CHARLOTTE — The parish family of St. Joseph Vietnamese Church in southwest Charlotte is a growing, vibrant faith community. So Father Tri Truong, pastor, came up with an idea to keep parishioners connected and provide helpful information about parish ministries and groups by developing a yearly calendar featuring 12 groups – one for each month of the calendar year.
Father Truong stresses that the idea to have parish groups on the church's liturgical calendar instead of business advertisements promotes Catholic identity and participation among parishioners.
"Our Catholic identity needs to be at the center of our activities, because what we do comes from what we believe," he explains.
Parishioner Tony Do sponsors the calendar each year, so that families can get them for free and post them in their homes to remember special feast days in the Church and other parish celebrations.
The mastermind behind the calendar's design is volunteer and parishioner Tuan Nguyen, who is tasked with the challenge of coming up with a new color scheme each year. He also takes all the photos besides maintaining the parish's website.
"I do computers for a living," Nguyen says. "It's a fun project, I like doing it. I have to come up with a new color scheme and make it look different every year."
Nguyen photographs seven of the main groups at the parish including the parish council, finance council, liturgy committee and fundraising committee. He also photographs five other important ministries, including the Association of Eucharistic Reparation, Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Society and the Marriage Family Enrichment Program.
He says he takes these groups into consideration when choosing his color palette, so it corresponds to their ministry if possible. For instance, he has selected a shade of blue for the month when the parish's Legion of Mary group is featured.
Names and contact information for each committee chair or ministry leader is published in the calendar as well.
Nguyen works with Father Truong and another volunteer to place the important dates in the calendar.
"We like giving the calendars out at the beginning of each year. When I go to their homes and see it hanging on the wall, I feel good," Nguyen shares.
Father Truong notes the importance of the calendar project each year: "We are a community of faith, so it is important for our parishioners to remember that as much as we love and honor our traditions and customs, our Catholic identity needs to take a prominent place."
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
