Loraine Kula is retiring as church secretary at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church.
Kula said starting at the church was one of those nudges from God back in 1988.
“My youngest son had just started kindergarten, and I got a request from our priest about possibly helping as a custodian at the church,” Kula said. “My husband Gary and I had some discussions, and I decided I wanted to take that job and work outside the home.”
While Kula started as a custodian at the church, she came to wear many different hats in what she describes as her ministry at the church over the more than 30 years she has worked there – including secretary, bookkeeper and youth minister.
“There was a time when the church would have someone step down from a position, I just stepped in and helped fill those roles as well,” Kula said.
She started as secretary and bookkeeper in 1990.
Kula said she served with three different priests at the church including Father Louis C. Zee, Father James Dooster and, most recently, Father Andrew Awotwe-Mensah of Ghana. In the period between priests, she also worked closely with Sue Schettler, who was the president of the PLC.
Kula and her husband moved to Mount Vernon in 1985, and the couple raised five children.
For Kula, the 34 and a half years she has worked for the church has been a long-time commitment, but she feels now is the time for a younger generation to start taking some of the roles.
“I’m going to be spending more time with my daughter as well, who has been very ill,” Kula said. “It wasn’t an easy decision to make to step down and retire, because I love people and I love what I have done the past 34 and a half years here. I’m still going to be at this church every Sunday, because Saint John’s is my family, but my role moving forward is going to be different.”
Kula said as secretary she has helped many people who have come to the church, from transients moving through the community to parishioners who just lost their loved ones.
“As a secretary, there were times I’d just sit and listen to people as they were going through some of the toughest portions of their lives,” Kula said.
Aside from the time with her daughter, she is also going to spend more time with her husband and other family members in the area.
She notes that the biggest change she has seen to the church has been with the congregation itself.
“When Gary and our family first came here in 1985, we were the younger members,” Kula said. “We’re now some of the older members, and there are a lot more children and young families that are at this church.”
Kula said she has learned a lot from the three different priests.
And while she will miss her work as secretary, she has also missed her work as youth minister, a role she filled for 12 years.
“I loved working with the youth in this church,” Kula said. “They have a way to inspire you and give you energy. That role is probably the one I’ve kept closest to my heart in the hats I wore at this congregation.”
She also knows the thing she is definitely going to miss the most will be the people she interacted with each week. Some just came to say hi, others to vent. She’ll also miss the staff she worked alongside in the church office.
“I’m so glad God nudged me on this path in my life,” Kula said. “I’ve met so many wonderful people and had so many wonderful experiences with my time at the church. This congregation has been my family. They were there for me when I was fighting breast cancer, very caring and supportive, and they’ve been supportive of what my daughter has been going through right now as well.”