St. Elizabeth Seton - Christian Service Commission

The Christian Service Commission is responsible for informing and involving
each parishioner in service to one another.

Alden Nursing Center Ministry	Bereavement Ministry
Bridge Communities (Transitional Housing)	Employment Transition Support
Elizabeth Ministry	Environmental Committee
	Food Pantry (Loaves and Fishes)
Funeral Liturgies and Luncheons	Helping Hands
Hesed House	Ministers of Care
Ministry to the Sick	Peace and Justice
Public Action to Deliver Shelter (P.A.D.S)	Respect Life
Share Christmas	S.E.S. Neighborhood Outreach (S.E.S.N.O.)
STEP (Steps Toward Eliminating Poverty)	Sunday Nursery

The Christian Service Commission leadership includes the following parish member(s):

St. Elizabeth Seton Parish
2220 Lisson Road, Naperville, Illinois 60565, 630-416-3325

"We shall strive to become a more prayerful, peaceful people."

Mass is celebrated each Tuesday, at 10:00 A.M., for the residents. Holy Communion is distributed on the second and fifth Thursdays of each month. On these days, the rosary is prayed by those who wish to gather. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is administered twice each year and when the need is observed or requested.

Our Bereavement ministers meet with families of the deceased, occasionally lead the Wake Service, and provide special parish Memorial Masses for the deceased family members and friends of our parishioners. The ministers are trained in special skills to "comfort the sorrowful." Bereavement ministers, who are also professional counselors, facilitate a Grief and Loss group.

St. Elizabeth Seton Parish's Daybreak is an outreach program designed to assist homeless families to reach a state of independence and self- subsistence. While in the program, families receive financial support through free housing and other subsidies. This financial support is donated by the Parish during this transitional period. To remain in the program, family members (especially the parents) must set and attain goals designed to prepare them for independent living. This transitional housing period is designed to last between eighteen and thirty months for a homeless family. While in the care of the parish, the family is under the close care and supervision of two to four trained mentors who act as the parishes support and training arm, preparing the parents(s) to get the job training skills or education necessary to find a level of employment which will allow the family to become self- sufficient.

Contact: John Hellmuth

Environmental Committee

Contact: Merle Dickhans

St. Elizabeth Seton provides an opportunity for you to participate in helping those in need of basic necessities. We as a church community do this by providing a cart in the Lower Level of the church building for those who want to donate non- perishable food items, cleaning products, and toiletries. If you wish to donate such items, bring them to the lower level and place them on the cart. Each week a volunteer driver, from the parish, will bring the donated items from the cart to the LOAVES AND FISHES COMMUNITY PANTRY.

We also offer you the opportunity to be a volunteer driver by calling the parish office and having your name and phone number included on a list with others in our Parish who are called on from time to time to transport the donated items from the church, in their own vehicle, to the local pantry.

We are sometimes called upon to provide volunteer support to help out at the Community Pantry. If you wish to help at the Pantry, please leave your name and phone number at the parish office or just call the local pantry and make the arrangements directly.

This committee helps the family prepare for the funeral liturgy by assisting with a selection of readings, hymns, and other details. Members also act as Greeters, Servers, Lectors, and Eucharistic Ministers.

Funeral Luncheon Committee: Luncheons are often provided to family and friends after a Funeral Mass. The committee provides food and acts as hostesses. We are always in need of additional people to prepare a side dish or dessert, or help as a hostess.

Helping Hands provides meals and other services to parish households in time of illness and other times of stress. Other volunteers are also available for a variety of other ways they feel they can be "Helping Hands."

If you would like to offer to be a Helping Hand, or if you know someone who could benefit from Helping Hands, please do not hesitate to call the Parish Office.

Hesed House: Eight times a year, our parishioners work at the Hesed House Soup Kitchen in Aurora. Days and times are Mondays and Fridays, 9:00 AM to 1:30 PM.

"For I was . . . ill and you cared for me." This service is intended to spiritually support those in special times of need. Ministers take Holy Communion to the sick at Edward Hospital every Wednesday.

Contact: Bart Federici

Holy Communion is brought to the sick and homebound of the parish. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is administered, as needed, at home or in the hospital. In addition, the parish celebrates the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick each year at a Sunday Mass. Please call the parish office for either of these Sacraments or for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If there is any way the parish can help, please call.

Each Tuesday, October through April, the hungry and homeless gather at the First Church in Lombard, for a hot meal and a place to sleep for that night. On the 3rd Tuesday of each month, our parish is responsible for providing meals and a secure and warm environment for the homeless of our area. P.A.D.S. volunteers are needed to prepare a dish, serve supper or breakfast, do laundry, (at the shelter or in your home) or supervise (from Thursday night at 7:00 PM until Friday morning at 7:00 AM, in four hour shifts).

The Peace and Justice Committee is an active arm of the Service Ministry. It's stewardship is based upon our Catholic roots in Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching. Recent activities include both direct service, emphasizing empowerment and advocacy, and addressing systemic issues which deprive vulnerable individuals and families of dignity and opportunity.

Contact: Christian Service Commission

Respect Life, at St. Elizabeth Seton, aims to keep present the truth of the sacredness of all human life. Through prayer, education, and public visibility and action, we proclaim that the unborn, aged and dying deserve loving care and concern. The group's activities center around significant holidays, religious events, and Respect Life issues.

Share Christmas provides parishioners an opportunity to provide a gift for individuals or families who might otherwise receive nothing at Christmas. It is an opportunity for us to educate our children, as well as ourselves, about the Gospel mandate to be concerned about our sisters and brothers. Volunteers are required to staff a table, to distribute gift tags, and to receive the gifts (November and December). Our Adolescent Ministry youths bag and distribute the gifts collected.

This is a coordinated group of parish volunteers who work under the auspices of the parish manager to screen requests and provide emergency funds for those who are in need. Our trained volunteers do face to face interviews and provide information and referrals.

Contact: Jeanne Sheridan

A nursery is available during the 8:30 and 10:00 AM Masses for children ages one through five. The nursery operates on a co-op basis. Parents must fill out a registration card and agree to be placed on a schedule to attend to one Mass per scheduling period. A schedule is put out three to four times a year. Most parents find their Sunday morning liturgy to be much more fulfilling when young children are playing happily in the nursery!

Contact: John Lardner

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