PUB CRAWL!!!

Hey Everyone!

This coming Saturday, September 23rd, we are planning a "pub crawl" in Forest Park along Madison Avenue. Please join us for a few beers (or whatever you fancy) as we make our way along the street enjoying a night on the town. We will meet at 8:00 pm at Sara & Emil's place and begin our journey from there. Hope you all can make it as we kick off our fall events!

If you can't make the start of the crawl, feel free to call my cell to meet up with us at any point.

See you there!

Justin Basi

Annual Meeting

Hi everyone,

Per listserv email, the annual meeting is tonight at 7 p.m. at Jimmy's Place in Forest Park. If you haven't done so already, please RSVP to me by noon at katherine_licup@yahoo.com so I can give an accurate count to the restaurant. See you there!

And just a reminder that the Sunday 6 p.m. Mass resumes on Sept. 10.

- Katie

Theology on Tap Lineup

Theology on Tap, the summer lecture (and social) series for young adults in their 20s and 30s begins in July. St. Edmund is the only parish in the near western suburbs to be a host site. Here's the lineup for our Theology on Tap series, starting on Tuesday, July 11, at 7:30 p.m.:

7/11 - Fr. Michael Sparough, S.J. - "Friends in High Places: Making Sense of the Saints (2000 Years of Christian Spirituality in the Time it Takes to Drink 2 Beers)"

Fr. Michael Sparough, S.J., is a storyteller, writer, actor and a spiritual director. He holds an MFA from the Yale School of Drama and a doctorate in ministry from St. Mary of the Lake. He is the director of Charis Ministries and a lecturer at Loyola University Institute of Pastoral Studies.

7/18 - Fr. John Cusick & Fr. Frank Jenks - "The Celebration of Catholic Mass and an Explanation"

Fr. John Cusick is the director of Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Chicago and on staff at Old St. Patrick’s Church. Ordained in 1970, he served as a faculty member of Niles College Seminary and spent seven years as associate pastor at Mary Seat of Wisdom Church.

Fr. Frank Jenks is pastor of St. Alphonsus in Lemont. Previously, he was a pastor of Ascension Parish in Oak Park, where he directed adult retreats and formation days. He has also worked at St. Mary of Vernon, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, and Our Lady of Wayside.

7/25 - Mr. Frank Hannagan - "Insights on Marriage: Why So Many Want It and Why So Many Fail at It"

Mr. Frank Hannagan is the director of the Family Ministries Office. Frank has a BS from Loyola University and an MA from Chicago State University. Previously, he was the director of the Cana Conference of Chicago.

8/1 - Ms. Anne Chrzan - "Prayer For Dummies: Getting In Touch With the Great Ways Catholics Pray"

Ms. Anne Chrzan is the associate director of the Diaconate Formation Program in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

If you are interested in serving on the Theology on Tap Volunteer Committee, please contact Katie L. at kel849@msn.com or call 708-261-7778. You don't have to be a member of St. Edmund to volunteer. Thanks!

Work Day And Theology on Tap

Greetings and Happy Memorial Day to All,

Saturday, June 3, will be our work day at St. Edmund. We'll be painting the fence at the school and doing other various tasks around the church. We will meet at 10 a.m. (not 1 p.m. as previously reported in the Echoes) on the lawn. All the materials will be provided, but please bring your own gloves and wear clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. Please email me to let me know if you will attend so we can make sure we have enough work for everyone!

In other exciting news, on Tuesday, June 6, we are having a Theology on Tap planning meeting in Murphy Hall at 7 p.m. St. Ed's is the only church in the near west suburbs to host the series this year, which will be on Tuesday nights in July. Because we expect to get a decent crowd, and there is a fair amount of work that goes into hosting the event, we really need St. Edmund young adults to step up and participate in the planning committee. It's a great chance to meet not only St. Edmund young adults, but people from the surrounding communities and parishes. And, as the name implies, there are plenty of beverages! Please RSVP to the meeting by e-mailing me. If you can't attend on Tuesday but would still like to help, please let me know!

Katie L.

Get Out Those Work Clothes!

Hi Everyone,

We plan on doing some work around church on Saturday, June 3 (to include painting the fence). More information will be forthcoming, but please save the date!

- Katie L.

April Gathering

Hi All,

Our next gathering will be Sunday, April 2, after the 6 p.m. Mass. We'll meet in Murphy Hall and discuss upcoming events centered around social, service, and faith-based activities. Some ideas we have include: forming a St. Edmund kickball team to participate in the Oak Park Park District league, having a barbecue in early summer, pitching in to help do some improvements around the church this spring, getting involved in the food pantry at St. James in Maywood (our sharing parish), and encouraging more young adults to participate in liturgical ministries. Pizza, snacks and beverages will be onhand.

If you can't make it, please keep checking back here for future activities and also sign up for the listserv (scroll down the page for info on how to do that).

See you soon!

- Katie L.

P.S. Don't forget Daylight Savings Time next week - we spring ahead!

Keep checking for upcoming activities!

Hey Everyone!

Just wanted to send out a quick message regarding some upcoming events. We are trying to coordinate some service events for the church, school, and community over the next few months. There's been talk of cleaning, yardwork, helping with PADS, and many other ideas. Also, from the social aspect, please continue to check back here for updates regarding a possible bowling outing, baseball game, trivia night, etc.

