical Christian services to foster unity

• Schedule neighborhood-oriented Christian Holiday events

• Conduct neighborhood-oriented volunteer community improvement projects

• Encourage “Know Your Neighbor” activities

Download a copy of this Report and Action Plan (PDF).