CHARLOTTE — St. John Paul II once said, “Man cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.” He called this universal truth “the Law of the Gift.” To see this in action, look no further than the volunteers who staff the Diocese of Charlotte’s annual Eucharistic Congress.
The Eucharistic Congress – this year to be held Sept. 7-8 at the Charlotte Convention Center – relies greatly on volunteers from parishes across the diocese to be a success.
And a success it has been, with attendance each year growing by leaps and bounds. Last year’s event attracted an estimated 20,000 Catholics.
In the earliest years of the Eucharistic Congress, most of the volunteers came from the Charlotte Catholic Women’s Group, which is how Mary Catherine Surface first became involved. Now, Surface oversees volunteer recruitment for the congress and is a pivotal member of the event’s organizing committee. And the majority of volunteers, about 90 percent, now come from parishes and about 10 percent come from the women’s group.
“Over the last eight years, the Congress has grown, and the need for volunteers has grown vastly,” Surface says.
Volunteers are grouped into more than a dozen areas of responsibility, such as the Eucharistic Procession or greeters at the convention center’s entrance. Captains of each group recruit volunteers for their group – from their parishes or ministry groups, by word of mouth and through personal testimony.
Some people learn about the Eucharistic Congress from the event’s website, www.goeucharist.com, but many more hear about it from personal visits that Surface and many other volunteer captains make around the diocese.
“It’s surprising how many people don’t even know about the Congress,” Surface notes, and the personal invitation they hear from previous volunteers really serves to inspire people to try it themselves.
“Once someone volunteers the first year, they love it!” she adds.
Eighty percent of the volunteers each year are repeat volunteers. This return rate is so high, Surface believes, because volunteering at the congress gives people a sense of being involved in something that glorifies God and is larger than themselves. They join planning committees, they offer suggestions on increasing inclusion and improving the congress for the following year.
Volunteers work a two-hour shift at the congress. They get free parking at the convention center for the event, and preceding the start of the congress on Friday they attend Mass and enjoy a free lunch with their fellow volunteers.
It is amazing, Surface adds, that in just a two-hour time slot, a volunteer can touch so many other lives and their own lives can be touched, too.
Volunteering for the congress is a great way to get to meet other Catholics from around the diocese, Surface says. “It’s really a small commitment of time with a huge reward.”
It’s a sentiment that many other volunteers share.
Bea Madden has been an EC volunteer for more than 10 years. She registers the kids in the K-5 Track on Saturday morning, then works as an usher during the closing Mass. Over the years, she has watched many of the children grow in their faith. They come to the congress year after year and she has been blessed to watch their faith in Jesus bloom.
When she speaks to others about volunteering, Madden always says the same thing: “I tell them about the joy it gives you.”
Silvia Echeverria has been serving as a volunteer for seven years.
“Thank God I am serving in many places, helping others to become a volunteer,” Echeverria says. “I still help everywhere they need me. Now my husband and I are on the diocesan committee as volunteer recruiters. We visit other churches to invite them to the congress.”
She likes every part of the congress, but the closing Mass is special, Echeverria says. “Especially when the bishop raises the Body and the Blood of Christ, that is the most wonderful thing for me. And I am also very happy to see that each year we have more and more people getting closer to the Lord.”
Like so many other people who give of themselves, Theresa Isibor is very busy. She teaches public health at UNC-Charlotte, runs an after school non-profit for inner city kids, volunteers at St. Thomas and St. James churches, and for several years has been a volunteer at the congress.
“I’m originally from Nigeria,” she notes. “It’s a little different here. In Nigeria, you are expected to be of service; they sign you up. Here, you have to actually volunteer!”
When Isibor first learned about the Eucharistic Congress, she knew she had to be involved, she says. She has volunteered with the children’s tracks and as an usher. Now, she recruits people to be greeters.
“When people come to the congress, they are the first people you see,” she says. “We help them find their way to where they want to go. We welcome them to the Eucharistic Congress, to the convention center. If they are not from Charlotte, we are prepared to tell them where to go for parking and hotels.”
Since the minimum time commitment is just two hours, the volunteers have a lot of time to enjoy the congress themselves. For Isibor, the best part of the congress is “the Mass, the Mass!”
“I know a lot of people say the Eucharistic Procession, but I don’t really get to experience the procession due to my work,” she says. “You get to see all kinds of people (at Mass) – the faithful lay minister, the families, the children, and all the priests from all over.”
Volunteering at the congress makes it a special experience for that person, she notes. She hopes more people will consider volunteering, and if someone is unsure of which area they might like to volunteer in, the congress organizers will help them find a good fit.
“You form a network, a Catholic family and people will share things with you…even people who are not Catholic,” Isibor says. “It’s a human thing, a human contact to share with them. It’s a blessing for me, a blessing.”
— Annette K. Tenny, correspondent
For more information
At www.goeucharist.com: Get details about the upcoming Eucharistic Congress Sept. 7-8, plan ahead for your parish’s group to attend, and find out how to volunteer.