St.
Joseph Parish
Fr. John Cordes, Pastor
306 Iowa, PO Box 165, Olpe, KS 620-475-3326
Parish email: st.joseph_olpe@yahoo.com
Father John email: frcordes03@yahoo.com
Facebook: “St. Joseph Catholic Church”
April 15, 2018 – Third Sunday of Easter
Celebration of the Eucharist:
Mon-Friday @ 7:30 AM Saturday @ 5:00 PM Sunday @ 8:30 AM First Sat. @ 7:30 AM
St. Joseph Parish Contacts:
Parish Bookkeeper: Laurie Schmidt 475-3326 Baptisms/Anointing of Sick/Counseling:
office hours - Wed./Fri. 9-12 Contact Fr. John
Bulletin deadline-TUESDAY @ noon Marriages/Annulments:
Marriages – contact Fr. John 6 mos. prior
Altar Society: Kim Irwin 475-3295 Reconciliation:
Cemetery: Terry Taylor 340-5062 Saturdays @ 4:30 pm
Finance Council Clare Spellman 208-6110 First Sat. after 7:30 AM mass, or by appt.
Funeral Dinners: Linda Dieker 475-3567 Adoration: Wed.in chapel, 8am- 10 pm (use south door)
Knights of Columbus: Brian Flott 343-9241
Liturgy Committee Diana Kuhlmann 475-3784
Pastoral Council: Diana Kuhlmann “ COLLECTION Last Week:
Religious Ed: Rose Redeker 475-3403 Plate $ 265.50
Envelopes 1,928.00 (47 env.)
Priesthood Coll. 75.00
ST. JOSEPH PRAYER LIST
Social Support 150.00
Robyn Bechtel, Montana Cole, Aiden Dreier, Gil Gardner, Dave
TOTAL ………………$2,418.50
Goodell, Lorene Haag, Arylene Haynes, Ed Jackson, Roy &
Marilyn Kuhlmann, Amy R., Kevin Redeker, Helen Richard, Thanks you so very much for your financial
Dave Schneider, Jim Schultz, Kerry Schulz, Gary Trear, Jim
support of our parish!
Wecker.
United States Army: SFC Matthew S. Richter, Sgt. Austin
Burenheide, Pvt. Johnnie Bell, Captain Jacob Haag, Pvt. We have mass openings this month for:
Brandon Raybourn April 23, 25, 27, and 30. We also have many
openings in May and June and are booking
Marines: Lt. Colonel James Bechtel Navy: Robert King
through August. Please contact the rectory on
Ben Pimpl and Steve Harmon have returned safely from Wed. or Friday mornings (9-12).
their deployment. Our families want to thank all those
who kept these soldiers and their families in prayer. There will be a mandatory parent meeting for
parents of 2nd grade CCD students who are
receiving their First Communion on
Wednesday, April 18th, at 7:00 PM with Father
John in the church. Please plan to attend.
Sat. 4/14 5:00 pmJim Schultz
Sun. 4/15 8:30 amFor the people of our parish
Mon. 4/16 7:30 am+Helen Windle
Tues. 4/17 7:30 amHelen Richard ST. JOSEPH BIBLE CAMP…..
Wed. 4/18 7:30 amTo be announced will be held July 9-13 this year. Please mark
Thurs. 4/19 7:30 am+Charles & Mary Krueger your calendars and help us SPREAD THE
Fri. 4/20 7:30 amTo be announced WORD. This is an experience you won’t want
Sat. 4/21 5:00 pmLiv/Dec. members Firmin your kids to miss!
& Addie Schneider family
Sun. 4/22 8:30 am For the people of our parish
LITURGY SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 21 Sunday, April 22
Servers: Truman Bailey, Andon Temeyer Servers: Hagen Wellnitz, Hannah Cole
Lector: Delores Heins Lector: Donna Bolen
Ministers: Dorothy Blaufusss, Joe & Carolyn Cole Ministers: Donna Bolen, Michelle & Aaron Cole
Gift Bearers: John & Linda Dieker Gift Bearers: Brian and Kay Schmidt
Sacristan: Phyllis Krueger
MARK YOUR CALENDAR…..
