Late
June, 1997: After attending Holy Trinity Church for a year and a
half, in an effort to become involved, Frank V. Gonzalez began
volunteering with its homeless shelter. Through the volunteer
program, Frank met Aurora Rowland, who soon introduced him to
other like-minded parishioners, including Ron MacInnis and Annie
Kozack.
At the time, Holy
Trinity’s 5:30PM Sunday masses were sparse in attendance.
Sharing the sign of the peace was accomplished by waving your
hand to the closest parishioners, which were five to six feet
away. Frank and Ron began toying with an idea to reach out to
others, with the objective of expanding their circle of friends
throughout the church. Their expectation was modest, agreeing
that if they met one new person every few weeks, it would be
worthwhile. The number of people wasn’t important, but rather
the opportunity to create a lasting friendship with a few new
people.
Several weeks passed
of thoughts on how to attract people to meet, and finally in
late summer of 1997, Frank and Ron made a decision. They would
discretely place flyers at the back of the church, inviting
parishioners to meet after the 5:30PM mass at a designated
location, a nearby pub for a few drinks. The convenience of the
location was critical, as was its atmosphere and spaciousness to
enable the identification of parishioners as they arrived. The
fliers would be printed with large black letters on fluorescent
yellow paper to attract attention.
The decision was
brilliant, but had one obstacle, it would require prior approval
of the parish, which was headed by a Monsignor Thomas Leonard.
Presuming any monsignor to be formal and proper, how would he
respond?
Ron was a lector of
the church, and had met Monsignor. He was thus in the best
position to approach Monsignor, though he felt at risk of losing
any lector credibility. He finally conceded, and minutes prior
to the start of the 5:30PM mass, as Frank placed the fliers in
the back of the church, Ron was to approach Monsignor.
Unfortunately, while the fliers were now disbursed, Ron had been
unable to pre-clear the idea with Monsignor.
Left as is, Frank and
Ron proceeded to their usual pew, up front and left of the
altar. Perfect for watching the mass, horrible if one needed to
seek camouflage from the priest’s view. As Monsignor stood at
the back of the church, pausing to begin his precession up the
aisle, he noticed the fliers, read one, and slipped it into his
pocket. Frank and Ron froze, drooping in their pew during the
mass. As the mass concluded, Monsignor made his typical
announcements followed by a noticeable pause. He held up the
flier, announcing that he “found this flier at the back shelf of
the Church. It reads:
For Those Like Minded People in their 20’s and 30’s
who would like to socialize for beverages at a café,
we are meeting at the Raccoon Lodge after mass.
Invitation by Ron MacInnis and Frank Gonzalez
… I hope I am one of
those, because I’d like to come.” By announcing it to the
congregation and his intent to attend, Monsignor blessed the
event as a good thing.
Immediately after
mass, Frank and Ron ran to the Raccoon Lodge and saw it was
reasonably empty, service was pleasant and, spotting
parishioners was easier than expected. Unbeknown to them, the
Raccoon Lodge was a biker-bar. Those wearing leather vests with
Hells Angel embroidery were most likely not from Holy Trinity.
Frank and Ron still scratch their heads as to why that minor
detail was overlooked by both of them when selecting a café.
They decided to view it as fate that the first gathering of what
was to become the CRC was in the company of Angels.
The first gathering
was beyond words; the Holy Spirit was certainly present. 17
guests showed up from different walks of life other than all
being Catholic. Frank and Ron were startled. To maintain
momentum, Frank and Ron’s initial game plan was to announce an
after mass gathering for Sunday nights in different local pubs.
These evenings invariably culminated in a smaller group watching
movies at Dave Cervini’s place. It’s here in these small
gatherings that the original core group became to know each
other very well. Beth Kelly, Liam O’Brian, Debbie Santalesa,
Annie, Aurora, Frank, Ron, and Dave to name but a few were to
become part of the Core of the CRC’s and more importantly ever
lasting friends.
As the weeks and months went by, and the number of people
gathering multiplied, the Core group realized that a variety of
events needed to be organized to keep the people coming. And
thus evolved a Core Counsel to preside over decisions and create
by-laws.
Members of the Core
Counsel divided themselves into three sub-committees, to focus
on social, spiritual and community events.
Dave, the PR
executive for New York’s then hottest radio station, spearheaded
the social committee, organizing regular event planning that
fueled rapid growth. Frank conceptualized and maintained the
master email list to be able to contact members and distribute
the weekly events list. Ron developed the first CRC web site.
As of September, 2004, the CRC membership grew to over 2000
members, all parishioners of Holy Trinity, attending from
throughout the five boroughs of New York, as well as
Westchester, parts of Connecticut and New Jersey.
Dave Cervini is
credited for having coined the “CRC” name one night over a group
dinner. It wasn’t always known as the Contemporary Roman
Catholics. The Cool Roman Catholics was the original name,
later modified to be taken somewhat seriously!
The success of the
CRC is attributed to a variety of factors, one of which is
having a wonderful church that hosts a contemporary mass to
attract young people back to their spiritual roots, having a
very tolerable Monsignor who supported and continues to support
the CRC though ups and downs, and to the Core group members, who
sought ever-lasting friendships more than anything else. In
addition, the membership has been comprised of doers, who share
the need to make a difference in our community, and with a
little hope, the world.
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