My new job is now official!

As the follow-up post to my job announcement post, I am now free to announce which parish I will be working at.  I will be the youth director at St. Timothy's in Maple Lake, MN, and the middle school religion teacher at the parish's school.  Here is the website if you care to look it up: http://churchofsttimothy.org/index.php?q=node/1

Maple Lake is a rural community of about 2000 people approximately one hour northwest of Minneapolis.  As my brother pointed out, it has all the staples of a MN small town: bowling alley, pizza place, pub, coffee house, and church.  The closest grocery stores, Walmart, and Target are 8 miles away in Buffalo.  I once lived in a rural community in Texas so I'm not new to the experience.  I think this time it will be more sustainable to life because the closest Catholic church is in town, not 20 minutes away like it was in Texas.

I have heard from other priests in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis that St. Timothy's is a great parish and I believe it from what I have read on the website and from speaking with Fr. Meyer, the pastor, and the school's principal.  One thing that I am very excited about is that the parish has an adoration chapel that is open 24/7.  Any parish that can guarantee adorers 24/7 must be solid in the faith.  Plus, all that time praying in the church helps the parish to stay on the path of truth and life. 

Here is the official announcement from Fr. Meyer.

Hello all,

I hope you’re having a great Father’s Day weekend.  I wanted to write to tell you that we have hired a new youth director and middle school religion teacher.  Before making that announcement, though, I want to thank Jacob Nelson once again for all of his great work with the youth these past few years and his work with RCIA.  I know he will be deeply missed as he leaves us at the end of June.  He has done a great job, has grown the youth group, developed the Core Team, instilled a strong sense of the faith in our children, and done many things for our parish.

At the same time, I’m excited to announce that we have hired someone to pick up where he left off and continue leading our youth in their faith and expanding the youth group in new ways.  Please join me in welcoming Heather Quinlan to our staff at Saint Timothy’s.  Heather is currently serving in Rwanda as a teacher and campus minister with Fidesco.  She has a Master’s Degree in Evangelization and Catechesis with the Augustine Institute, has experience in youth ministry at Saint Stephen’s in Minneapolis, has designed and facilitated retreats at a Catholic Camp and in the parish, has delivered many talks on a variety of topics related to the faith, and much more.  Heather is also a part of the Emmanuel Community, a community of the faithful whose three pillars are adoration, compassion, and evangelization.  It is a growing movement here in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, which began in Paris, France in 1972.  Due to her teaching commitment in Rwanda and her travel, Heather won’t be able to join us at Saint Timothy’s until August, but we look forward to welcoming her soon, and she looks forward to meeting everyone as well.  I know she will be a great addition to our staff and our parish and school.  Please join me in welcoming Heather, and let me know if you have any questions.  Again, Happy Father’s Day to all of you.  God bless.

Posted June 15, 2014 at http://sainttimothys.wordpress.com/2014/06/15/staff-announcement/