Dear Friends:
I can't believe that I am more than 1/2 way through my Fall Semester (2011) of Seminary! This fall I am taking the following Courses:
*Early & Medieval Church History
*Foundational Theology
*Pentateuch
*Pastoral Counseling
*Supervised Ministry I
Course work seems to be going well. According to my official transcript, so far I am making Straight A's! That in itself is a miracle (smirk). I pray that I do well this semester and keep my A's streak.
I finally received confirmation back from the Registrar of St John XXIII Theological Seminary. Years ago I been called to ministry and at that time it was in the United Methodist Church. Yes it is quite a bit different to be a Catholic! That in itself is another story and I will save it for a future blog update.
Anyway, as a result back then I was serving as a Licensed Student Local Pastor and had taken some seminary courses as well as extra course during my B.A. degree at IU. Long story short, I was able to receive 22 hours credit for previous courses after official transcripts were reviewed by the Registrar. That cuts nearly 1/3 of my 3 year degree program (Master of Divinity). Bottom line, if I continue to do well, take full loads through next year, then I pray that January of 2013 I will be eligible for Holy Orders. At this end of this semester I will be eligible for Deacon's Orders. Whether I am called or not to Deacon's Orders is at the discretion of my Bishop and the Archbishop.
As far as the new parish here in Indianapolis, St John XXIII Pastoral & Outreach Center, I have been extremely busy getting ready to launch four (4) new HIV Support Groups for the HIV Community here in Indianapolis. St John XXIII POC's outreach ministry is to the HIV/AIDS Community in Indianapolis. Prior to my calling, I served this community for the past several years as a volunteer. IN 2009 I served as Co-Chair for the Ryan White Part B Program Advisory Council. This is a group of about 80 professional, para-professional and volunteers as well as clients who all focus on serving the HIV Community either as Physicians, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Case Managers, and volunteers. This group, by law, is responsible for drafting recommendations to the Ryan White Act Program Funding Officer each year, stating how federal funds from the Ryan White Care Act, will be used in Indiana.
Currently I am searching out volunteers to join our HIV Support Group Facilitator Teams. This group will be volunteers which will be trained as Support Group Facilitators and then manage and run the support groups launching in January 2012. I have one confirmed volunteer and several applicants. Right now we will have four (4) different support groups, which though there are support groups for HIV/AIDS clients in Indianapolis, none are faith-based nor are they targeted for specific segments of this community. St John XXIII POC will offer the following support groups starting in January 2012:
*New Diagnosed
*Long Term Survivors
*Family Members & Care Givers
*Women & HIV
To learn more about the programs we are currently offering, go to our parish website at http://www.stjohnxxiiipoc.org. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact me, Rev. Brother Jeff Wolfe by calling the parish office at 317-238-9393 or sending me an email at rev_jwolfe@stjohnxxiiipoc.org. Volunteer Facilitators will receive personalized training before joining one of the Facilitation Teams. All Training is paid for by St John XXIII POC and all training materials for volunteers are free.
The other portion of the HIV/AIDS ministry that St John XXIII POC will be launching sometime in 2012 or 2013 will be a Not for Profit Care Coordination Program which will be faith-based. Care Coordination Programs are the programs through which individuals with HIV and/or AIDS receive free access to all medicines, financial assistance, etc, in order to learn how to live with this now "chronically manageable disease".
As a result, the first step was filing St John XXIII POC as a DBA of ACCUS. The next step in which I am currently involved, is pitching the program to power Business persons (CEOs and CFOs) of major companies based in Indianapolis. The purpose is to reach out the business community for support. Right now I am meeting with CEOs and CFOs of various businesses which I worked with when I was a Project Manager for IBM and Xerox for the last 18 years. These individuals will hopefully volunteer to form the first Board of Directors for a NEW Not for Profit Charity Corporation which will oversee the operation and grant funding of the faith-based Care Coordination Program which St John XXIII POC will eventually launch in 2012-2013 time frame.
If you are interested in this program and volunteering, please again contact me at the contact information I provided above or the contact information below.
I am so excited as I continue to move through seminary, learning all I can as I prepare myself to soon be ordained a Catholic Priest and officially be able offer Masses as an Independent Catholic parish in Indianapolis. We will be one of the only Independent Catholic parishes in Indianapolis and there is a great need for such a parish.
That is all for now. Please continue to pray for the ministry, pray for me and pray for the HIV Community of Indianapolis and also I ask a special prayer that the leaders of this great country will guide us out of this terrible double dip recession and move our country back on track so that the many out of work persons may soon have jobs to feed and support their families
Peace,
Br Jeff
Rev. Brother Jeff Wolfe, M.Div. (Candidate)
Director & Administrator
St. John XXIII Pastoral & Outreach Center
http://www.stjohnxxiiipoc.org
rev_jwolfe@stjohnxxiiipoc.org
rev_jwolfe@accus.us
(317) 238-9393 (office)
(952) 556-9171 (fax)
http://www.accus.us
