Archbishop Schnurr’s Annual Bishop Fenwick Society Dinner

Archbishop Schnurr’s Annual Bishop Fenwick Society Dinner

BFS Dinner Celebrates the Future

“Tonight we celebrate the gift of living faith, and our mission of sending it out to the world,” seminary President and Rector Father Anthony Brausch told more than 400 members of the Bishop Fenwick Society (BFS) gathered at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza for the annual thank you dinner May 3.

BFS members share the same hope for the future as Fr. Brausch. “I want to support the great work the Archdiocese does to support vocations,” said Mike Guarasci, who graduated from The Athenaeum with a Master’s in Pastoral Ministry last year, but has been a BFS member for 10 years. “For our Church’s future, we need priests to confer the sacraments, and I can’t think of a better thing to support.”

The Bishop Fenwick Society is made up of generous benefactors who give $1,000 or more annually in unrestricted funds to support the mission of The Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. To show our appreciation BFS members are invited to the annual Bishop Fenwick Society Archbishop’s Dinner, hosted by Archbishop Dennis Schnurr.

“There’s no better way to donate than helping seminarians,” said David and Judy Turner, also BFS members for a decade. Mark and Leslie Kuhlmann concurred. “We know that our charitable dollars go to the formation of good and holy priests,” said Leslie. “The quality of seminarians over the past few years has been outstanding. We can’t wait to see what the future brings.”

Keynote speaker Dr. Helen M. Alvaré recalled her years sparring with television hosts as a pro-life spokesperson for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and reminded the BFS members that Catholicism is the faith of a community and its living God. That community requires help from its members, she said. “By supporting the seminary, you’re supporting the kind of formation that takes years, and that takes expert and loving people to provide.”

Deacon Graham Galloway, ordained only a week before the dinner, said he and his wife Marcie are BFS members for just that reason. “When we look to the future of our Church, this is it,” the new deacon explained: “dozens of joyful, Spirit-filled men on fire for the Lord.”

Text Credit: Gail Finke   Photo Credit: E.L. Hubbard Photography