The Welcome Message by Barbara Vaughan

Good evening...

I am sure that we will always remember this day, as we join together with one heart to thank God for his blessings upon our parish and families.

Wasn't it wonderful that we all experienced the presence of God as we entered our restored sanctuary and had Holy Week celebrations with three Baptisms, four First Holy Communions and three Confirmations?

Dear friends, God's plan to reveal his love and to test one's faith comes in various forms. In our parish life, it came in the month of August, when we faced the tragedy of the collapse of our sanctuary ceiling. I still remember that all of us, with one heart stood in faith to face this reality; and our next step was to see how best we could deal with this situation.

First of all, I would like to acknowledge the Building Renovation Committee members for all their valuable thoughts, suggestions and contributions. May I take this opportunity to once again introduce them today: Wendy Brown, Mildred Green, Frances Pope, Lucy Thompson, Mary Walker, Fr. Andrew, Mike Treadwell, Larry Williford, Clifton Wright and myself, Barbara Vaughan.

Secondly, I also want to acknowledge and thank all the members of the parish, wellwishers, benefactors and contributors. As a sign of our parish continued commitment to keep everyone in prayer, we have taken this day to offer this Thanksgiving Mass.

At this point, I would like to coin a special thanks to our beloved Bishop Francis DiLorenzo and the Diocese of Richmond, and the Parishes and Priests of Region 7, Mr. Ken Soitsman, Principal of All Saints School, Steve Neill, Editor of the Catholic Virginian, Michael Paul Williams, Reporter/Richmond Times Dispatch, Gene Lepley, Reporter/WWBT, NBC Channel 12 for their kindness and dedicated support to our parish during our time of need.

May I also take the opportunity to thank a few more supporters like Petke Construction Co., E. L. Hayes Painting Co., Vincent Gray, Roland Smith and Sam Walker for their expertise.

Finally, before we begin this Mass, a very very special thanks to all who have come here to join with us today to celebrate our joy.If I have missed, by mistake, anyone in listing the acknowledgements, I sincerely thank you; we sincerely thank you very much. God Bless St. Elizabeth Parish!

Photos by Valerie Smith