"Reflecting God's love for over 150 years"

PARISH SERVICES

Pastoral Council

The Pastoral Council consists of the Pastor, the Associate Pastor, four officers, four elected members and representatives from the parish organizations. Acting as a representative voice of the St. Agnes parishioners, the Council assists and advises the pastor in the administration of the parish.  PARISH COUNCIL CONSTITUTION

                                           Minutes October 11, 2007

                                           Minutes April 17, 2008

Pastoral Care

Members of St. Agnes Church who are ill are an important part of our community and are not forgotten. Visits to hospitals, nursing homes, assisted and retirement living communities as well as to the homes of the sick are taking place regularly. Holy Communion is taken to the ill for their spiritual nourishment and comfort. Contact - Parish office (410) 744-2900

EDUCATION MINISTRIES

Adult Religious Education

The parish offers various large and small group opportunities to learn more about the faith and to become comfortable in sharing it. Small groups meet in the home throughout the year for bible study, prayer, apologetics and faith sharing and there is a six week Lenten series based on the Lectionary. Large group gatherings may feature speakers or tapes on various topics.

ALPHA

ALPHA is a ten week practical introduction to the Christian faith offering answers to some key questions. Each weekly session begins with an informal dinner, followed by a large group learning time, and ends with small group discussion and interaction. It is often used as the inquiry phase of RCIA. Parishioners are also encouraged to attend as a means of renewing their own faith.

RCIA

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is the process of bringing the unbaptized as well as those of other faiths into full communion with the Catholic Church. The process takes place weekly from September to the Easter Vigil. This also gives opportunities  for anyone who may be interested in learning more about our faith. Contact the Parish Office (410) 744-2900

Religious Education for Children

Directed by a Certified Director of Religious Education and by dedicated volunteer Catechists, the Religious Education Program is a Catechetical Program to assist parents in providing their children with knowledge of the Catholic Faith.

Religious Education classes are held for grades Pre-K to Grade 8 on Sunday 10:05-11:20 a.m., from September through May.

Meetings are held for parents whose children are preparing for the Sacrament of First Penance, Holy Eucharist and Confirmation. The Sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Confirmation students are interviewed by the Pastor and Parish Priest. Special liturgical celebrations are held for these Sacraments.

Human Sexuality topics required by the Archdiocese are implemented and parents are provided with books on Human Sexuality. A Home-School program is available for those with special needs. Contact - Rel. Ed Office  (410) 747-9073

St. Agnes School 

     St. Agnes Catholic School was established in 1865 and has been served by the Congregation of Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Scranton, PA since 1933. The school is a vital part of the parish and serves a diverse community of learners in the formation of the whole person as an active witness of the Church through Message, Worship, Community and Service.

We recognize each child as a unique individual, and we seek to help all students achieve their full potential by utilizing a variety of teaching methods and materials in a Christian setting. St. Agnes School strives to produce individuals who will "...be imitators of God, as beloved children and live in love as Christ loved us." (Eph. 5:1-2)

St. Agnes School is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. A Kindergarten, Nursery/Pre-K, and extended care program and computer lab are in place. The middle school approach for grades 6, 7 & 8 and a parish school board are in operation. Registration takes place in January. An Open House is held in November. Please visit us on the web at www.stagnesschool.net. Contact - Principal Susan Banks (410) 747-4070

St. Agnes School Advisory Board

The Board is responsible for recommending general school policies. This body consists of the Pastor, the Principal, a teacher, parents and non-parents. Contact - Donna Imhoff, President  (410) 461-8165 

St. Agnes Home School Association

The Home School Association is  the representative organization of all the parents/guardians of the students of St. Agnes School. The HSA holds general meetings every other month during the school year. The HSA brings the parents/guardians concerns to the faculty and school board. The HSA’s other primary function is fund-raising to help offset the cost of education to our families. This organization raises funds for the school through various events, such as a book fair, children's bingo, gift wrap and pizza sales, Spring Gala and bi-annual Auction.

