St Anne's Guild - St John Neumann Parish

St Anne's Guild of Saint John Neumann Parish

The purpose of St. Anne's Guild is to help the Church grow spiritually and physically.

The Guild meets every second Wednesday of the month in the church, and the members are encouraged to attend Mass prior to the meeting. The members have a Corporate Communion at the 8:30 Mass every First Sunday of the month. We assist the Religious Education program with monetary help when needed for the First Communion Class, Confirmation Class and their retreats, books for English classes, and Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations. Our activities continue throughout the year. We welcome new members to join at anytime during the year. The dues are $2.00 annually.

Religious articles are sold after Masses, or are available during the week by contacting the church secretary. There is a selection of rosaries, prayer books, medals, statues, bibles, devotions, and miscellaneous items. Rosaries are also made for sale or donated to needy places.

The Parish Library is operated by volunteers, and has an excellent selection of books, tapes, videos, cassettes, and devotional booklets. The library staff also sells coffee and donuts and sometimes burritos after the Sunday Masses. The profit is used for purchasing new articles for the library.

The Altar Committee is responsible for keeping the liturgical environment in accord with the liturgical year. The Sanctuary and Chapel are decorated accordingly. New altar linens have been made in various colors. Volunteers also prepare the altar for daily Mass.

Members visit local Nursing Homes, taking Holy Communion to the residents, and help assist in some of the activities such as playing games, bringing treats to the residents, and taking a small gift to the residents at Christmas time.

Funeral brunches are prepared by the Kitchen Committee as an expression of sympathy to the family.

The Crafters meet weekly to make items to sell at bazaars, and other occasions. These are also used as decorations during special activities.

The Quilting Group also meets weekly; making quilts of various sizes, crib quilts, twin, double bed and queen size. Dog and cat bed quilts, and stuffed toys for children. Table runners and placemats are also made. Some of the baby quilts are donated to the local Linus Project.

A Prayer Chain is also done as needed for the sick and special needs. Members also participate in the World Day of Prayer along with other churches in the area.

Special events are conducted throughout the year, including a Welcome Back Potluck in the Fall, a Halloween Party for the Religious Ed children and their parents, helping with the Parish Fall Festival, spring and fall Rummage Sales, Baking Christmas Cookies and selling them at the Christmas Bazaar. A big project is the Jesse Tree, which this past Christmas had over 850 gifts to needy children from our neighboring parish. The gifts were delivered to the parish for their annual children's Christmas party. A new social event starting last year is a Jam Session in which many musicians come to play for several hours. Also several dinner-dances are held throughout the year. Numerous drive-up dinners are held featuring tamales, chicken dinners, and other foods offered. A Ladies Tea and Fashion Show is always graciously presented and very well attended. The tickets are always sold out well in advance. A Valentine's Party is held featuring chocolates, roses and wine. St. Patrick's Day is observed with a corned beef and cabbage dinner in the evening. The Guild members help other church organizations with these events. A Spaghetti Dinner is held to help raise money for the Building Fund, as well as a wonderful breakfast buffet held every other Tuesday. During Lent, soup and bread suppers follow The Stations of the Cross. An annual Parish Picnic is held in the spring of the year.

An annual spring clean up of the interior of the church is done during Lent.

The Guild members work with all other organizations in our church for some of their events, and do other tasks as requested.