St. Mary of the Angels invited area churches to this year’s event
By Jeff Kurowski | On Mission
GREEN BAY — Franciscan Fr. Bill Stout called on the words attributed to a 20th-century saint on Sunday, Aug. 18.
At an ecumenical prayer service during the fourth annual St. Mary of the Angels Parish Block Party, Fr. Stout, priest moderator and priest celebrant at the parish, led the reciting of “This is what we are about,” a prayer ascribed to St. Oscar Romero, who was assassinated in 1980 while serving as archbishop of San Salvador.
A line in the prayer reads: “It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and to do the rest.”
Fr. Stout said that the prayer calls on God’s help in restoring “civility and holiness” in the world, but the words can also apply to the purpose of Sunday’s event: to bring people together.
“I call it a ‘fun-raiser,’ not a fundraiser,” said Deacon Paul Umentum, pastoral leader at St. Mary of the Angels, about the Block Party. “We don’t charge for anything. It’s for the neighborhood. It started with the apartments here (the Friar House Flats in the renovated friary building) to get people accumulated to us. We wanted people to know who we are.”
This year’s block party featured face painting, balloons, arts and crafts, a closeup look at vehicles from the Green Bay Metro Fire Department and Glenn’s Towing, raffle prizes and more.
Food served ranged from brats to dishes from the Birriera Xola Tijuana Food Truck, owned and operated by parish members Cristian and Emma Trigeros.
Music was provided for the fourth consecutive summer by parishioner Kevin Van Ess and The Talk of the Town Jazz Band.
The Block Party is partially funded by a grant from the Catholic Foundation for the Diocese of Green Bay.
“We put flyers on doors in a two-block area,” said Deacon Umentum. “We want it to stay local. It’s a neighborhood event. We don’t buy food with the grant (funds). The parish sponsors that. The grant helped us with the band and other entertainment.”
“The grant is based on diversity. This a very diverse area, the surrounding neighborhoods, and we have the apartments,” said Leanne Snell, a parish member for about 20 years and chair of the Block Party Committee. “This year, we did a new thing. We invited area churches. It’s about bringing various communities, various people together.”
Remnant Church, St. Paul Lutheran, United Church of Christ, Grace Lutheran and Congregation Cnesses Israel Temple were all invited.
“It’s an ecumenical effort and I love that,” said Scott Eastman, lead pastor at Remnant Church. “When Deacon Paul said, ‘You’re welcome to come,’ I said, ‘I don’t want to just come. What can we do to help?’”
Remnant Church set up a prayer table at the event and a station for making tie-dye shirts. Eastman, who joined the Block Party Committee, said that he would like to see more ecumenical opportunities.
“In our last meeting, I said, ‘What can we do to bring Green Bay with us to heaven? Let’s work together towards that,’” he said.
“We probably should do more of it. We hope to be invited, and the important thing when we get invited is that we show up,” said Fr. Stout about ecumenical events.
“I’m going to make sure that I get to know all the (area) church ministers,” he added. “When they are doing something and tell me about it, I will try to get a contingent of us to go over there and vice versa.”
For St. Mary of the Angels parishioners, the Block Party is an opportunity to work together and for fellowship among the congregation, said Snell.
“We have a great committee of 13 people. This is a multi-person event,” she said. “It can get a little stressful putting everything together, but it’s fun because everyone is so helpful. It’s a good event to get to know each other.”
“It’s great for me, I get to meet people outside of Mass,” said Fr. Stout, who began serving at the parish in July.
Lilian Bock, a parish member for three years and block party volunteer, said she hopes the event helps to grow the St. Mary of the Angels community.
“It’s very nice,” she said. “Maybe some people here today will like the church and become members.”