If anyone has any service projects or social event ideas, feel free to reply and attach a comment to this message.

We are also looking to have a table or two representative of the group at the fundraising dinner/dance at the zoo. If anyone is interested, please purchase your tickets at church and the tables will be arranged accordingly. Details are in the "Echoes." Hope you all can make it!

Justin & Laura B.

Grab a drink- 2nd round!

The Young Adults crew is planning another gathering at Slaton's Supper Club (144 S. Oak Park Ave.) following the 6pm mass on Sunday, February 19th. The cost will remain $10 at the door (same as last time), which will get you 2 drinks (beer, wine, or soda) and a wide variety of appetizers. The last get-together was such a great success, we really hope everyone will be able to attend. We are also talking with Slaton's about having a dinner or trivia night in the spring, so any feedback is appreciated.

Hope to see you all there.

Justin & Laura B.

Christmas Concert Reminder

Just a friendly reminder that the William Ferris Chorale will perform at 8pm on Saturday, December 10 in St Edmund Church. The concert is free and will surely be a great evening of music. I know some in the group have expressed an interest in going and it would be fun to see you all there.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday season!

Justin & Laura B.

Thank You From St. James

I received this card from Fr. Meyr at St. James in Maywood today. Thank you to all who donated money for the Food Pantry during our get-together a couple weeks ago.

- Katie L.

E-mail List

If you want to join the Saint Ed's Young Adults listserv, please send an e-mail to: stedmundsyoungadultgroup-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

You can post messages by sending them to: stedmundsyoungadultgroup@yahoogroups.com.

-Katie L. (kel849@msn.com)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks to everyone who attended our gathering at Slaton's -- we had close to 30 people there, and it was really a nice chance to meet each other and find out all the things we have in common. We definitely will plan another event like that soon, probably in January.

In the meantime, Emil P. asked that I post a couple things:

1) The Archdiocese YACHT (Young Adult Catholics Hanging Together) Club West will be meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 6, at Molly Malone's, 7652 Madison Street, Forest Park. YACHT Club West monthly gathering of Catholics in their 20s and 30s from the near west suburbs. The cost is $5 plus whatever you decide to order. The talk will start at 7:45 p.m.; if you want to eat dinner, you can arrive at 7. This month the speaker will be Dr. Terry Nelson-Johnson, director of faith formation at Old St. Pat's, and his talk will be: "What About Advent?" Hopefully a St. Edmund contingent will be able to go!

2) The parish needs lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, ushers, and even altar servers at the 6 p.m. Mass. We can always use more help at other Masses as well if 6 p.m. doesn't work for you. If you want to participate in one of these liturgical ministries, please contact Sister Kathleen Donohoe at (708) 848-4417 or kdonohoe@stedmund.org. It is great to see so many people at Mass -- it would be even more wonderful if more people could assist at the Mass itself!

Additionally, several people suggested various service projects that we might want to consider doing in the future. If anyone else has any thoughts, please send an e-mail to me at kel849@msn.com.

Thanks again to everyone who came to the gathering. Have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving!

Short-Cut Christmas Shopping

Does Christmas shopping get you down? A great way to streamline your gift-buying AND to support St. Edmund school at the same time is by buying giftcards through the Manna Program. Several gift cards are available after Mass. You can also place an order to get cards for additional merchants and they will be delivered to Mass the following week. Cards are available for grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants, even for gas! Although you don't pay more than face value of the card, a percentage will go back to the school.

You can learn more by going to the St. Ed's School Web site (link below - scroll to the bottom), or if you want a .pdf order form, just shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you one.

St. Edmund School

- Katie L.

grab a pre-holiday drink with us!

Hey All!

The Young Adults crew is planning on grabbing a couple drinks and snacks at Slaton's Supper Club (144 S. Oak Park Ave.) following the 6pm mass on Sunday, November 20th. We're collecting $10 at the door, which will get you 2 drinks (beer, wine, or soda) and appetizers, as well as the opportunity to get to know some fellow young adults from the parish. If you'd like to contribute to our sharing parish's food pantry (St. James in Maywood) for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we will be collecting any additional donation you'd like to make that evening as well.

Spread the word and see you soon!
Laura and Justin B.

Young Adults - Let's Get it Started

So we're all busy with our own personal lives, but I thought this might be a good way for us to connect electronically. We can use this space to discuss upcoming events, service projects, and anything else of general interest.

Some of us met after Mass on Sunday night and there was talk of electing (nominating? appointing?) a few people to lend some structure to this amorphous group of 20- and 30-somethings. There was no huge rush to volunteer. We did decide that Justin and Laura would take on the social-chair title, Mike would be secretary (and keeper of the listserve), and I would be service chair. We're looking for someone to chomp on the big enchilada -- president -- and we would also like to have a faith chair.

In the meantime, we're working on getting a little post-Mass get-together (drinks and hors d'ouevres) planned for 11/20/05. More details to come. We also are encouraging a strong YA attendance at the Parish Christmas Concert on 12/10/05 (8 p.m.). We are also talking about having some kind of 12th Night (Epiphany) fiesta after all the holiday craziness subsides. Finally, we are really hoping that some more young adults volunteer for parish ministries; the church could really use Eucharistic Ministers and lectors, especially as the Christmas season nears. If you are interested, call the Rectory (phone list is at http://www.stedmund.org).

-Katie L. (kel849@msn.com)