Congratulations to Korrie Lee Spikes and Jerianne Dorothy Geraldine Griffin, who received the Sacrament of Confirmation at the hands of Bishop Gregory John Hartmayer, OFM Conv. on Ascension Thursday, May 29, 2014. Jerianne and Korrie were prepared for confirmation by catechists Jeff Spratt and Fr. Bob. Our liturgy volunteers, choir, reception committee and the whole parish helped make it an excellent celebration for the whole parish. Thank you to Bishop Gregory for celebrating with us!

The Holy oils with which parishioners Jerianne Griffin and Korrie Spikes will be confirmed on May 29 were blessed in the so called Chrism Mass on Tuesday of Holy Week, April 15, 2014 by Bishop Gregory John Hartmayer in the Cathedral of St. John in Savannah, Georgia. Here is the diocese's own transmission of that Mass:

We welcome the newest member of our parish community: Adelina Kenzie Nesiah Bosque. Adelina was born May 1, 2014, the daughter of Scarlett and Luis Bosque of Darien. She was baptized at Nativity of Our Lady on Friday, May 23. God bless Adelina!

If you want to know more about baptism at Nativity Catholic Church, read this page or call the parish office at (912) 437-4750 Monday/Wednesday/Friday 10:00 - 4:00.

All committee reports for tomorrow's Annual Meeting were submitted as MS PowerPoint presentations. Here is the combined report, including reports submitted by

• The Pastoral Council
• The Finance Council
• The Liturgy Commission
• The Building & Maintenance Committee
• The Catechetical Group (religion teachers)

This shows what a vibrant parish community Nativity is!

Nativity's Liturgy Commission looked at our celebrations from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost. Here are some coming liturgies:

• Ash Wednesday is March 5th. Mass is at 7:00 p.m.
• Confessions during Lent will be Saturdays 4:00-4:45 as hitherto.
• Please note that, because of time constraints and scheduling conflicts, there will not be a separate Reconciliation Service in Lent, no open house and no organized stations. We will publish the schedules of reconciliation services and stations at St. William's and St. Francis Xavier's.
• Darien Blessing of the Fleet is on April 13 - Palm Sunday. The Pastoral Council will say more about this.
• Palm Sunday is April 13. The 5:00 Saturday Mass will begin with the so-called "Small palm procession" in the church. The 10:00 Sunday Mass will begin with the Solemn Palm Procession IN THE PARISH HALL.
• Holy Thursday - April 17 - Mass of the Lord's Supper at 7:00 p.m. Washing of the Feet: Fr. Bob will wash the feet of some of the newest members of our parish community.
• Good Friday - April 18 - Commemoration of the Lord's Crucifixion - 3:00 p.m.
• Holy Saturday - April 19
• The GREAT EASTER VIGIL begins at 8:00 p.m. with the Bonfire of Easter in front of the church. Candles will be provided. Remember to bring bells to ring during the Gloria! During the Great Vigil, several new Catholics will be baptized and/or confirmed and receive their first Holy Communion. The schedule of readings will be set out shortly.
• First Communion - May 11 at 10:00 a.m. - Mother's Day! The First Communion Class will perform the May Crowning of the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and will give flowers to all mothers present.
• Confirmation - May 29 - Ascension Thursday at 7:00 p.m.! Bishop Gregory Hartmayer will confirm two young members of our parish. We hope that the WHOLE parish will come to be part of this celebration.
• Pentecost - June 8 - Outdoor Mass at 10:00 a.m., followed by a Parish Picnic! Exact location to be announced.
• June 2014 - right after Ascension, the Building and Maintenance Committee will start the project of renewing the church's floor and pews. This will take several weeks. We may have to celebrate Mass in the Parish Hall for a few weeks - the Liturgy Commission and the Choir are working on making these temporary liturgical apces beautiful worthy and appropriate. (The Building & Maintenance Committee will say more about the project itself a bit later.)

In other business, the Liturgy Commission welcomed Lily Collado as a new member. Lily is a long time parishioner and member of the choir.

At it's January meeting (Jan. 25, 2014) the Liturgy Commission also continued it's reading of the book, "The Liturgy Committee Handbook". We evaluated our celebration of Advent and Christmas, and briefly looked at our Masses during ordinary time. Our next meeting will be on April 26 (right after Easter).

The Nativity Liturgy Commission is a representative group of parishioners appointed by the Pastoral Council and Pastoral Administrator (Fr. Bob) to guide liturgical policy, coordinate big feasts and ensure a liturgy at Nativity that is worthy, proper, celebratory and reflective of our community. (mandate)

Nativity's Pastoral Council met on January 9, 2014. We hereby invoke a Nativity Town Hall Meeting on Saturday, February 15, 2014 at 6:00 p.m. - that is, after the 5:00 Mass - in the Parish Hall. This will serve as our general assembly or annual meeting.