EVANGELIZATION

Since all Catholics are called to the ministry of evangelization, the committee works closely with other parish ministries and organizations to implement the three goals of evangelization as defined by the American Bishops in the document Go and Make Disciples: a National Plan and Strategy for Catholic Evangelization in the United States.

Involved in the Disciples in Mission process, St. Agnes is developing strategies for becoming a more energized parish based on parishioner concerns. The evangelization team invites parishioners to deepen their sense of sacrament and scripture and to recognize their call to live as disciples of Christ. The parish offers ALPHA, RCIA and various opportunities for learning, praying, and faith sharing in large and small group settings. As this enthusiasm for the faith spreads, the entire parish becomes a more welcoming community for members and visitors.

The evangelization team is currently focusing on the importance of the family in its mission to promote Gospel values in society. The team also encourages parishioners involvement in regional affairs and public policy-making as well as the many outreach efforts ongoing in the parish.

FAMILY MINISTRIES

Families Together

This is a new ministry flowing from the Disciples in Mission process. It supports families by providing large and small group activities especially for families with a special focus on prayer and spiritual activities, such as the monthly Family Rosary and the Lenten Soup and Stations program. They work with the education ministries to offer speakers and seminars of interest to parents.

Natural Family Planning

Natural Family Planning (NFP) promotes openness to the transmission of human life. It is medically safe, morally acceptable and highly effective in planning to have a child or in responsibly postponing a pregnancy. It can enrich the bond between husband and wife and build strong families. The NFP series offered at St. Agnes are three classes, held one month apart. Series are held throughout the year and are taught by certified NFP instructors.

Sponsor Couple Program

This is a program for marriage preparation, offering engaged couples a personalized and guided preparation to assist them in building a loving lasting marriage.

FELLOWSHIP ORGANIZATIONS

St. Agnes Knights of Columbus

The K of C is an organization that brings together Catholic men 18 years and older in family, charitable, fraternal, and community activities. It encourages reception of the Holy Eucharist as a group several times a year. The major emphasis is focused on local parishes, community and state. St Agnes Council 4449 was formed in 1957.

St. Agnes Ladies Auxiliary

Established in 1949, the Ladies Auxiliary has a vibrant past. It acted as liaison between parents and school before the Home School Association was established. Presently this group sponsors bus trips and fund-raisers, visits nursing homes and contributes a yearly donation to the Monsignor Roche Scholarship Fund.

St. Agnes Men's Club

Our Mission - The object of the St. Agnes Men’s Club is to promote the general welfare of its members, of the St. Agnes Parish, and of the Community.  Our primary purpose is to support the Parish Youth Athletic program.                  Aid to the Parish - Throughout the year the St. Agnes Men’s Club sponsors a number of diverse fundraisers that contribute directly to the athletic program of the school.  Last year, we contributed over $5,000 to the school’s athletic program.  The funds donated are used for the following items: 

·        Gym Rental for Practice

·        Uniforms

·        Equipment

·        League Fees for 15 Teams in 24 Leagues

·        Trophies and Banquet 

In addition, the club awards an annual scholarship to two 8^th grade students, a young lady and a gentleman, who attend a Catholic High School.

Annual Fundraisers 

·        Bull Roast

·        Basket Bingo

·        Golf Tournament

·        Crab Feast Raffle

·        Holiday Shoppers Warehouse Raffle      

It is gratifying to know that our friends in the parish support of our fundraising efforts. We appreciate your continued support and are always looking for new members. 

Family / Sporting / Social Events - In addition to our monthly meetings, the Men’s Club provides activities for its members such as an annual Bowling Tournament, Spring and Fall Softball, Pick-up Basketball, and a Fall Picnic for our families.  We also sponsor a 1^st Grade Basketball Clinic. 

Anyone interested in joining or learning more about the Men’s Club is invited to a monthly meeting held on the third Wednesday of each month in the Old School Hall at 8:00pm. 

St. Agnes Senior Club

Open to the community, seniors socialize and play bingo and cards on Monday afternoons from 1-4 p.m. in the Parish Hall. On special occasions celebrations are held at a local restaurant.

