If you have enjoyed our bulletin and communications materials as much as I have in the past several years, they are all due to the incredibly hard work and dedication of Kathy Sims, the Editor of our Parish Publications. Every single week, she tirelessly assembles our bulletin, which includes tasks like fixing my horrible grammar, positioning and structuring the amazing amount of event and group announcements, and creating a seamless voice for the Parish Family.
I spent 25 years in the classroom in the St. Louis area teaching high school English, Journalism, and advising award-winning school newspapers and yearbooks, as well as teaching adult at a community college how to use computer design software to produce various publication pieces. Although my husband (Bob) and I have been attending Mass and other liturgical services at St. John since 2000, it wasn’t until 2010 that I really had any other kind of involvement with the parish. I worked with Dave Quist as a volunteer to create the first Saint John the Evangelist Parish Resource Directory. Though the directory was a lot of work and quite time intensive, it was very satisfying when published to know I played a role in supporting my parish. Therefore, when the position to edit and design the St. John “Evangelist” bulletin opened up four years ago, I immediately knew this was a perfect fit for what I wanted to do during my “retirement”.
Kathy is a jack-of-all-trades, at one moment taking pictures for inclusion in our communication, the next fixing a printer issue, still the next assisting a parishioner with their need. She is compassionate and engaging and we are all lucky to have Kathy as part of our Parish Family and staff.
It has been amazing to see how much the volunteers and parishioners really care about St. John and want to see the parish flourish. Additionally, it has been quite eye-opening to learn that it really does take a village to make Saint John the Evangelist the extraordinary place that it is. I am happy to be part of the staff at St. John and be a parishioner of this extraordinary parish, as well.