The Parish Town Hall Meeting is a chance for the whole parish to hear what's going on, to contribute ideas, to make constructive criticism and to ask critical questions. The 5 central committees of the parish (Pastoral Council, Finance Council, Liturgical Commission, Building Committee and Catechist Group) will account for their stewardship in 2013. Future plans will be revealed and several big proposals will be laid on the table. You definitely do not want to miss this! (The agenda will be published at this link)

Here are some other highlights from the January meeting:

• The 2014 Bishop's Annual Appeal (BAA) begins in a few weeks! We talked about how we can run that campaign.
• First Communions will be celebrated on Mother's Day, May 11, 2014. This will involve our catechists, our Liturgy Commission, and many other people. The Pastoral Council will handle the reception as well as the recognition of the mothers of the parish.
• Confirmation will be on Thursday, May 29, 2014 (Ascension Thursday) at 7:00 p.m. This celebration will also involve the whole parish. We encourage as many parishioners as possible to participate together with our confirmands and our bishop. The Pastoral Council will plan the day's events before and after the liturgy itself, as well as coordinate the meeting with the bishop.
• Pentecost is on June 8. We propose an OUTDOOR MASS followed by a PARISH PICNIC. The Liturgical Commission will continue the planning.
• The Building & Maintenance Committee presented its plans for redoing the floor of the church. It's a big project and will require the we celebrate Mass elsewhere for several Sundays. After some discussion, we decided to begin the project in June of this year. This gives the B&M Committee, the Finance Council, the Liturgy Commission and the Parish Office time to prepare. (There will be more about this at the Town Hall Meeting)
• We also began planning our participation at this year's Blessing of the Fleet. Our proposal will be given at the Town Hall Meeting.

Pastoral Council

Our brother in Christ OTTO JOHN KLAWITTER (1943-2013) was called in death on Monday, December 16, 2013.

Visitation is Saturday starting at 9:00 a.m. in Nativity Chuch. The funeral Mass will be Saturday, December 21, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. at Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church, 1000 North Way, Darien GA (directions). Interment will be at Brunswick Memorial Park Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to a reception afterwards in Nativity Parish Hall. Edo Miller and Sons Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.

John Klawitter was born in Suring, Wisconsin in 1943. He worked many years as a paralegal. He and his wife lived in Darien since 2000, always active members of Nativity. John was a past Grand Knight of K of C Council 1939.

Memorials may be made to the charity of your choice, Heartland Hospice, or Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church.

The people of Nativity Catholic Church express their condolences to John's wife of 13 years Jean French Klawitter, to John's children Jonathan, Ingrid, Robert, Michael, Cindi and Karen, to John's siblings Herman, Mike, Edna and Sally, and to all John's grandchildren, nephews, nieces, family members and friends.

Full obituary and guest book

Dear parishioners,

There's lots of things going on! Here is an overview of this week's events at Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church:

Saturday, December 7, 2013 -

• Feast of St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church
• Pearl Harbor Day
• Red Door Yard Sale, 9:00 - 2:00
• Confessions at 4:00 p.m.
• MASS at 5:00 p.m.
• Coastal Cuisine & Wines of the World Fundraiser for SFX School - St. William's on SSI - 6:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 8, 2013 -

• Second Sunday of Advent
• Liturgical Theme: HOPE
• MASS at 10:00 a.m.
• FLETC Mass at 4:00 p.m.

Monday, December 9, 2013 -

• Solemnity of Mary's Immaculate Conception, Patronal Feast of the USA
• Office Hours 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• MASS at 7:00 p.m.
• Note: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is transferred to Dec. 9th this year; for Catholics it is the patronal feast of the United States of America; it is not a holy day of obligation this year.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013 -

• Confirmation Preparation at 5:00 (please note new time!)
• Pastoral Council meeting? Or will this meeting be moved to Dec. 17?

Wednesday, December 11, 2013 -

• Memorial of St. Damasus
• Open Church 9:00 to 3:00
• Finance Council meeting at 9:30 a.m.
• Office Hours 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Fr. Bob's office hours, 11:00 to 2:00

Thursday, December 12, 2013 -

• Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of All the Americas
• Spanish Mass for OL Guadalupe at SFX Church, 7:00 p.m.

Friday, December 13, 2013 -

• Feast of St. Lucy
• Office Hours 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
• Theology for Young Catholics, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Topic: the Occult

Saturday, December 14, 2013 -

• Memorial of St. John of the Cross
• Confessions at 4:00 p.m.
• MASS at 5:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 15, 2013 -

• Third Sunday of Advent
• Liturgical Theme: JOY
• MASS at 10:00 a.m.
• FLETC Mass at 4:00 p.m.