CHARLESTON—The diocesan office of Catechesis and Christian Initiation honored some of its longtime members during a Celebration of Parish Catechetical leaders held at the Diocese of Charleston’s Pastoral Center on Jan. 18.
Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone celebrated Mass for the group at the Holy Family Chapel, then attended a luncheon at the Pastoral Center, where he presented awards for Catechetical Service and Leadership to Elena Ziegler, Donna Tomasini and Sharon Willi, all of whom attended the event.
Ziegler, director of religious education at St. Anne in Rock Hill, and Tomasini, director of Christian formation at St. Peter in Columbia, were both honored for 30 years of service. Willi, director of religious education at Christ Our King in Mount Pleasant, was recognized for 20 years.
The office of catechesis also presented Bishop Guglielmone with a special gift — an almost life-size cardboard cut-out of himself. The present was the source of good-humored laughter as the actual bishop walked speculatively around the flat bishop, noting the shortness of his cardboard self.
Awards were also presented, in absentia, to Cindy Roth, St. Mary Magdalene in Simpsonville, 30 years; Cherie Smith, St. John Neumann in Columbia, 25 years; Tom McHugh, Our Lady of Lourdes in Greenwood, 15 years; Mitzi Weaver, St. Francis by the Sea on Hilton Head Island, 15 years; Deacon Stephen Brown, St. Thomas More in Columbia, 15 years; June Tarangelo, St. Andrew in Myrtle Beach, 10 years; and Cassy Vernau, Our Lady of the Lake in Chapin, 5 years.
Top photo, Miscellany/Caroline Lindsey: Elena Ziegler (left) and Donna Tomasini pose with their awards for 30 years of service. Cindy Roth, not pictured, has also served for 30 years.