Parish Picnic

Each year the Parish holds a picnic at the State Park. We begin the day with the celebration of the Mass. Everyone brings a side dish or dessert to share and hamburgers and hot dogs are provided. St. Agnes Men's Club volunteers do the cooking. Games are held for the children.

LITURGICAL MINISTRIES

Liturgy Committee

Members are dedicated to enriching our Sunday and special liturgies. It is composed of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Music Ministers, Lectors, Ushers, Sacristy Guild and people of the parish.  Our entire ministry is centered on the Eucharist and so the committee works on ways to acknowledge this connection.

Altar Servers

Altar servers consist of parish children from 5th to 12th grade who assist the priest at Sunday Mass as well as at weddings, funerals and other important liturgies throughout the liturgical year.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion

Appointed by the pastor, members of the congregation assist the priest in distributing Holy Communion during the celebration of the Mass on Saturday evenings and on Sundays. Some EMHCs also take Holy Communion to the sick and home-bound of the parish. This role requires commissioning from the Archdiocese.

Flowers

Flowers are placed on our altars in memory of a loved one, in celebration of a wedding anniversary or a birthday celebration. At Easter, our altars are decorated with Easter Lilies and other colorful flowers. Volunteers help with arranging the flowers the Saturday before Easter. At Christmas, our altars are decorated with red and white Poinsettias. The sanctuary is decorated with Christmas trees and a Manger. Wreaths, candles and globes decorate the windows. Volunteers help with decorating several days prior to Christmas. Anyone wishing to donate fresh flowers for one of our altars, call Doris Mellendick at 410-747-2751.

Hospitality Ministry

Greeters will share in the responsibility of creating a communal atmosphere by warmly welcoming people entering the church to worship at Saturday evening and Sunday Masses.

Lectors

During Mass lectors proclaim Sacred Scripture that is selected for the Eucharistic Celebration. Training is required.

Sacristy Guild

Volunteers help to straighten the church and prepare the altar and sacristy for Mass each Saturday morning after the 8:00 a.m. Mass. They also decorate the church for special liturgies. 

Ushers

Ushers greet and seat people, take up the offertory collection, organize communion lines and distribute the weekly bulletins.

Music MINISTRIES 

Children’s Cherub Choir 

The Children’s Cherub Choir is made up of parish children from Grade 2 through Grade 8.  They rehearse monthly, and sing at the 9:00 Mass on the second Sunday of each month, from October through May.   The children sit at the altar throughout Mass and see what they might ordinarily miss sitting back in their normal seats.  Because they are leaders of song at Mass, they are more engaged in the rhythm of the Mass. 

Contemporary Music Group

The Contemporary Music Group sings at special Young Adult Liturgies. This group involve teens from Grade 8 and up.  They use a variety of instruments.

Funeral Choir

The Funeral Choir is available to sing at funerals.  It is comprised of mostly retirees who are available on short notice throughout normal working hours.  They rehearse occasionally, as needed.  Their music enhances funeral liturgies and helps assist grieving families participate in the funeral Mass.  They have a truly unique way to touch people through music.    Remember, the only time some people ever set foot in a church is for a funeral or a wedding. 

Men’s Choir

The Men’s Choir has been singing at St. Agnes for 52 years.  Their specialty is the traditional Latin Liturgical music.  They meet weekly and sing every other week at the 10:30 Mass.  They always welcome new members.

Women’s Choir

The Women’s Choir has been singing for 26 years.  Their specialty is “old time religion” hymns.  They meet weekly and sing every other week at the 10:30 Mass.  They welcome new members.  

Combined Adult Choir

The Men’s Choir and the Women’s Choir get together for special occasions such as 40 Hours, Christmas, Holy Week, and make up the Combined Adult Choir. 

Both the Women’s and Men’s Choirs include long term parishioners as well as some who are new to St. Agnes.  

