Priest calls the tune on retreats

By PAT PASTERNAK- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

Many speakers can hold an audience in the palm of their hands. Rev. Peter Chepaitis, OFM, has some of his fellow-presenters in the same place.

That's because he often uses puppets to make his points during the retreats he gives. He will also break into song and play the violin if the occasion calls for it.

The priest, who has been teaching high school, leading group prayer and giving retreats for 30 years, heads Bethany Ministries, located in the Middleburgh area of Schoharie County. It's named for the town in the New Testament where Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived.

Everyday Gospel

The purpose of the ministry, Father Chepaitis said, is to "bring the Good News of the Gospel into the everyday experience of all people, through Franciscan witness, popular preaching, teaching and pastoral leadership.

"The members of Bethany Ministries are not members of any religious community," he continued. Rather, they are "individual households of people who may choose to be members of the ministry for several months or years. Some stay for a short time; some stay longer."

The members, who come from different religious traditions, pray in each other's homes; share ministries like preaching the Gospel, and spiritual counseling and mentoring; and open their homes to those who require individual retreat experiences.

Leaders of souls

Father Chepaitis and Sister Anna Tantrits, IHM, a co-founder of Bethany, work throughout the Diocese of Albany. For example, in the fall, they will direct parish retreats at St. Mary's Church in Nassau and St. Peter's in Delhi.

Recently, Father Chepaitis preached a week-long retreat for women at the Dominican Spiritual Life Center in Niskayuna.

Father Chepaitis focuses on the spiritual life and prayer, using puppets, music and song, different forms of prayer, and spiritual guidance.

Ecumenism

Father Chepaitis said that Bethany Ministries was developed with an ecumenical focus in mind. In the seven years it has been in operation, its members have reached out to those from other religious traditions and the "unchurched."

"We are a fluid, dynamic and developing ministry which is just beginning to grow," Father Chepaitis said. He does not want the group to get so big that it loses sight of its focus: to be available on an individual basis as well as for groups and retreats.

"We aren't a big retreat house, just a group of people that want to reach out to the larger community," he concluded.

(Contact Bethany Ministries 827-4699. Visit www.midtel.net/~bethmin.)

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