You have probably heard the joke; a reporter asked the manager of a business, “How many people work here?” and the manager replied, “About half of them.”

I can honestly say that that is NOT the case for the staff here at Resurrection Parish. Both paid staff and volunteers put in a lot of time and talent in keeping the parish running smoothly as possible. However, it has come to my attention, that there are some questions as to just how many people work for the parish. 

A few people have asked the deacons how much they get paid being a deacon. To be clear, despite all the wonderful hard work that our deacons do for the parish, permanent deacons are NOT paid for their ministry. The parish does cover much of their expenses, such as their continuing education requirements, their annual retreat, and their annual convocation. But they are not paid for assisting a Mass, for celebrating vigil services for the deceased, for baptisms, weddings, or any of the other ministries that they are involved in. They do it all for the love of Jesus Christ and for the parishioners of Resurrection Parish.

In terms of paid staff, not including myself, we have three full-time staff members, and technically a fourth. Of course the foundation of our office staff are Trish, our Business Manager, and Mariana, our Office Manager/Parish Secretary. You might not know this, but both Trish and Mariana started working for the Church within months of each other; Mariana at Holy Name and Trish at St. Casimir. They have both been serving this parish for over 30 years; and that experience is invaluable to me as pastor. They know the history of so many of the families that make up the parish. As Business Manager, Trish makes sure all the bills are paid, deals with our various vendors, and does an excellent job negotiating the best deals we can get. Mariana is the public face of the parish, puts together the bulletin and announcements each week, schedules the EMHCs and Lectors, handles the Mass Cards, and recently has been given the task of being the Safe Environment Coordinator – making sure with have the paperwork we need for our volunteers so that they can work with the youth. The only other full-time employee of the parish is Paul, who takes care of all the maintenance and grounds, which is a lot considering we have two campuses and a total of 5 buildings (the 6^th building, which we rent to Refreshing Life, they take care of the inside maintenance).

Now I mentioned that technically we have a fourth full-time staff person, but that is on paper only. Rich, our Director of Faith Formation, works part-time for us, and part-time for Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Maple Shade. He coordinates both Religious Education programs, and plans and leads adult faith formation programs at both parishes. For easier accounting purposes, Rich is considered a full-time employee of Resurrection Parish, and Our Lady of Perpetual Help reimburses us half of his salary and benefits.

We also have a few part-time employees. Barbara Meehan coordinates all the ministry for the pastoral care of the sick, and the bereavement ministry (meeting with each family when they need to plan their loved one’s funeral). Rosemary is our Music Director, and we have Collin, a college student, who works hourly to help keep Holy Name Church clean and stocked each week.

But that’s it. It is a small but very hardworking and dedicated staff. We should be proud of them … I know I am.