A partnership in parish stewardship

Photo by James A. McBride

Father James Casadia, pastor of Mary, Mother of Mercy Parish, Glassboro, stands with Wayne Huber, left, and John Cunningham. He says the pair “are creating a great model for stewardship in the parish.”

GLASSBORO — John Cunningham and Wayne Huber believe their stewardship at the new Mary, Mother of Mercy Parish will help set the tone for future volunteers.

The former parishes of Our Lady of Lourdes in Glassboro and Queen of Peace in Pitman merged in June 2011 to create the new Mary, Mother of Mercy Parish. But John and Wayne’s stewardship goes back many years before the merger.

“I’ve been helping at Our Lady of Lourdes for at least 15 years,” said John, 76, who is the head of maintenance at the new parish. “I helped with the hospitality ministry, mostly as a greeter and helped take up collections at Masses and distribute the missals. I’m continuing this work at Mary, Mother of Mercy. I also oversee the work of parishioners who volunteer for maintenance.”

John, the father of eight children, the grandfather of 17, and great-grandfather of nine, calls himself a handyman. “A lot of this was on-job-training because I learned a lot from people before me.” He does most of his work at Our Lady of Lourdes but will also help out at Queen of Peace in Pitman, where Wayne is based.

Wayne, at 61, has been retired as an auto body and repairman for 10 years. He said he had to retire early because of medical issues and “since I’ve been out of work I can devote more time to the church.”

Wayne noted he has been helping at Queen of Peace for the past 15 years “and although I did lot of volunteering when I was working it’s not as much as what I’m doing now.” He considers his employment situation “a real blessing. I don’t know what I would do without the church. I wish people could see how rewarding stewardship is.”

John, who retired from Philadelphia Electric Co. as a master electrician about nine years ago, started doing maintenance work at Lourdes — “and anything else that needed to be done.” After retiring he started putting in many hours — “as needed,” he said — for the former parish and for the new parish, and doing anything else that might come along including fixing leaks and cleaning Our Lady of Lourdes church every Friday.

John pointed out that he and Wayne look out for one another and, “If I can’t do something, Wayne will come over to Lourdes to help me, and I’ll do the same for him and go to Queen of Peace to help. Our situation is a growing thing. We’re working all the bugs out and trying to set the tone for volunteerism in our parish.”

Wayne admits that John performs heavier work than he can because of his disability “but we’re out there trying to get more volunteers, including groups and individuals. We don’t do all the work ourselves.”

“We have support and it’s growing. Sometimes it’s very hard for us to do the work that must be done. For example, I missed a lot of time in August because of my medical problems, so we’re trying to get more volunteers to help in the parish.”

He said his wife, Pat, “is very supportive of what I do for the church. If she had more time she’d be there right alongside me.” She holds down a full-time job and teaches religious education. She is also a Eucharistic minister. Wayne had been involved with St. Vincent dePaul at Queen of Peace Parish but now supports both churches in the new parish.

John noted that he coordinates the help of the Knights of Columbus.

A Fourth Degree Knight, Wayne also helps coordinate the work of the Knights.

“When we have to change light fixtures, for example,” John said, “we get the Knights with their huge ladders to give us a hand and they’re always there for us. If something is going on in the church and we have to clean out the sheds, the Knights will be there to help.”

Father James Casadia, pastor of Mary, Mother of Mercy, said the two men “work beautifully together and are creating a great model for stewardship in the parish. They’re doing so much for us because both are hard workers and give themselves to the community.”

Father Casadia called them “unsung heroes who give their time without acknowledgement. We have no maintenance man so they’re handling the duties as volunteers.”

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