By Christine Warloski, Pastoral Associate at St. James the Greater
The Catholic Deanery of Eau Claire is the group of Catholic churches in Eau Claire county, including St. James the Greater, Immaculate Conception, St. Olaf, St. Mary, St. Raymond, Sacred Heart/St. Patrick, Newman, St. Joseph Elk Mound, and St. Joseph Rock Falls.
Individual churches have various community outreach ministries, including:
- Serving meals at Sojourner House, Beacon House, and The Community table.
- Collecting food for the food pantry
- Supporting Catholic Charities Christmas programs as well as others such as Toys for Tots
- Doing drives for various organizations such as Chippewa Valley Street Ministry, Community Haven House, the Wisconsin Foster Closet, and more.
- Collecting expired batteries and old Christmas lights for recycling, and other green initiatives
Within JONAH, we have representatives on the Board and on many Task Forces, such as Immigration, Affordable Housing, Mental Health, Environment, and more. We have had representatives at Madison Action Days and other JONAH action events.
We try to live out the strong Catholic tradition of charity and justice being two hands that work together. We have a body of teaching called Catholic Social Teaching that leans heavily on the scriptural teaching of acting with justice and caring for the vulnerable among us.