Mission clergy, families meet in Des Moines, IA
DES MOINES, IA [MW Diocese Communications] — Mission clergy and their families from Iowa, Missouri and Minnesota gathered here on Saturday, November 12, 2016 for fellowship and the opportunity “exchange ideas and share best practices on outreach and exposure within our towns, all of which are small and in which they offer the only Orthodox Christian presence,” according to Archpriest Bartholomew Wojcik, who organized the gathering.
“We started planning and working on our schedules back in August, and eventually we were able to settle on a date on which we were all available,” said Father Bartholomew, who is Priest-in-Charge of Saint Nicholas Mission, Pella, IA. “We gathered at the Iowa Historical Museum for about two or three hours in the morning, leaving in time for everyone to return home in time for Vespers.
“The kids got to meet and play with or talk to other ‘PKs’ while the clergy and their wives were able to meet with their peers and friends — when not chasing after and corralling kids,” Father Bartholomew added.
In addition to Father Bartholomew, his wife Matushka Amber and their children, other clergy families participating in the gathering were Priest Christopher and Matushka Gretchen Maciolek and their children of Three Holy Hierarchs Mission, Northfield, MN; Priest Joel and Matushka Theressa Wilson and their children of Holy Annunciation Mission, Saint James, MO; and Priest Martin and Matushka Candice Watt of Holy Transfiguration Mission, Ames, IA.
