Catholic Diocese Tucson

CATHOLIC OUTLOOK 9 SEPTEMBER 2019 After four decades in ministry, her heart is with the youths By MICHAEL BROWN Managing Editor Susanna Chapman has spent part of the last four decades involved in youth ministry, and when she retires sometime in the next decade, she will likely volunteer in some other ministry but her heart still will be with young people. Chapman, 58, started out as a volunteer catechist at St. Odilia’s in Tucson at age 13. Now, after stints at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Mark parishes, and a return to St. Odilia’s, she’s the director of Faith Formation at the 700-family parish, in what she calls “my dream job.” When she started out, Chapman was mentored by then-St. Odilia’s Youth Minister Maureen Ouellette. Now retired, Ouellette and Chapman still visit on occasion. “She has been like part of my family,” Chapman said. For her personal formation, Chapman took all the training available from the parish and the Diocese during her early years. She took some time off after getting married and starting a family. When her oldest child entered Grade 8, Chapman volunteered at St. Elizabeth’s hoping to share the faith in which she was immersed growing up. When she was hired as the youth minister at St. Elizabeth’s in 1994, the parish was teeming with teens. There were 300 junior and senior high students; the parish followed a Life Teen model that include study, prayer, social and service. One year, the parish confirmed 72 teens. “Those were the best times of my life,” Chapman said. She reflected on the changes that have occurred in youth ministry since those early days. Part of the job meant recruiting young adults as volunteer catechists. Today, she recruits young adults and parents to serve, because while teens are more likely to be open to talking to young adults, “parents add stability to the program.” The nature of youth ministry has also changed. When growing up, youth ministry employed a classroom model, where youths gathered to learn By MICHAEL BROWN Managing Editor Sometimes, the size of a corporation or program is seen as a measure of its success. Whether it’s in business or a parish religious education program, size matters. Except when it doesn’t. Helen Ramirez, 78, is director of Religious Education for Blessed Sacrament Parish in Mammoth. She joined the religious education staff in 2009 and became director in 2013 when her predecessor and mentor Alice Clark died. The role intimidated her, Ramirez said. “I knew I couldn’t fill her shoes. She was so good at it.” However, after four years of watching Clark work, Ramirez seemed to have caught on quickly. Although Blessed Sacrament is a small parish, the volunteers work hard. They offer religious education for young people, although sometimes the teachers double up on the classes. One teacher leads Grades 1 and 2. Another is responsible for Grades 3 and 7. One teacher is responsible for all the high school students. Ramirez herself teaches confirmation preparation to Grade 8 students and distributes and logs the registration forms for all the classes. She receives help along the way. Retired Deacon Bill Romero has led formation for candidates for adult confirmation, and the priests at the parish have prepared couples seeking infant baptism. Her favorite volunteer was her husband Esteban, who worked with the candidates for RCIA, or Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults. He died last Feb. 20 at age 80. The two were married 48 years, and her voice cracks as she starts to talk about him. “I wasn’t going to do this this year,” Ramirez said. However, Esteban, who would also bring Communion to parishioners unable to attend Mass, made her promise him that she would continue to stay active in parish life. “‘Do all this because you are going to be by yourself and I don’t want you to be lonely,’” she recalled him saying. The couple had five children, nine grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Most of the family lives in the Tucson area, so she sees them about once a month, she said. Ramirez also works five days a week as a librarian at Mammoth- San Manuel PK-12 School. Following the last school year, the district shuttered two schools, and Ramirez worried that rather than send their children to a consolidated facility, local parents might move their children over to the Oracle School District, which creates transportation and timing issues for the parish’s children. She won’t know if enrollment for religious education classes will be affected for sure until they start in September, however. Last year, they had about 65 in the program, including several dozen who made their confirmation. Meanwhile, she keeps reminding herself what Esteban told her: “‘Keep going to church. Keep praying the rosary,’” she said. Dedication – and a promise – keeps Mammoth parish programs going Catholic Outlook photo courtesy of Mayra Carpena, NFCYM Helen Ramirez, director of Religious Education for Blessed Sacrament Parish in Mammoth, has been a dedicated religious educator for years. She and others, like those shown here, from parishes around the state receive ongoing education at the annual DRE/DYM Convocation, held Aug. 17 at the diocesan Pastoral Center in Tucson. Esteban Ramirez Outlook photo courtesy of Susanna Chapman St. Odilia’s Faith Formation Director Susanna Chapman, right, a longtime youth minister, is shown here with a former student, Andrew Starbuck, who has been involved in youth ministry and Life Teen in the Diocese of Phoenix for 18 years. See HEART on page 12