St. Mary's Catholic Church - Whats-New

Bishop Guglielmone's Visit

Pat Perkins — Wed, 13 May 2009 14:31:27 GMT

On May 11th, Bishop Guglielmone visited St. Mary’s Catholic School. After celebrating the School Mass, the Bishop was treated to a luncheon buffet of his favorite foods. Joining him was the student council members for St. Mary’s Catholic School. Please visit the school photo album tab to see the pictures from the luncheon.

St. Mary's Chess Tournament featured in the Greenville News

Pat Perkins — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:29:12 GMT

St. Mary’s Catholic School recently hosted the first annual Upstate Catholic Chess Tournament. Please see the article from the Greenville News.

Adult Sunday School Talks

Pat Perkins — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:39:21 GMT

The lessons from St. Mary’s Catholic Church Adult Sunday School are now available online via streaming and podcast.

Please visit Adult Sunday School to hear these lessons.

Dr. Richard Ballard joins St. Mary's Staff

Pat Perkins — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:17:49 GMT

I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Dr. Richard Ballard is the new Director of Pastoral Care at St. Mary’s Church. Richard was born in Asheville, North Carolina, and after a period of religious uncertainty in his youth, he perceived a call to ordained ministry in the Lutheran Church. His undergraduate education was at Mars Hill College in North Carolina, and then he earned the Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina and a Master of Education in Counseling from the University of South Carolina. He subsequently earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from the Lutheran Seminary in Columbia and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

After ordination as a Lutheran pastor, Richard served parishes in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania for nearly a quarter of a century, and serving along with him in those parishes was his wife Ruth, who was also an ordained Lutheran pastor. Throughout those years, Richard and Ruth were very active in ecumenical affairs and increasingly drawn towards full communion with the Catholic Church. Finally, at Easter 2006, the Bishop of Harrisburg received Richard and Ruth into the Catholic Church, and they began a new phase in their personal and professional lives, moving first back to his home in Asheville and then to Greenville.

As our Director of Pastoral Care, Dr. Ballard will be responsible for many kinds of service to the people of St. Mary’s, including marriage preparation and counseling, direction of volunteers and social services, bereavement and pastoral counseling, the training and scheduling of lectors, and assisting with the Tribunal process for those who need a declaration of nullity for a previous marriage. He will also periodically teach courses for adults and assist our pro-life activities.

Dr. Ballard’s parish phone number is 864.679.4121 and his email address is richard.ballard@stmarysgvl.org, and he is available by appointment to meet with any parishioner who needs his assistance. Please feel free to call on him, and join me in welcoming Richard and Ruth Ballard to St. Mary’s.

Father Newman

Dr. Richard Ballard

School to Implement a Broadcast Phone Contact System

Pat Perkins — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:35:56 GMT

Saint Mary’s Catholic School is instituting a telephone broadcast system that will enable school personnel to notify all households and parents by phone within minutes of an emergency or unplanned event that causes early dismissal, school cancellation or late start. The service will be used in emergency or extraordinary situations only, and is provided by School Reach, a company specializing in school-to-parent communications.

To learn more about the new system, please refer to the attached document.

2009 St. Mary's Catholic School Golf Classic and Gala

Pat Perkins — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:25:54 GMT

St. Mary’s Classic is celebrating its 21st year. The Classic is the single largest fundraiser that benefits St. Mary’s School. This year’s Golf Tournament will be played again at the Verdae Greens Golf Club on Friday, May 29th, 2009 and our annual Gala will be held at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Greenville, SC the same evening. The Pairing Party will be held on Thursday, May 28th at Gallivan Hall on the school campus.

To sign up to play or purchase tickets to the fabulous Gala featuring an outstanding Silent Auction, live music, dancing and great food, please submit the attached application or contact Ellison McCoy.

For additional information, please see the Golf Tournament and Gala tab under the school section of the website.

2008 Middle School Volleyball Team Championship

Pat Perkins — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:20:42 GMT

We would like to congratulate the Girls Volleyball Team of St. Mary’s Catholic School. After a winless season in their initial season, our Ducks won the Tournament Championship in the 2008 Carolina Middle School Conference tournament. We would like to especially thank our coaches, Debbie Sutch and Ruthie Lutz for all their hard work. Katherine Reynolds was named to the 2008 Carolina Middle School All Conference team. Way to go Ducks and we can’t wait until next volleyball season.

Their success was written up in the Miscelleny. Please see the attached to read the entire article.

2008-2009 RCIA Registration

Pat Perkins — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:38:46 GMT

RCIA

“Come and see” were the words of Jesus to two disciples of St. John the Baptist when they asked Jesus where he stayed. (Jn 1:38) St. Mary’s repeats these words “Come and see” to those who may be interested in exploring the Catholic faith. We invite you to do this through the Rite of Christian Initiations for Adults (RCIA). RCIA is a process for bringing into the Catholic Church both those who have never been baptized and those who were baptized in a non-Catholic Church. RCIA is also the best way for adult Catholics who have never been confirmed to prepare for that final Sacrament of Initiation.

There are also many Catholics who would like a refresher course in their faith. Fr Longenecker teaches the RCIA course with a strong and interesting teaching style with the use of visual aids and an engaging method of teaching. Established Catholics who have joined the class have all commented on how much more they have learned about the faith by taking part.

Each year in September, St. Mary’s begins a new class and we invite everyone who would like to join the Catholic Church, be confirmed or enter more fully into their faith to come and join us.

The first class begins on Wednesday, September 3rd and continues each Wednesday evening from September through May from 6:30-8:00 pm in McGrady Hall. Childcare will be available for children under five, but reservations will be required when you register.

There is no cost for the course, but we do register participants to keep track of members.

Registration will take place before and after all Masses August 23 and 24 in Sacred Heart Hall.

Click here to link to the R.C.I.A. page.