Note: The 2008 Province Meeting will be held on July 21, 2008 at Blessed Sacrament Church, Grand island, NE
Attendees from each of three Nebraska Diocesan Councils of Catholic Women will convene to discuss and exchange ideas regarding NCCW programs and projects.
July 19, 2007
Greeting you via the internet is a new way for many women in Council of Catholic Women to become acquainted with their latest Province Director. This Province Director was installed during the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, General Assembly, 2006. As such, I attended board meetings in January and June of ’07 held in Washington, D.C. at the retreat House near the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. During the January Board meeting the “newbies” were indoctrinated to the working of the board and were given our assignments. I was assigned to the Family Concerns Commission with Joan Mack as the National Chair, Program Development and Resource Committee with Barbara Ericson as Chair, and the Election Committee with Janice Pikal as Chair.
The National Council of Catholic Women is involved with Right to Life and I was able to be a part of the group that stayed and attended the Vigil Mass held at the Basilica and to carry the NCCW banner during the March in January.
The June Board meeting was again held in the same location and this time Monsignor Eugene Lozinski of New Ulm, Minnesota was with us the five days. We heard reports from the executive board along with reports from Sheila McCarron, Executive Director, and Carla Walsh, Program Director. The National Council of Catholic Women has lost 361 affiliates this year and Annual Giving is 45% of the budgeted amount and Individual members account for only 1/3 of the budgeted income. The budget calls for 10 new individual NCCW members from each affiliate.
Proposed resolutions were approved by the board to be presented at Convention. It was voted to approve purchase of a new computer data system (eTapestry). The 2009 Convention will be held in Jacksonville, Florida.
President Ellen, encouraged Province Directors to likewise encourage diocesan presidents to file reports, especially the volunteer hours and the amount of money given to charity with the National office. At the National convention, the plan is to present Bishop Bransfield (the Episcopal Liaison appointed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) with a check representing the volunteer hours worked by women around the country.
New item for sale will be an NCCW individual pin along with a new tote bag. Another update is a new NCCW poster which will be available for sale at the Convention in Columbus. The keynote speaker for the 53rd National Convention will be Matthey Kelly, internationally known speaker and autor, who believes that God does not want to control, manipulate or stifle you. “God wants you to become the best version of yourself!” His book The Rhythm of Life – Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose is going to be the National Council’s next Book Club selection.
For those attending the Columbus event the charity will be socks and underwear in sizes for men, women and children. They will be given to JOIN, an organization that serves the inner city of Columbus, Ohio.
Our Mother of Mercy School Project has had over $42,000.00 donated and the Principal, Dolores Fulton, will be at the Convention to personally thank everyone for their efforts. Also a woman from that vicinity crocheted a bedspread to be a raffle item in appreciation for all that the National Council did to help their school.
This Province Director attended board meetings in Omaha, Lincoln, and Grand Island dioceses. By sending national Board minutes and FYI to the three bishops of Nebraska and Diocesan Moderators, they are kept informed of activities of the National Council of Catholic Women.
I am the daughter of the late August and Mary Kloeker, attended St. Gregory’s Elementary and the public high school in Marysville, Kansas. Graduated from the Marymount College, School of Nursing. Worked as a Registered Nurse in hospitals in Denver, Minneapolis and St. Josph’s in Concordia, KS when I met Kenneth Stallbaumer and married. Lived in Baileyville, KS four years before moving to Oconto, Nebraska (Custer County) and we are engaged in the farming/ranching industry. Kenneth and I are parents of six grown children, grandparents of seven grandchildren and trying to retire.
May the Holy Spirit guide us in our mission statement:
The National Council of Catholic Women acts through its membership to support, empower and educate all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service. NCCW programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the Church and society in the modern world.
Cecelia Stallbaumer, Omaha Province Director
77994 Rd. 4343
Oconto, NE 68860
308.858.4977
cecestallbaumer@hotmail.com
