Rock band led teen to involvement in parish

Besides attending school, he has spent endless hours doing a lot of parish work at St. Vincent de Paul Church in Albany. Even though he is preparing to graduate and go away to college next year, he doesn't see any of that changing. In fact, he expects to remain at least as busy as he is, if not more so.

"I need spiritual renewal. Ever since I can remember, I have been going to church each week, and I really enjoy it," he told The Evangelist.

Rock the faith

It was natural that he would eventually join the music ministry, teens who sing and play instruments at the weekend Masses at St. Vincent's.

In addition, Bill is also a catechist for third graders in the parish's religious education program. "I really love teaching the kids; they're great at that age," he said.

Youth ministry

"We meet with adult members of the various deaneries and parish council groups. It's where ideas are generated, and then taken back to the clusters and individual parishes so the ideas are implemented. It's a great way of networking on a diocesan level between adults and the youth ministry teams."

An example is the SALT experience for teens. The Service Action Learning Teams gather once a year to give teens hands-on experience in the community, exposing them to the effects of hunger, crime, homelessness and inner-city hardships. They help out in soup kitchens, clean rooms in homeless shelters, visit developmentally disabled adults and play with inner-city children. Last summer, they helped build a home for a needy family in Troy.

Involvement

He loves working at the level where decisions are made and added that his busy senior year doesn't interfere in any way with his work at church. As a matter of fact, he thrives on the hectic pace.

"I've just worked the extra time into my schedule," he said.

Wherever he goes to college, Bill said, "I'll always be involved. I've always wanted to worship with my church community. Faith is great, but it is so much better if you share what you do with people in your parish community.

"Friendships I've made with people I work with at church are deep and so much more meaningful when they are related to something of substance, like spirituality, and doing something good for the community."

(11-14-02) [[In-content Ad]]