Spirit of the Eagle – June 2015
Congratulations on the 50TH Anniversary of your ordination,
Rev. Canon William C. Neuroth!
When you think about it, the 50th anniversary of the ordination of a priest is a huge milestone. To have been a priest for 50 years is quite an accomplishment, and is worth celebrating. Knowing how he has made a difference in the lives of so many people, our dear friend Right Reverend Bishop Starks is celebrating Holy Mass for this joyous occasion. Please join us in the parish hall after Holy Mass as Fr. Neuroth’s 50 years of priesthood are celebrated with a special coffee hour.
A priest’s life is one of service to the People of the Church and obedience to the Church. It requires dedication, patience, and holiness. On a priest’s golden jubilee, he has spent 50 years as a shepherd dedicated to the service to his flock. It is fitting that in the year of his Golden Jubilee that Fr. Neuroth was honored on April 24 as the recipient of the 2015 Mentoring Plus ‘Seeds of Hope Award’ for his “distinguished career as a pastor and pioneer in the fields of social services and mental health services, and for being a hero to the homeless and the hopeless”.
Fr. William C. Neuroth is a native of Newport and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 1965, having received a Master’s Degree in Divinity from St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati. In 1966, he founded Brighton Street Center in Newport. While many people today are familiar with Brighton Center and the resources it provides to the community, not everyone knows its rich history. As a result of Fr. Neuroth’s vision and hard work almost 50 years ago, Brighton Center was able to impact the lives of over 84,000 individuals last year alone.
From 1965 to 1969, Fr. Neuroth taught at his alma mater, Newport Catholic High School. Sensing the need to further his education and to discover other avenues in which to help families, he received a master’s degree in social work from St. Louis University in 1971. He then moved to Wisconsin where he worked for the State Department of Social Services. Having an opportunity to return to Northern Kentucky, he began employment with the newly formed Department of Human Resources and served as Superintendent of the Daniel Boone Youth Center in Boone County, a treatment center for troubled youth.
In 1980, Fr. Neuroth became a priest in the Anglican Catholic Church and moved to Missouri where he pastored a small congregation until the opportunity to return home to Northern Kentucky presented itself again. This time, it was for keeps as he became our pastor in 1983 until a severe health crisis forced him to retire on October 30, 2011, that being the Feast of Christ the King. Since then, he has returned to relatively good health, Thanks be to God, and leads a pretty active life serving as our Rector Emeritus and traveling to perform Mass at our diocese’s All Saints parish in Dayton, Ohio. God bless you, Fr. Neuroth!
Spiritual Tidbits for June from Father Tim
June has now arrived and we usher in the long Trinity season along with the first day of summer. 2015 is moving right along. As I contemplate what to write in this newsletter I pray for God to send me words; much like I do when I begin writing sermons. Thoughts come. Memories flow like sand through the hour glass. To date I have experienced 52 June months, and really only have scattered memories of about 45. Many of them happy, some of them sad, all of them precious. Youthful memories — everything so new. Middle-age memories — discovering there are crosses to bear on the pilgrimage. Mature memories — understanding Truth, what It is, and where It originates. You can see, if you look closely, these memories are actually a symbolism of the Holy Trinity. The Father — Creator. The Son — Sacrifice. The Holy Ghost — Enlightenment. I pray this June you receive holy thoughts too numerous to count, too special to take for granted, and too precious to ever forget. God bless you. ~Father Tim
June Spirituality Class
We will conclude the following two resources: The Ways and Teachings of the Church and The Way of a Pilgrim. Pertaining to the first resource, if a Little Learning is a dangerous thing, it is also true that dense ignorance is a calamity. No one should willingly be ignorant concerning a great institution with which he is connected, or with reference to matters by which he is surrounded. The Historic Church is without doubt the greatest institution ever established on the earth — Divine, Universal, Permanent. Everything connected with it is important: its foundation, its history, its buildings, its customs, its precepts and laws, its ministry, its ordinances and ceremonies, its worship, its missionary work at home and abroad. No intelligent member of God’s Church should disdain — rather should he fervently desire — to be well instructed in all these things with which his life is brought in contact over and over again all through the year. The second resource was written by an unknown nineteenth-century Russian peasant and tells of his constant wrestling with the problem of “how to pray without ceasing.” Through his journeys and travels, and under the tutelage of a spiritual father, he becomes gradually more open to the promptings of God. The reader is enriched as he shares these religious experiences in a most humble, simple, and beautiful narrative. Please join me after Mass the 28th of June on a winding, joyful path to both physical and spiritual enlightenment. We will discuss the last chapter in this class. ~Father Tim
Finding within myself a powerful contrarium, namely the desires that belong to the flesh and blood, I began to fight a hard battle against my corrupted nature, and with the aid of God I made up my mind to overcome the inherited evil will, to break it, and to enter wholly into the Love of God. . . . This, however, was not possible for me to accomplish, but I stood firmly by my earnest resolution, and fought a hard battle with myself. Now while I was wrestling and battling, being aided by God, a wonderful light arose within my soul. It was a light entirely foreign to my unruly nature, but in it I recognized the true nature of God and man, and the relation existing between them, a thing which heretofore I had never understood, and for which I would never have sought. ~ Jacob Boehme 1575 – 1624, German Christian Mystic.