Cantor Program

OUTREACH MINISTRIES

Alcoholics Anonymous

AA is a civic organization that meets every Sunday evening at 8 p.m. in the Parish Hall. St. Agnes provides the meeting space fort he furthering of AA's good work. Contact - Chris (410) 467-5305

Beyond the Boundaries

The parish has participated in group-reflection, prayer and sharing on Catholic social teaching as it applies to the Baltimore region. We follow up with reminders of responsibilities as well as opportunities to work for a more stable metropolitan region.

Blood Drive

Every April and October, a Red Cross Blood Drive is held in the Old School Hall in a Saturday morning. Cadette/Senior Girl Scout Troop 1257 organizes the blood drive and provides babysitting for blood doners’ children. Parishioners may sign up to donate blood after masses two weeks before the blood drive. Details are in the bulletin. Healthy individuals who are at least 16 years old any who weigh a minimum or 110 pounds may donate blood.  Creche Kringle

Each year at Christmas time St. Agnes sponsors a project called “Creche Kringle”. Parishioners are given the opportunity to buy a gift for some specific needy parson in an attempt to make the feast of Christmas richer, both for ourselves and for the person gifted. The recipients are from St. Agnes and six inner city parishes. Approximately 250 people receive gifts.

 Volunteers are needed on the third or fourth Sunday in Advent (depending on how Christmas falls) to assist in organizing gifts in parishes. People are needed the following Monday or Tuesday to assist loading gifts in various parish vans and cars. The most important need is for our gift givers.

Loaves and Fishes

Every weekend non-perishable and dried foods (fresh vegetables and fruit when available in the summer) are brought to the church. On Monday mornings, volunteers deliver the food to the Catonsville Emergency Food Ministry (located in the rear of Wesley United Methodist Church on Johnnycake Road near Route 40) and My Brothers Keeper (on Frederick Road in Irvington where lunch is served daily to the needy). Paper goods and personal items are also acceptable to be shared with the poor and homeless in our area.

Our Daily Bread

St. Agnes Church provides food donations to Our Daily Bread, a soup kitchen/dining room facility for the poor and homeless created by Catholic Charities in 1981. ODB, currently located at the corner of Cathedral and Franklin Streets in downtown Baltimore, serves an average of 750 persons seven days a week, 365 days a year. 

To help meet ODB needs, volunteers form St. Agnes have been organized into three cooking groups, each having two teams headed by team coordinators. The function of the team coordinator is to remind team members of the type of food to be prepared for delivery to ODB on the third Friday of each month. The basic food donation fall into three main categories: meatloaf, macaroni and cheese casseroles and hard-boiled eggs. Food donations are accepted at the side entrance of Church prior to the 8 a.m. Mass on delivery day as well as the preceding evening (Thursday) between 6 and 7:45 p.m. Food donations from confirmation students are also accepted as part of their service requirements for Confirmation.

Anyone interested in volunteering in this charitable mission may phone: Roger Beliveau, St. Agnes ODB Coordinator at 410-744-2425 or the St. Agnes Parish Office at 410-744-2900.

Partner Relationship

In the spirit of encouraging relationships with parishes in the inner city, we have joined in various projects with St. Cecelia and Immaculate Conception parishes. Together, we have participated in Beyond the Boundaries, prayer partnerships during Lent, pulpit exchanges and parish celebrations in addition to sharing financially in some ministries.

Prayer Chain

Our prayer chain is coordinated by Mary Williams and contains 16 volunteers. When a call for prayers comes, in the chain is activated using captains and sub captains to relay the request to the remaining volunteers. Prayers and recitation of the Rosary are offered from home or church, wherever the volunteer is most comfortable. For more information or to request prayers for a sick loved one, call Mary Williams at 410-747-3138. 

“We have this confidence in God that He hears us whenever we ask for anything according to His will. And since we know that He hears us when we ask, we know that what we have asked Him for is ours.”  1Jn 5:14-15 

Respect Life

This committee is multi-faceted. Members are committed to respecting life from conception to the grave. It provides service to pregnant women by aiding the Pregnancy Center and through the Gabriel Project. It works legislatively, becoming involved with legislature and political campaigns. It marches in protest against abortion and participates each year in the March for Life in Washington, DC. They pray for the needs of the unborn and for their mothers. 