April 15 St. Anne’s quarterly meeting - after mass – school basement
April 17 Blood pressure/sugar screening w/bingo – Fellowship Meals – 10:30 AM
Finance Council – 6:30 pm
April 18 CCD – 7 PM
PARENT MEETING (First Communicants) – 7 PM with Father John in church
April 19 Bible Study – 7 PM
April 21 Circle II clean school basement for festival – 9 AM
April 22 Knights of Columbus Biscuits & Gravy - 7-10 AM
April 25 LAST CLASS for CCD till fall
April 29 St. Joseph Spring Festival
St. Anne’s Notes……
St. Anne's Altar Society will be holding their quarterly meeting after mass in the St. Joseph School
basement on Sunday, April 15. St. Anne's purpose is to "organize all the women of the Parish in one
Society for the spiritual and material welfare of the Parish". We invite all current St. Anne's members and
lady parishioners 18 years or over with a desire to join the Altar Society to attend. We have new ideas to
further the mission of the Society & would enjoy member input. The annual membership fee is $3.00.
CLEANING of the SCHOOL BASEMENT in preparation for the Spring Festival will be held on Saturday,
April 21 at 9 AM. ALL CIRCLE II members are responsible for this endeavor.
FESTIVAL is APRIL 29th. The work list is published. Please know your assigned duty
and shift and commit to volunteer your time. Each family is asked to bring 2 homemade pies and
Circles 1 and 3 are asked to bring Jell-O or pasta salads. If you would like to donate potatoes, milk,
butter or margarine, please call Kim Irwin (457-3295, please leave a message). Raffle tickets are being
sold by the CCD students now. We are looking forward to a successful event.
Have you paid your $30 Social Support? There is a blue envelope for this purpose in your last mailing of
offertory envelopes. OR you may make your check payable to St. Joseph Church and drop in the
collection in an envelope marked “social support” OR you can always just mail it to the church. THANKS!
The Spring Festival Games Committee is seeking donations to the games and prizes for the
upcoming festival. Donations of money, toys for the prize room, as well as snacks and drinks for
the ring toss would all be greatly appreciated. Items can be dropped off in care of Michael
Dieker at the Olpe State Bank, or contact Angela Nunley 620-794-8281 or Elaine Musick 475-
3378 or elaine.musick@usd253.net with questions or to make arrangements for pick-up. Thanks
to all of those who have given so generously to make this a great day for the kids of community.
POSITIONS OPEN
We will have several positions open on the Pastoral and Finance Councils soon, as current members cycle
off. Please contact Father John at the rectory if you are interested in filling these positions.
“I want to thank you for stocking our student pantry at Emporia High School. Your gifts of Food for the Poor
was a true blessing to the students I serve. We were able to pack between thirty and forty food bags each
week because of generous people like you! Thank you for your help!”
…………………..Heather Wagner, Student & Family Resource Specialist
CASA of the Flint Hills believes all children deserve the opportunity to grow to their full
potential. CASA volunteers benefit both the child and the court system by advocating for the
child’s needs and best interest. Learn more about volunteering with CASA by visiting
soskansas.com/casa or contact Jacque Wellnitz at jwellnitz@soskansas.com or Corina
Sanchez at csanchez@soskansas.com. Classes are forming NOW. No cost to join. You must
be 21.
Many people in our community have been affected by the devastating 6-letter word: CANCER. As
representatives for Relay for Life, Monica Schmidt and Lynnette Schreiner invite YOU to join in the fight against
cancer. Relay for Life of the Flint Hills is an annual event in our community (this year on Sept. 8 from 11 am to
11 pm at the Bowyer Building on the Lyon Co. Fairgrounds) to walk together with friends and family as a symbol
of support for people who have traveled or are currently navigating this difficult journey. Here are several ways
to participate in this worthy cause with no financial obligation:
Sign up as a Cancer Survivor
Sign up as a Caregiver
Participate in the Relay for Life walk
Additionally, we are recruiting teams to take part in the fight against cancer. For more info about creating or
joining a team, or any other aspects of the event, please contact Monica at 620-794-1961 or
mschmi18@g.emporia.edu or Lynnette at 620-757-6336. Thank you and God Bless.
We would love for you to join our family as we celebrate the 60th
wedding anniversary of Roy and Marilyn Kuhlmann with an OPEN
HOUSE on SATURDAY, APRIL 28 from 1:30-3:30PM at Olpe
Methodist Church. No gifts, please—only cards or pictures.