The Children’s Ministry will be the second Sunday, the 14th of June. Once again it will be after Mass (during the Coffee Hour – all children should attend the Mass). It is designed for age 2 through 12 years. Please commit to bringing all related children in your family for this once a month fun and educational class. While you enjoy fellowship during the Coffee Hour, the children will participate, enjoy, and learn the foundation and building blocks of the Christian faith through bible stories and created crafts.
The 7th of June – Butler Coffee Hour with Asbury Church Match fundraiser and graduation party for Savannah. Come and enjoy Savannah’s All-You-Can-Eat Taco Bar. Asbury University developed the Match for churches who want to support their young people starting their college journey. Asbury University matches dollar for dollar up to $1000 raised. For those of you who survive the Taco Bar, please be sure to attend the ACW coffee hour on the 14th of June. The Bishop and Vestry decided to cancel the open “Sate of the Parish” meeting on the 14th until November. I know many of you have been seeking time with me and I struggle to find free Sunday time for that interaction. So I will be sure to spend the whole coffee hour in the parish hall (and not in the office or sacristy) on the 14th, so this will be your opportunity to ask me questions and give me suggestions.
~Father Tim
Father, will you bless me?
Submitted by: Amber Neuroth
I was at a concert the other night and the two main members of the band Over the Rhine, who are married, shared one of their songs that was written by one partner in honor of the other’s father, who recently died. It is a beautiful tribute full of the special quality of the relationship between children and parents-in-law, in this case between a wife and her father-in-law. Being a wife myself, that got me wondering, “What tribute would I offer to my father-in-law if I could write an amazing song?” Mine would have to be an amazing sermon I guess, since nobody wants to hear a song from me, trust me on that. He always tells me I’m his favorite daughter-in-law (I’m his only one)! And he is certainly my favorite father-in-law, haha. But seriously, how would I honor Bill Neuroth if I were to pay tribute to him? And I thought, the only words I can think of are “Father, will you bless me?”
My father-in-law, Rev. Canon William Charles Neuroth, is a priest. Some may say he’s not a priest because he isn’t Roman Catholic anymore. Or he’s not a priest when he’s not wearing his collar or when he isn’t saying mass. But that’s not true. Bill Neuroth is a priest all the time. It’s not a job for him; it’s an identity, a vocation. He often seems priestly to me when he watches the news. As he watches, he is trying to be near to his community, to be in touch with the great pain and longing of those around him, hoping he might play a small part in easing that pain. He almost seems to be praying as the stories roll by on the television screen.
People always want to be around priests because they seem to have a sense of godliness. When a priest sees you, you feel like God sees you. When a priest blesses you, you feel like God blesses you. Not all priests are priestly in this way, but Bill is.
In his long and distinguished career, he has shown what it is like to be priestly in churches, in social service agencies, at picnics, at weddings, at funerals and even at the Reds Stadium. Whether you are wealthy or poor, influential or average, a small child just coming into the world or an old saint making the transition to the next world, Bill will treat you the same, each one valued and loved in the eyes of God.
It’s a strange thing being related to a priest. Priests by definition are set apart for special spiritual work, so how do they have normal lives? How do they have siblings, spouses, children or a daughter-in-law? Sometimes I want Bill to be just a regular guy and the other times I want him to be wise and priestly for me too. I don’t think in a million years, Bill ever expected to have a daughter-in-law who is also an ordained minister. I’m not priestly in the way he is, but I understand the importance of the priestly role.
Like Bill, I am priestly for lots of people, but very few are priestly for me. So when I think of how I might honor Bill, I come back to my first thought, my first inclination of what song I would write for him, “Father will you bless me?” My heart longs to feel your approval and know your love because you show me something of how God cherishes me. But I have one more question, “Father, may I bless you?” Every priest needs a blessing too. So on this special day, I offer my blessings and congratulations to my dear father-in-law. May he take a moment to be blessed the way he has blessed so many others.
June Birthdays & Anniversaries
Kathy Hougham – Birthday – June 5
Rachel Barnett – Birthday – June 6
Peggy & Bill Minor – Anniversary – June 8
Rick Hanson – Birthday – June 9
Michael Robbins – Birthday – June 10
Judy & Tom Hulsey – Anniversary – June 23
Brenda Strong – Birthday – June 24
Rich Boughner – Birthday – June 29
Janet & Fr. Timothy Butler – Anniversary – June 30
June Ordo Kalendar Dates
June 7 – Trinity I – Celebrant: Fr. Neuroth – (Asbury Church Match & Graduation Party for Savannah)
June 14 – Trinity II – Celebrant: Fr. Butler (ACW Coffee Hour & Children’s Ministry)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17 VESTRY MEETING AT 7 P.M.
June 21 – Trinity III – Celebrant: Fr. Neuroth
June 28 – Trinity IV – Celebrant: Fr. Butler (11:50 Spirituality Class)
This is why we sponsor a baseball team every year. Meet four year-old Quincy Schroeder and her wonder dog, Bob. Quincy and Bob are in the T-ball division.