St. Vincent de Paul Society

This is an organization of men and women who, in the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul, work with people in the community who are in need. The money donated to the poor box in church is placed in a fund that is spent for emergencies, such as to prevent Gas and Electric from being turned off, preventing evictions, aid with prescriptions and food assistance. The organization also sponsors a clothing drive in November.

YOUTH ACTIVITIES

Cub Scouts - Pack 336

For over 50 years, St. Agnes Church has been the sponsor of Cub Scout Pack 336.  The Cub Scouting program is for boys – and their families – that are in the first to fifth grades.  We offer the opportunity for boys to make friends and learn about themselves, their community, God and their country.  This is done in a safe, secure, positive environment where all the activities are designed to be FUN.  Boys registering with the Pack do not have to be students at St. Agnes School.

The Pack is organized into dens of typically six to eight boys that meet 2 or 3 times per month.  The Pack meets once a month as a whole, to celebrate the accomplishments of the boys, play games, sing songs, conduct some group activity, and develop a sense of community among the Scouts and their families.  We also undertake frequent Field Trips, Family Camping, Picnics, our annual Pinewood Derby and other Pack Outings.

All our activities are run strictly with volunteers.  We therefore welcome all parents/guardians to help with running the program either by lending a hand at meetings or by signing up as a registered leader.  Everyone who registers as a leader is given basic training and is encouraged to take advantage of opportunities for further, in-depth, training provided by the Boy Scouts’ Baltimore Area Council.  We also follow standard Boy Scout policy of “two-deep leadership” where we never hold any activity without at least two adults present.

Our Cub Scouts are encouraged to continue their development in Boy Scouts and have done so quite successfully.  In the past 8 years, 7 of our former Cubs have gone on to become Eagle Scouts.  It is our hope to continue this tradition for another 50 years. 

Girl Scouts

This program is open to girls in grades 2-12. It includes troops in Brownies, Juniors, Cadets and Seniors, with activities that provide growth in mind, body and spirit. The Girl Scouts sponsor the Red Cross Blood Drive at St. Agnes every April and October.

Youth Athletics

The program provides inter-parochial recreational activities for boys and girls of the parish, ages 7-16 thereby assisting in the development of Christian ideals in the youth that participate.

Basketball - The primary goal of the St Agnes Basketball Program is to provide a great basketball experience for all the children of the parish. We hope to fulfill our goals by instilling in them the purpose and philosophy of the Archdiocesan Basketball Program.

St. Agnes sponsors teams for girls and boys starting in the 2nd grade and continuing through the 8th grade. Our 2nd and 3rd graders play in an instructional league. Starting in 4th grade teams play in CYO leagues. The program also will sponsor teams in the 14-16 age group if there is enough interest. Additionally, the program holds a six-week clinic for girls and boys in the 1st grade.

All of our CYO teams play in one tournament. The 8th grade teams may play in more than one tournament. The 8th grade boys participate in the annual "Sweet Sixteen" tournament in March.

All coaches have volunteer forms on file. They must attend a seminar regarding STAND (Statement of Policy and Procedures in Case of Child Abuse) program. This is an Archdiocesan Program.

St. Agnes Youth Ministry (SAYM)

Teens are given opportunities to deepen their faith, to participate in community service and to grow in leadership ability. Adult volunteers are always welcome to join in activities. Gatherings are held each Sunday evening from 7-9 p.m. in the rectory basement.

Spiritual - Bible Study, retreat for 8th grade confirmanti, Festival of Praise, March for Life, Baltimore Catholic Youth Conference, Steubenville Catholic Youth Conference

Community Service - Habitat for Humanity, visiting nursing homes, preparing food for soup kitchens, helping elderly with snow removal and yard work 

Social - Fund raisers, car washes, pancake supper, auctions, picnic

Training - In Youth leadership