Aug 15, 2024

Greetings,

This is the home stretch of the summer before classes begin on the St. Sebastian Parish campus once again. Everyone here is getting things ready to greet faculty, staff and students as they return to the hallways of our school building for another year of growing in the faith, knowledge and wisdom even after the Biblical flooding that fell on Akron!

I was in New York when you were hit by torrents of rain. I received emails and texts as it was happening, though it was spotty because our reception in the mountains was not so great, so videos were jerky. I cannot believe what all of you must have experienced! By the time I returned, most everything was back in order around St. Sebastian Square except for some washed out mulch and patches of mud.

For the very first time since I have been here, all our buildings sustained some water seepage during the storm. We did need to call in a company to do a thorough clean up and sanitizing and they did a marvelous job. Our buildings are dry, sparkling, clean and fresh and ready to greet you. Thank you to our marvelous staff who worked so hard to put us back in order.

IN OTHER NEWS:

FOREST LODGE: Per the above, the Forest Lodge building did not fare so well. The pictures that I saw had water as high as the picnic table tops. As of this writing it is unclear exactly when restorers will be able to get to this building to clean and sanitize it and so until further notice there can be NO MEETINGS OR RENTALS until it is safe and clean for public use. If you have a concern about your scheduled gathering, please call Cathy Sivec at the parish number for the latest news and possible relocation
options.

TOR: Fr. Anthony Simone will be the speaker this coming Monday, August 19 for Theology on the Rocks! It will be great to see him again. His new assignment is about an hour from here, so we see less of him than we once did. He will be speaking about Medjugorje. Doors open at 7pm, and the cost is $15. Hope to see you there! See elsewhere in the bulletin for more details.

RCIA: Classes for the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults will be beginning in September! This is for those who are interested in becoming Catholic and those who just want more information to discern if this is the faith for them. Please contact Keith Johnson at johnsonk@stsebastian.org or 330-836-2233 Ext. 134 for more information.

If you are interested but the dates and times do not work for you and you were already validly baptized in a Christian denomination, there may be other options for you. Do not hesitate to call for possible options.

God bless,

Fr. Valencheck