Yvonee Brandon and the Future of the Church

Yvonne’s Story:
In 1955 I was born in Tennessee during America’s Jim Crow era. Public schools then for blacks and whites were separate, but not equal! At six years old, my parents enrolled me in St. Vincent DePaul, a black Catholic grade school. Twelve years later I graduated from Father Ryan High School. Upon earning my bachelors from an HBCU,

I joined the IBM Corporation and moved to Indiana as the sales representative to Purdue University. I found a Catholic church in West Lafayette and sang in their choir for six years. I was promoted to Atlanta in 1986. It was there that my faith in the Catholic church was challenged. Horrified by news of the decades-long sex abuse and cover-up scandals, I withdrew financial support for all Catholic institutions for at least 20 years and in two more states.

In 2013, Pope Francis became the first non-European and first Jesuit to be named pope. His genuine kindness, outspoken support for Catholic social values, and pledge to bring accountability to abusers and enablers gave me hope that institutional church reform was imminent.

I read “Catholics Come Home” and decided to re-claim my faith and find a church. As a resident of Seattle’s Eastside, I visited several parishes that were rather “homogenous.” I felt no warmth nor outreach by any members of the three Eastside congregations I visited.

Frustrated, I Googled “black + catholic + church + Seattle”, hoping to find a church similar in style to my church in Nashville. The search returned Immaculate Conception and St. Therese. So I visited both. St. Therese had the welcoming atmosphere I craved. After months observing from a pew, I joined both the Shades of Praise and St. Therese Parish.

The 2017 scandals were disturbing, yet by then my affection for St. Therese was baked. As we work to grow our congregation, I pray that the American bishops will re-evaluate their positions in the 21st century. Sex scandals, refusing to place children in loving same-sex households, insistence on a celibate male clergy and threats to deny communion based on publically-stated policy stands are self-inflicted wounds that make it hard to attract new people to the Catholic Church. ———————————————————————
The Crozier Society is looking for golfers for its tournament August 3 on Trophy Lake Golf & Casting Club in Port Orchard. It's a four-person best-ball scramble to fund the Seminarian Formation Fund. You'll get to meet some real-live seminarians! More details and registration at https://golf-foreseminarians.perfectgolfevent.com/event-agenda.

Ministry Opportunities
To help run our livestream equipment, contact Deacon Greg at deaconmcnabb@gmail.com

To make and deliver lunches for the Matt Talbot Center, contact Ellie Wakefield at ellieawake@gmail.com To join the Spirit Choir, contact Diane Figaro at diane.cornell.figaro@gmail.com

Collections
Collection so far this fiscal year July 1, 2021 – July 22, 2021.…....$21,350
Last year at this time….….                                                                  $30,306