Stewardship in a newly-established parish

Photo by James A. McBride

Father Walter Norris, pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish, stands with Frank Izzo, who helped out at the former St. Aloysius Parish, Oaklyn, for more than 20 years. St. Joseph the Worker Parish was established through the merger of St. Aloysius and St. Vincent Palotti, Haddon Township.

OAKLYN — With the merger of St. Aloysius here and St. Vincent Palotti in Haddon Township to create St. Joseph the Worker Parish, Frank Izzo made it clear his stewardship, that began in St. Aloysius, will expand to include needs in the new merged parish.

For the past 20 years Izzo had been a steward at the former St. Aloysius Parish and is now a steward at the merged St. Joseph the Worker Parish. He’s also a lector and coordinates the schedules of the lectors.

“Since 1996 I’ve been a Eucharistic Minister at Mass,” said Izzo. “On Fridays I make Communion visits to the homebound. I’ve done this for so long — at least 11 years — that I’ve become close friends to the people I visit. You start getting attached to them.”

Izzo was also a parish trustee. “I used my time and talent and got involved with budgets and expenditures,” he explained. “I didn’t create the budget but I would review it as a trustee and have meetings with the Finance Council.” He later became a member of the Finance Council, a position he still holds. “Having been a trustee, I had a better understanding of the budget because I was involved in the process of creating it.”

He’s also heavily involved in the Pastoral Council and has been for two years.

“My primary purpose for being on the council is my work with the House of Charity campaign,” he said. He’s been chairman and coordinator for some 12 years.

“We run our campaign is this way,” Izzo explained; “parishioners get letters and campaign material from the diocese. The pastor announces the campaign and explains its mission. We insert reminders into the weekly bulletin to keep the campaign out front. I do the accounting for the House of Charity.”

With much of Izzo’s stewardship revolving around fund-raising, you would think he has a financial background. He doesn’t. He has a degree in science. He first became involved in St. Aloysius’ finances through data entry.

“For some reason, the collection envelopes just piled up week after week,” he explained. “We needed to get into the problem and find out why. I started doing it as a low-level clerical job and the envelopes became my job.”

Izzo’s career started with Shell Oil Co. in research. “I later went back to school and got a certificate in programming,” he said, noting that the plant he worked in was involved in a two-year project to convert to computers. “I also got involved with purchasing, warehousing and shipping,” he said.

One of the things he’s really proud of is the Interfaith Homeless Program, where the homeless are given places to sleep and eat.

“It works this way,” he said. “All the churches in Oaklyn, all denominations, get together for two weeks and each church becomes responsible for the homeless and feeds them and helps them look for work and housing. The Baptist church gives them a place to sleep during that period. I help with meals and I get younger guys involved as volunteers.”

Father Walter Norris, pastor of St. Joseph, said that Frank “is a great man and an honor to work with. He does a little bit of everything and I’m happy to have him as a trustee.”

For more information on stewardship contact Deacon Russell Davis, Office of Stewardship, at 856-583-6102.