Finding Community
We started attending the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist ever since we moved to Rochester about 6 years ago. Katie had “googled” churches in the area and saw how beautiful this one looked. It may have been a simple internet search that brought us here but it was the kinship with our fellow parishioners that we have felt that has kept us coming week in and week out. One of the very first Masses we attended had a baptism and we immediately fell in love with the sense of community we witnessed. As a young couple, not yet married but knowing we were headed in that direction, we could see ourselves one day having our own children’s baptisms here. The baptisms truly seem like a celebration from every parishioner.
As our relationship, both with each other and the church, continued to grow, we continued to build lifelong memories at church. On October 25th, 2014, we were married during an unforgettable ceremony. A couple years later, we finally celebrated a baptism of our own for our first child, Wesley Thomas. It is crazy to think that it has been over four years since our wedding day and over two years since the baptism, but the one thing that hasn’t changed is our love for St. John’s.
In addition to having some of our most important life milestones happen at this church, we have also cherished the relationships we have begun to grow with our fellow parishioners. We frequent the 9:30am Mass and stay after for coffee and donuts to meet new faces and mingle with those who we see each week. It is nice to watch our son develop relationships with our fellow parishioners and to witness their love and friendship towards him… even if it is through the sharing of cheerios. If you are new to this church or new to the 9:30am Mass, feel free to find us after Mass at fellowship and say hello!
As we look forward, we are glad to know that we will be able to continue to grow spiritually at a place that has done such a great job of building a sense of community. We are happy knowing that we will be able to grow our relationship with one another here, along with our relationship with our fellow parishioners and God as we do other activities such as the Vigil Project (small Advent groups), baking for the Gift of Life, “Pray and Play” mom’s group, and the many others we have done along the way. We also promise to do the Bean Bag tournament next year (we keep running into scheduling conflicts). We also look forward to having our children (child #2 due in February) have some of their own major milestones: from First Communion to Confirmation. So while it might have been something as simple as “this church looks nice” based on the google search that brought us to St. John’s, it has been the sense of community that has kept us coming ever since our very first visit. We want to keep the sense of community going so whether you are new to St. John’s or been here longer than us, feel free to say hello to us at fellowship, or at baby #2’s baptism, or (hopefully) the Bean Bag tournament, or any other time!
Katie and Tom Schink
Parishioners