A Message From Fr. Patrick
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
I want to inform you all of our new Sister Parish relationship with the Basilica Parish Church of St. Lawrence in Asheville, NC following the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Bishop Michael and the Diocese of Charlotte invited churches unaffected by Hurricane Helene to become "Sister Parishes" of those churches struggling now with recovery. With the approval of our Parish Pastoral Council, we have accepted St. Lawrence as our Sister Parish. In a certain sense St. Lawrence was at "ground zero" of Hurricane Helene, as much of downtown Asheville experienced tremendous destruction from the Hurricane and the flooding that followed. St. Lawrence also has experienced damage, and now their collection has been affected dramatically, and simply paying the bills has become difficult.
Below is a link to the website for St. Lawrence, where one can make an individual donation. The option of a donation to hurricane relief, or a donation to St. Lawrence Church are the two options that are offered. I would suggest if you would like to make an individual donation it be made to the Church of St. Lawrence directly, as then the church could decide where best to use the funds where it is most needed. Below is also an e-mail exchange between myself and Monsignor Roger Arnsparger, where he explains some of the needs of the church community. God bless you brothers and sisters, thank you for your goodness and charity, and we will continue to reflect together on how we can reach out with loving concern and Christian charity to our brothers and sisters at St. Lawrence in Asheville!
Much love,
Fr. Patrick
Brothers and sisters in Christ,
I want to inform you all of our new Sister Parish relationship with the Basilica Parish Church of St. Lawrence in Asheville, NC following the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Bishop Michael and the Diocese of Charlotte invited churches unaffected by Hurricane Helene to become "Sister Parishes" of those churches struggling now with recovery. With the approval of our Parish Pastoral Council, we have accepted St. Lawrence as our Sister Parish. In a certain sense St. Lawrence was at "ground zero" of Hurricane Helene, as much of downtown Asheville experienced tremendous destruction from the Hurricane and the flooding that followed. St. Lawrence also has experienced damage, and now their collection has been affected dramatically, and simply paying the bills has become difficult.
Below is a link to the website for St. Lawrence, where one can make an individual donation. The option of a donation to hurricane relief, or a donation to St. Lawrence Church are the two options that are offered. I would suggest if you would like to make an individual donation it be made to the Church of St. Lawrence directly, as then the church could decide where best to use the funds where it is most needed. Below is also an e-mail exchange between myself and Monsignor Roger Arnsparger, where he explains some of the needs of the church community. God bless you brothers and sisters, thank you for your goodness and charity, and we will continue to reflect together on how we can reach out with loving concern and Christian charity to our brothers and sisters at St. Lawrence in Asheville!
Much love,
Fr. Patrick
Greetings Roger!
Patrick O'Connor here, pastor of IHM in High Point. Let me start by saying I hope you are well! And also, we are keeping you all in our prayers as your community works toward recovery following the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Recently I responded in the affirmative to the Bishop's request for sister parishes for churches out West in NC in need of our friendship, prayers, financial and other support, during these months of recuperation following Hurricane Helene. We were given you as our sister parish. I feel so fortunate to be assigned such a prominent and recognizable church and community in our Diocese! And one whose community finds itself in such dramatic need, which I believe will inspire our parishioners to action and charity. I will inform our church community soon. Our people (both our church and our school) have been anxiously awaiting news of the parish with whom we will be paired, and I think you can expect some substantial help from us in the coming months. In particular, we are planning on promoting a large collection for our sister parish right around Christmas - I believe the weekend following. But many of our parishioners will be looking to independently support your church and community more immediately. I would love to talk with you about the needs of your church and community during these challenging times, and how we might be able to help!
God bless you, much love, and I look forward to talking with you soon!
Patrick
Dear Patrick,
I am Roger Arnsparger, Pastor and Rector at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville, NC.
Thank you for your very kind email about the sister parish relationship. I am most grateful and look forward to the prayers and support from Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioners. The Asheville and surrounding areas were hit hard by the effects of the hurricane. There was so much damage to so many people and their property. Power and water were unavailable for several weeks. We have both now, but the water is still undrinkable; they think perhaps it will be okay in December. Many of 0ur parishioners lost trees and had damage to their homes but they are fixable; many were spared, and we are grateful.