FROM AROUND THE ARCHDIOCESE…
WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER - The next weekend in Kansas City is April 20-22. For more
info. or to apply, please visit www.wwme4youandme.org or call Tony & Barb Zimmerman, 816-741-4066 or
email tonybarbz@prodigy.net.
Couples celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in 2018 are invited to the Archdiocesan celebration on
June 10 at 2:00 PM at Church of the Nativity in Leawood. The receive your invitation from the
Archbishop,please call the parish office and give us your name, address, phone number, and date of your
wedding. PLEASE DO THIS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
VOTE ON DEED OF "FATHERS' POND"
Within the next several weeks, there will be vote after mass regarding the deed of "Fathers' Pond" in Olpe
Jones Park. Those on the committee for the Olpe Veterans Memorial have proposed placement of said
memorial on land in the park and adjacent to the pond. With the general consent of St. Joseph parishioners,
Father John would like to transfer the deed of the property to the Olpe Jones Park.
St. Joseph’s Mowing
It’s that exciting time of the year when the mowing crews begin mowing the St. Joseph’s Church, School, and
Knights of Columbus grounds. We are in urgent need of more volunteers from our Parish to assist us with this
mowing schedule. If you will take the time like the members already listed on a crew, we would greatly appreciate
your participation on a mowing team. Contact Terry Taylor at (620-340-5062) if you have any concerns. A copy
of the mowing crews and schedule for this year is posted on the church bulletin board in the vestibule.
We thank everyone on the list for the last 10 years for their dedicated service in this endeavor and for our
parish. Your efforts do not go unnoticed.
HOW DECLINING CHURCH ATTENDANCE HARMS SOCIETY
"The long-term decline in church attendance should trouble even those who aren’t personally religious. The benefits of
regular church attendance — or any other kind of religious observance — both societal and personal, are virtually
impossible to dispute.
For starters, it can literally add years to your life — two to three, to be exact. Though no one knows exactly why, it is
well documented. At least part of the reason is that it promotes healthier lifestyles. On average, regular churchgoers
drink, smoke and use recreational drugs less than non-churchgoers do. They are also less likely to be sexually
promiscuous. That is what churchgoers don’t do. At least as important is what they do.
A few years ago, Stanford anthropologist T. M. Luhrmann told a story about a Bible study she attended while
researching evangelicals. When a member of the study tearfully told the group that she lacked $1,500 for a necessary
dental procedure, Luhrmann was amazed that the group paid for the procedure anonymously. Luhrmann may have been
amazed, but I suspect that regular churchgoers are not. One of the characteristics of regular churchgoing is that it
increases social ties and strengthens already existing ones. In other words, churchgoing creates communities that
become the means by which people take care of another.
Then there is the effect of churchgoing on children. “Compared to their unchurched peers, youth who are involved in a
religious organization take tougher courses, get higher grades and test scores, and are less likely to drop out of high
school,” sociologist Robert Putnam writes. “They also ”have better relations with their parents and other adults, have
more friendships with high-performing peers, are more involved in sports and other extracurricular activities.“
Moreover, Putnam writes, ”a child whose parents attend church regularly is 40 to 50 percent more likely to go on to
college than a matched child of non-attenders.” This holds true regardless of socioeconomic status.
The problem is that regular church attendance is increasingly tied to socioeconomic status. According to Putnam, while
“weekly church attendance” among college-educated families since the late 1970s has remained more or less the same, it
has dropped by almost a third among those with a high school diploma or less. The result is “a substantial class gap that
did not exist” 50 years ago. It is yet another way that poorer children are falling behind their more affluent counterparts.
Thus, regular church attendance and religious observance are good both for individuals and for society as a whole.
Unfortunately, this suggests that the opposite is also true: Fewer people going to church is not good news, either for
individuals or for their communities.
Those who are vulnerable and whose personal “margin for error” is already very thin are making their already precarious
situation even more precarious by not attending church. But even non-churchgoers who are better off are doing
themselves no favors.
If the goal of a good society is to produce people who can take advantage of opportunities for personal and familial
advancement, then the decline in church attendance will only make things worse.”
……….John Stonestreet, as adapted from an essay in The Heritage Foundation’s 2017 Index of Culture & Opportunity
