Candidates for Pastoral Council Elections 2017

I would be honored and humbled to serve the parish as a council member and excited to assist in our upcoming goals and initiatives.

Sheila and I have attended Saint Patrick’s since we moved to Tacoma in 1989 and our children were educated at St Patrick’s school. We became what we considered to be “fully engaged in the parish” about 7 years ago when we returned from California. At that time we decided to live in the faith and since then I have been involved as an usher, choir member, Knight of Columbus and a sponsor for a catechumen.

We consider St Patrick’s our home, not just our home parish, but our home.

My family joined the St. Patrick parish when we moved from Arizona to North End Tacoma in 2008. We really appreciate St. Patrick because of its children focused atmosphere (Children’s Liturgy), excellent religious education programs for both its own school and public school children, and its encouragement to have parishioners be highly active in church ministries.

I have been a Grade 1 and 2 Catechism Teacher in the Family Based Catechism Ministry for over 4 years now. This parish ministry provides religious education for public school parish children.

My three sons, Maximilian, Christian, and Nicholas have all had First Confession and First Communion at St. Patrick’s and they are enrolled in Family Based Catechism.

I am excited to continue active involvement in this great parish and welcome the opportunity to further assist my Parish by serving on the Pastoral Council. I am Civil Engineer by profession and would apply my communication and technical skills to assist the Pastoral Council in its vital service to our Parish.

Recently, I learned that there would be opportunities to serve on the parish counsel this spring. I would like to share a few reasons why I might be a valuable addition to this body.

• I have lived a committed Christian life since 1989 characterized by prayer, scripture study, charitable works and regular church attendance.
• I have a Master of Divinity in Christian theology. (Attained earlier in my life while attending Protestant churches)
• I worked as an elementary educator in Christian schools for 10 years.
• I am actively serving Saint Pat’s now as elementary religion teacher, usher and member of the Knights of Columbus.
• Most importantly, I have a genuine love for God and His people.

My name is Andrew Kariuki and I am originally from Kenya; and having moved to the US in 2003 with my family. I am married with 2 wonderful children, with our youngest one been a 3rd grader at St Pats School. We became members of the church and school 5 years ago, and have continued to witness and admire the great support and services that we enjoy by been part of the St Pats family.

I am honored if elected to be a member of the Pastoral committee, so as to be able to give back to the great St Pats community. We have always received awesome support and services from the church and school, which is a major reason that I would love to give back the same support and services to all out there seeking the same support as we did, or more so, even great support.

Thank you for believing in me and God bless everyone for all they have done or will do.

My name is Kathy Bethke. I have been a parishioner here at St. Patrick Church for almost 20 years. My husband, Bob, and I have three children that have attended St. Patrick School since kindergarten. Our two oldest are now at Bellarmine and our youngest is in sixth grade.

I have served on the School Commission, Parents Association and co-chaired the annual REACH Auction. I was also fortunate enough to serve several years on the parish Stewardship Commission with Fr. Seamus.

I feel blessed to be a part of this parish and it would be an honor to serve on the parish Council. Thank you for considering me.

St. Patrick Catholic Church has been the foundation of our faith and family life since Amy and I started attending in 2003.  Both of us went through the RCIA program the following year and our entire family (alive at the time; Henry arrived later) was baptized at the Easter Vigil in 2004.  All 3 children have attended St. Patrick School and our oldest is currently a sophomore at Bellarmine.  The decision to become Catholic marks an important point in my life.  Although we put a lot of thought and prayer into making this choice, I never could have fully understood the indelible impact it would have.  We owe a great deal to this parish and the greater Church for the quality of our lives, our family and our marriage.  I am interested in this role as a modest attempt to repay my debt of gratitude.

Professionally, I am the President of KeyBank for the southern half of Washington and the Olympic Peninsula.  I serve as a director on 3 other boards in our community:  University of Washington-Tacoma, Economic Board of Tacoma-Pierce County and the Children’s Museum of Tacoma.  I also serve as a Director on the National Board of the American Cancer Society.

Earlier today I was able to view a list of the candidates for the 4 open positions.  I know many of the people on the list and read the bios of those I didn’t.  I humbly add my name to the list knowing all are extremely well qualified.  If chosen, I would be honored to serve St. Patrick Catholic Church.

Saint Patrick has been my parish and church home since 1971, first with my parents and siblings and now with my own children.

I attended St. Patrick School, Bellarmine Prep, and Georgetown University and, after staying home with my children for several years, now work at the school as registrar and administrative assistant. My two children also attended St. Pat’s and are now students at Bellarmine.

The changes in our parish in recent years have been challenging but have, I believe, strengthened our community in many ways.  I am particularly grateful for increased opportunities for lay people to minister to and serve each other.

I have volunteered over the years at St. Patrick School in various capacities but have found myself called in recent years to more involvement in the parish.  I am currently a Eucharistic Minister at the 8:30 Mass.  I would welcome the opportunity to serve on the Pastoral Council.

Always put God first. My husband, David, and I moved here from the Midwest as a newly married couple 21 years ago, and those words from the priest who married us continues to resonate. We have been parishioners at St. Patrick for over 21 years, baptized our two girls here and sent them to St. Patrick School. As our younger daughter graduates this year and heads to Bellarmine with her sister, I welcome the opportunity to redirect more of our time and talent to serve our parish on the Parish Council.

I have served on the School Commission, worked many events, projects, school field trips and camps, and co-chaired the school’s largest fundraiser, the REACH auction. I enjoy engaging in the progress of things I love and believe in, and St. Patrick Parish is where we started our family’s legacy and where we will always call home.

I appreciate your consideration of me to serve God, our parish and you in the upcoming year.

My wife and I have been parishioners here at Saint Patrick’s for more than 20 years. We attended mass regularly when the kids were younger, but became more involved in various ministries once our youngest child graduated from Bellarmine (via Saint Patrick School) in 2014. About 2 years ago we joined the Ushers and Greeters ministry based on how welcomed and valued we felt when coming to mass week after week. Soon afterwards I expanded my involvement and became an Usher at 8:30 mass. About a year ago I took over as Head Usher which exposed me to more of the workings of the liturgy commission and of our Parish in general.

I have been in the funeral industry for most of my life; working for my father in our family-owned business before becoming cemetery superintendent at Gethsemane Catholic Cemetery 4 years ago. My dad taught me a foundational lesson about the importance of relationships and of community and this belief is reinforced daily in my work for the Archdiocese.

I am interested and engaged in many aspects of parish life, but my biggest passion is centered on our parish priority of Building Communities: expanding the sense of welcome that people feel when they come to our church, encouraging others to attend mass, and helping them to become active in ways they may not have considered.

It’s important to me to understand and represent the needs and wishes of as many parishioners as I can. I believe that I can add value to the Pastoral Council not only because my strengths complement those of the council members, but also because I am very interested in ensuring that we are best prepared for future challenges and for the changing needs within our community.