The Society of St. Vincent de Paul successfully held their Annual General Assembly on Saturday, February 1. The event saw more than 200 men and women from all 58 Society Conferences spread throughout the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston gather in the Parish Activity Center of St. Jerome Catholic Community. Mass was presided by Bishop Sheltz.
The assembly offered attendees four breakout sessions:
Spirituality of the Home Visit by James Davis James delved deeper into the spirituality of the Home Visit using the five virtues of St. Vincent de Paul - simplicity, humility, gentleness, simplicity, and zeal.
Apostolic Reflection of Vincentian Spirituality by Tim Williams Tim encouraged Vincentians to come together in Apostolic Reflection to find God in their own life experiences, events, person, and in the poor.
Walking with our Neighbors by Eli Woodvine and Pura Santangelo Eli and Pura gave attendees the tools to help our friends thrive. It talked about the Society's newest approach to help our friends move crisis to resiliency to stability.
Turning Prayer Into Action by Bianca Quintanar and Alma Garcia Bianca and Alma introduced attendees to Christus Vivit, the post-synodal document released by Pope Francis in March 2019. The document calls all members of the Church to make space for Young Adults. It also looked into statistics of where the young adults, ages 18-39, are in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.
Keynote Speakers
Pictured from left to right: Tim Williams and James Davis presented on the true meaning of servant and introduced the new member handbook. Tim Williams is the 3rd Vice President and Senior Formator for the Diocesan Council of Dallas. James Davis is the Spiritual Advisor for the Diocesan Council in Austin and for the South Central Region.
Awards
At the end of the event, a few of the Society Conferences were recognized for their excellence in servant leadership.
District 2 was recognized for having 91% of Vincentians attending district meetings, including 78% of Conference Presidents. Conferences in this district: Guardian Angel - Wallis, Holy Family - Missouri City, Holy Rosary - Rosenberg, St. Angela Merici, St. John Fisher - Richmond, St. Mark the Evangelist, St. Michael - Needville, St. Theresa and St. Thomas Aquinas in Sugarland. District 2 President was Ada Lewis.
The Society Conference at St. Cecilia was recognized for their outstanding volunteer work in making 850 Home Visits in Fiscal Year 2019 (Oct. 1, 2018-Sept. 30, 2019).
The Society Conference at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was recognized for the greatest number of members attending the leadership conference (11 Vincentians).
Raffle Winners
The event also held a raffle for a Private Tasting for Up to 20 people at Bernhardt Winery in Plantersville, TX and Two Tickets to the Alley Theater for a Production of the 2019-2020 Season.
Winner of Bernhardt Winery Private Tasting - Mrs. Rita Irani, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Winner of Alley Theater Tickets - Mrs. Mary Lawry, Sacred Heart Church - Conroe
A big thank you to our Formation Committee for making this event a successful one. We hope to see more Vincentians next year!
About the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVdP): The Society is a faith-based nonprofit organization helping families living in poverty in the greater Galveston-Houston area since 1871. We are a network of 58 parish-based chapters with over 1,900 Vincentian volunteers actively doing Home Visits every day. The Society serves everyone in need regardless of creed, ethnic or social background, health, gender, religious belief, or political opinions.