Bakers

Love to bake? Get rave reviews for your appetizers? Share your treats and your talents as part of our Baker/Coffee And ministry. 

Weekend Mass is a family meal, a time when we come together to celebrate Eucharist.   Parishioners share treats, swap stories and renew the ties that make Saint Ann such a close-knit community.

If you would like to share your special talents by helping to provide tasty treats for these weekend get-togethers, please consider joining our Baker/Coffee And ministry.  (Check the fine print on this Stewardship contract:  We might press you into service for other parish events as well!)

Coffee And & Helper

On one weekend every month we extend the celebration of the Eucharist, gathering after Mass in the Parish Center for Coffee And  (Appetizers And on Saturday). Bakers supply the treats and helpers prepare the coffee, tea and beverages, set up the room, act as hosts and clean up at the end.

If you have a welcome smile and would like to get to know people, consider being a helper for Coffee And weekend.

As with any hospitality effort there’s always background work to be done. Can you help occasionally to set up tables and chairs? Do you love to set a perfect table or perhaps you always wanted to be a chef. Do you love the smell of freshly laundered tablecloths? If any of this appeals to you, this could be your ministry. Unleash your inner Nate Berkus or Martha Stewart and sign up to help with our Behind the Scenes Ministry.

Creative Hands

A new ministry introduced in 2015 to promote fun while honing or learning a new craft. Gathering together once a week we knit, crochet or do any other craft project. Some projects include hats for the homeless, scarves for the Card and Gift Shop and personal projects. A fun group always welcoming newcomers who enjoy each other’s company while coming together to help others.

Sacramental and Graduation Receptions

First Communion, usually celebrated in May, and Confirmation, usually celebrated in October, are very special occasions in a person’s faith formation and journey. Following the sacramental celebration in church, Saint Raphael Parish has traditionally extended these celebrations to include a reception in the Parish Center Hall. Stewards who join this ministry will host the reception greeting and welcoming these special celebrants.

In June we reach out to our graduating parishioners with a Mass in their honor and a reception in the Parish Center Hall letting them know that wherever their education journey takes them, they will always have a home at Saint Raphael’s.

We have a long-standing reputation for our welcoming spirit and this ministry is a wonderful example of that tradition.

Social Activities

Our favorite song says, “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God.”  Being part of the family of God is what the Social Activities ministry is all about.

The church is a community made up of many kinds of people and families.  A community is a group of people who belong together.  A parish family is a really special community.

By providing different social functions, our hope is to help the Saint Raphael Parish family find time in our busy schedules for what is important:  God, family, friends and FUN!

Some of our yearly activities have included a Lenten Supper, several Pasta Suppers, and trips.

The M & M Team

(Mailings & Miscellany)

Parish information arrives, as if by magic:  inserts in the bulletin, letters in your mailbox.  How does it happen?  Elves, you say?  No, it’s the M&M team on the job!

Voted “best named ministry in the parish,” the M&M’s are a group of dedicated volunteers who help us get the word out.  On Friday mornings the word is “bulletins” and our crack team inserts flyers (if necessary) and mails bulletins to parish shut-ins.  Once in a while the word might be “letters” and the team jumps into action, labeling and sorting important correspondence before it goes to the post office.  That’s the first M – Mailings.

The Miscellany department is, well, miscellaneous.  The team would like to recruit someone to make phone calls to gift bearers for each weekend’s Masses, not a time-consuming task but an important one.  We’d also like to explore the notion of sending welcome and congratulation cards to new parishioners or to those marking special occasions.

Consider sharing your time and talent as part of this valuable ministry.  You’ll be helping the parish, engaging in stewardship and having fun, all at the same time.

Extraordinary Fundraising

We at Saint Raphael’s have a reputation for being welcoming and having fun. One area where we promote fun activities is in our “fun”draising. Some of the fundraising activities already in place are Scrip gift card sales,

our Christmas Fair, our

and our Card and Gift Shop sales.

Do you like to work with others? Would you like to sign up for one of our existing fundraising opportunities? Consider this as your ministry of choice.

Money Counters

Think money counters, think generosity.  These dedicated parish stewards give generously of their time and talent to separate and bundle the weekly offering, the treasure given so generously by members of our parish family.

Teams of counters work on a rotating basis on Sunday mornings.  Based on guidelines from the Archdiocese of Hartford the teams have implemented new policies and made a smooth transition into a new, more secure system.  They do a great job!

If your talents run to stacking bills and having fun, you might like to be one of our marvelous money counters.

Adopt-A-Garden

If you would like to be part of a hands-on, groundbreaking ministry, this could be the Stewardship opportunity for you!

In their efforts to enhance and maintain the beauty of our parish landscape the Adopt-A-Garden ministers dig, plant, water, trim and prune.   The results have been spectacular, a variety of growth and color that catches the eye of everyone who passes, letting them know that Saint Ann’s is a living, vibrant community.

Why not share your green thumb, your love of gardening as part of this “ministry of growth”?  Select a spot and make a plan.  Annuals? Perennials?  Early sun?  Mostly shade?    Be the steward of your little corner of the parish grounds.  Plot it, plant it and watch it grow, a living tribute to your willingness to share the gifts God has given you.

Altar Society

What a privilege it is to care for the Lord’s house!  Honoring God in this very special area of Stewardship, Altar Society members work to create a house of worship that is comfortable and pleasing to the senses.  There are four distinct areas of service within the Altar Society.

Flowers
Flowers, the beauty of God’s garden, certainly add to the beauty of God’s house.  The Altar Society’s flower stewards water and prune the plants and flowers that adorn the sanctuary. The Christmas and Easter seasons are their busiest time!

Linens
These stewards take care of the altar cloths, tabernacle cloths, purificators, altar towels, altar server robes and baptismal robes.  (If you look carefully some early morning you might catch an Altar Society member quietly delivering snowy, freshly pressed linens.)

Members of the Linens Group also change and maintain the draperies in the side shrines to coordinate with the seasons of the liturgy.

Cleaning
Working in rotating teams, this group specializes in cleaning and polishing. You can see the fruits of their labor in the sanctuary, the choir loft, the sacristy and the Children’s Chapel, where brass gleams, marble shines and the wood glows with a soft patina.

Information Upkeep
Who keeps the church’s entrance bulletin boards up to date? Who fills the information display stands with Care Notes and other literature?  Why, the information specialists of the Altar Society, of course!

Facilities Maintenance

If you are skilled in the building trades, we invite you to share your time, talent and treasured knowledge as a member of our maintenance team.

Team members assess the parish’s buildings and property for upkeep and routine repairs.  They coordinate carpentry, plumbing and electrical work to upgrade and maintain parish buildings.

Behind the scenes, they change valves and fuses, install canopies and do countless “ounce of prevention” jobs that help maintain the parish plant.  Their goal is to follow our long-term maintenance plan.