Here are more recollections of St. Peter’s lector ministry, begun in the early 1970s, and led over the next 50 years by three women, Fran Voorde, Jo Loughlin, and Mary Lynn Stevens. Other recollections appeared in the Sept. 18 bulletin.
Mary Lynn Stevens (lector and ministry leader, 1998-present): “In 1998, Jo took me aside after our practice and told me she was retiring in a month. And then she dropped the bombshell – ‘…and you’re going to be the new leader of the lector ministry.’ I was stunned and tried to say ‘no,’ but she was already on to the descriptions of what I needed to do. So here I still am.”
Dennis McGrann (lector, 1980s-2000s; now living in Florida): “I got involved after we had been in the parish a couple of years, following one of the ‘sign-up Sundays’ and the need for more lectors. I always enjoyed the weekly practice sessions and particularly appreciated when Mary Shaw would provide her insights and perspectives on the week’s readings. I also liked the serious approach to the readings and the need to provide parishioners a clear and well-paced reading. ‘Practice, practice, practice’ admonitions and pacing were valuable lessons for us all.”
Carol Connelly Hanko (lector, 1986-present): “Some of the best [experiences] were the ‘mandatory’ practices when Mary Shaw shared with the weekend’s lectors gathered around the rectory dining room table her expert and fascinating insights (written on the color-coded notes she had, but rarely needed to check) into the readings and their historical context. Those evenings gave me a wonderful opportunity to get to know a wide range of parishioners….The lectors are outstanding at the Great Vigil of Easter. One of the most memorable was when the church was completely dark and the lectors did the Old Testament readings from the top of the stairs of the choir loft, jumping in front of the microphone as if it were a ‘radio theater.’”
Mike Eck (lector, with wife Barbara Eck, 1970s-2015): “Barbara started lectoring under Fran Voorde but was unable to schedule the Catholic University training. Fran did take her, our kids, Marlene Desmond, her kids, and a few other lectors with young children to the White House to see President [Jimmy] Carter leave in the helicopter. Fran was President Carter’s scheduler…. I started lectoring at St. Peter’s probably in the 1980s when Jo Loughlin was in charge…. Jo led the discussions, providing the biblical context of the readings and correct pronunciations of unusual names and words. Sometimes Mary Shaw would provide biblical background…. I particularly enjoyed the biblical background discussions, which led me to join Tom Faletti’s Bible study group as well as other parish ‘small groups’ on the Bible.”
Mary Lynn Stevens (lector and ministry leader, 1998-present): “The saving grace was the weekly reader/Fr. [Michael] O’Sullivan/Mary Shaw discussion at the dining room table. We were all shocked and saddened when we received the news that Mary had slipped on the stairs at her apartment building and did not survive the fall. It is hard to describe the loss we felt. My spirit lifted a few weeks later when Lynn Freeman, the rectory manager, told me she had been given Mary’s lector notes. I was so excited! And then I opened several and my heart sank. All the notes were in Latin or Greek.”
The decorative centerpiece of the marble ambo, where lectors proclaim the Word of God, is from the bronze Communion- rail gates of the 1941 church.