“The Call to Stewardship” is a periodic series profiling individuals and families throughout the Diocese of Camden who have shown an inspiring response to the call to Christian stewardship highlighted in 1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
The phrase “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” perfectly describes the manner George and Janet Hutchinson learned to serve others. George’s grandparents joined Christ the King Parish, Haddonfield, when it was founded. In the 1960s, George’s grandfather would wake early to shovel the snow-covered walkways, enabling parishioners to attend 6:30 a.m. Mass. For over 20 years, his grandmother volunteered at the gift shop in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Camden. They both instilled strong faith and a tradition of stewardship in their children.
“My mom and dad went to Mass each morning,” recalled George. “One afternoon, an associate pastor, working in the sacristy, heard banging coming from the back of the church. He walked toward the sound. Bending over a back pew, he found Dad, on his knees, fixing a loose kneeler.
“The most significant thing about this is not that my father did this; it’s that no one knew until the priest saying the homily at his funeral relayed the story. That was the sort of thing Dad would do, without telling anyone.”
George continued, “And, Mom sang in Christ the King’s choir for many years. When we were young, she often substitute taught at school. Also, her mother, Catherine Callahan, played the organ at Saint Lawrence Church, Lindenwold, for over 30 years.”
Following in the family footsteps, George began stewardship at a young age. He volunteered as an altar server and sang in Christ the King’s youth and adult choirs. In the mid-70s he enjoyed a few years singing and playing guitar at Christ the King’s folk Masses.
After attending college and marrying, George moved back to Haddonfield with Janet. The couple quickly dove into stewardship with Christ the King parish and school. Their young family grew to include three sons, George IV, Brenton and Grant, and daughter Elizabeth.
Janet became vice president of the PTA where she used her marketing knowledge to help create fundraisers. Every year she was a room mother. On Fridays she volunteered in the kitchen serving pizza.
George helped to create the Father’s Club at the school, where they reinstituted the Catholic School’s Week pancake breakfast. They brought the breakfast into the gym and cafeteria while school tours took place. The Father’s Club also painted classrooms, ran golf tournaments, and started the King’s Run as fundraisers to support maintenance projects.
Janet and George helped organize a Valentine Mass and social for the parishioners, which ultimately became a celebration of marriage. At the Mass, couples of all ages would witness about the sacrament of marriage.
“It absolutely benefited our faith to be so involved in the parish and school. We formed great connections with countless members of Christ the King, old and young, married and single. It seemed that our friends were all looking to grow in their spirituality,” said George. “I can’t say enough about that time. Those friends helped guide us in our faith.”
Several of those friends and family members also attended annual retreats with the Hutchinsons. George has been going to The Men of Malvern Retreat House in Malvern, Pennsylvania, for 38 years along with his brother-in-law, Joe McElroy.
“My dad asked us if we would like to attend a retreat with him,” said George. “I asked him, ‘What is a retreat?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. Why don’t we go together and find out?’ And for that, I am so grateful. It’s a spiritual experience that changed my life.”
Janet attended women’s retreats at the former Dominican Retreat House in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, led by her sister-in-law, Joe’s wife, Marge McElroy, along with her mother and four other sisters-in-law and many friends. “I started going as a young wife. It was the perfect age to soak it all in and learn more about Catholicism and my role in it. My faith was becoming more and more important to me. I took advantage of several mini-retreats in the area and enjoyed reading books written by and about the lives of the saints and theology for the layman.”
With parents who demonstrated such strong faith and stewardship, all four of their children became altar servers. As a high school student, Elizabeth desired to expand her involvement to include serving the parish as a lector.
Janet said, “Elizabeth would be the only student attending lector classes, so she asked me to go, too. We trained and became lectors together.”
Since Janet and Elizabeth were taking lector classes, George thought that he might as well attend extraordinary minister of Holy Communion training. All three family members continue those ministries at Christ the King today. Carrying on the tradition, Elizabeth is now the mom attending Mass with her husband and young children.
“We are fortunate to see the Hutchinson family’s stewardship when George, Janet and Elizabeth serve at Mass together,” said Robert Tulini, Parish Pastoral Council chairman. “Their service has included subtle actions, such as visiting a sick parishioner, and visible actions, such as recently memorializing a pew for the church.”
One visible action Janet and Elizabeth undertook was volunteering with other parishioners on a service trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. That experience led Elizabeth to join the Peace Corps and spending 22 months in Peru.
“I was thrilled with her decision. I had wanted to join Peace Corps, in my youth, but wasn’t able to,” said Janet.
George added, “Elizabeth said, ‘You and Mom give so much time to church and charities. I want to do the same.’ ”
Their sons also give back. Grant volunteers regularly for a non-profit, while the older sons coach sports and help at their children’s schools.
The fact that the kids are grown hasn’t diminished the Hutchinson’s enthusiasm for service. Janet has helped with a parish library and volunteered with Saint Vincent DePaul and the Food Bank. She is looking into helping victims of domestic violence, a cause she supported when their children were young.
George formerly served on the board for Hopeworks, a Camden non-profit that teaches technology skills to teenagers, and is currently on Camden Catholic High School’s board. He looks forward to bringing Communion to the sick of the parish as soon as soon as the visits are allowed again. In addition, he has joined a small group of men supporting pastor Father Jon Thomas in the development of a Men’s Club for the parish.
Father Thomas said, “When I asked George for help with the Men’s Club, he didn’t hesitate. And, when we held the first parish-wide initiative since my arrival here last year, a novena leading up to the feast of Christ the King, George and Janet attended all eight nights of Holy Hour. They are an ‘institution’ in the parish. I’m very grateful for their support.”
Both George and Janet downplay the praise, noting that they have gained so much from volunteering.
The mission of the Office of Stewardship is to help the disciples of Christ who live in the Diocese of Camden to live out Christian charity in a sacrificial way that “we might understand the grace that comes from giving back from our blessings so that in all things God may be glorified.” For more information, contact Deacon Russell Davis at 856-583-6102.
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