Here at the Church, we have had water infiltration from the roof for some years and are in the midst of working with architects and a construction company to repair and restore the Basilica. The roof needs to be replaced, and the water saturated brick walls dried and repaired. So, the force of the water from the hurricane added to our problem with water coming into the Church from the roof and water coming into the basement social hall from the roof and the storm drains. All of the furnishings, books, supplies, etc. in the hall were ruined.
Additionally, of course, our offertory has been down primarily due to there being no tourists in Asheville for these past weeks. A good number of those at Sunday Masses are visitors and they have been so kind to assist in their gifts.
We have been blessed with many donations which we have used to help the Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Manna Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, our parish street meal program, and the many service agencies to which we donate monthly. Many of our parishioners are volunteers at the agencies.
We were blessed during this time with many donations of supplies which our parish volunteers, Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters of the Americas distributed to people in the city and the surrounding parishes. The LG company brought a trailer with 5 washers and dryers and provided them in our parking lot for people in the area. Daily for 3 weeks they had 100 loads of wash; this was a great comfort to the people here.
Thanks again for your offer of prayer and support. I will give you a call soon. God bless and keep you, and the people of IHM!
Roger
Patrick O'Connor here, pastor of IHM in High Point. Let me start by saying I hope you are well! And also, we are keeping you all in our prayers as your community works toward recovery following the devastation of Hurricane Helene. Recently I responded in the affirmative to the Bishop's request for sister parishes for churches out West in NC in need of our friendship, prayers, financial and other support, during these months of recuperation following Hurricane Helene. We were given you as our sister parish. I feel so fortunate to be assigned such a prominent and recognizable church and community in our Diocese! And one whose community finds itself in such dramatic need, which I believe will inspire our parishioners to action and charity. I will inform our church community soon. Our people (both our church and our school) have been anxiously awaiting news of the parish with whom we will be paired, and I think you can expect some substantial help from us in the coming months. In particular, we are planning on promoting a large collection for our sister parish right around Christmas - I believe the weekend following. But many of our parishioners will be looking to independently support your church and community more immediately. I would love to talk with you about the needs of your church and community during these challenging times, and how we might be able to help!
God bless you, much love, and I look forward to talking with you soon!
Patrick
Dear Patrick,
I am Roger Arnsparger, Pastor and Rector at the Basilica of St. Lawrence in Asheville, NC.
Thank you for your very kind email about the sister parish relationship. I am most grateful and look forward to the prayers and support from Immaculate Heart of Mary parishioners. The Asheville and surrounding areas were hit hard by the effects of the hurricane. There was so much damage to so many people and their property. Power and water were unavailable for several weeks. We have both now, but the water is still undrinkable; they think perhaps it will be okay in December. Many of 0ur parishioners lost trees and had damage to their homes but they are fixable; many were spared, and we are grateful.
Here at the Church, we have had water infiltration from the roof for some years and are in the midst of working with architects and a construction company to repair and restore the Basilica. The roof needs to be replaced, and the water saturated brick walls dried and repaired. So, the force of the water from the hurricane added to our problem with water coming into the Church from the roof and water coming into the basement social hall from the roof and the storm drains. All of the furnishings, books, supplies, etc. in the hall were ruined.
Additionally, of course, our offertory has been down primarily due to there being no tourists in Asheville for these past weeks. A good number of those at Sunday Masses are visitors and they have been so kind to assist in their gifts.
We have been blessed with many donations which we have used to help the Catholic Charities, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Manna Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, our parish street meal program, and the many service agencies to which we donate monthly. Many of our parishioners are volunteers at the agencies.
We were blessed during this time with many donations of supplies which our parish volunteers, Knights of Columbus and Catholic Daughters of the Americas distributed to people in the city and the surrounding parishes. The LG company brought a trailer with 5 washers and dryers and provided them in our parking lot for people in the area. Daily for 3 weeks they had 100 loads of wash; this was a great comfort to the people here.
Thanks again for your offer of prayer and support. I will give you a call soon. God bless and keep you, and the people of IHM!
Roger
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Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church 4145 Johnson Street High Point NC 27265 Phone: 336-869-7739 Church Office Hours: Monday - Thursday: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM Offices closed daily 12:30 PM - 1:00 PM |
