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Happening ... in the Local Church
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| Bob McCreary | Kathy Waldrep | Pamelia Storms-Barrett |
Previous director appointed to post at Guerin Catholic High School.
By Kevin Cullen and Caroline
Mooney
The
Catholic Moment
LAFAYETTE — Bishop William L. Higi has named Robert L. “Bob” McCreary to be director of the Pastoral Office for Stewardship and Development, effective Nov. 16.
Kathy Waldrep, a longtime staff member in that office, will become associate director.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Bob McCreary and Kathy Waldrep will bring the same dedication and energy to their new posts that has marked their ministry since they first joined my staff,” Bishop Higi said.
“I feel very blessed to be offered this position,” McCreary said. “I am very grateful to Bishop Higi for having the confidence in me to do the job.”
McCreary, planned giving officer for the diocese, will have overall responsibility for the office that conducts diocesan appeals and campaign planning, maintains donor records, directs the Catholic Foundation of Northcentral Indiana and develops parish stewardship initiatives.
McCreary will succeed Pamelia Storms-Barrett, who has directed the pastoral office since October 1999. She has been named director of development at St. Theodore Guerin High School in Noblesville, and will start work there on Nov. 16.
“I am most grateful to Pam Barrett and the service she has given to our Local Church over the past 10 years,” Bishop Higi said. “In appointing her development director of St. Theodore Guerin High School, I have confidence she will meet the expectations of that task and exceed them.
“She understands development, has had significant experience in development both in the Archdiocese of Chicago as well as the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, and knows the Guerin Catholic community well, having been part of that effort since the get-go,” he said.
McCreary, 62, is a former new-car dealer from the Benton County community of Fowler and parish volunteer at Sacred Heart Church there. He sold the dealership in April 2007 and retired, but two months later he joined the Pastoral Office for Catechesis as an administrative assistant.
Barrett hired him as planned giving officer in November 2008. In that post, he promoted planned giving throughout the 24 counties of the diocese, worked on the Catholic Foundation of Northcentral Indiana and solicited foundation funds.
In his new job, he will be a member of Bishop Higi’s administrative cabinet, and report directly to the bishop. His main focus will be planned giving, promotion of the Catholic Foundation, stewardship education and stewardship initiatives.
Waldrep, administrative assistant in the Pastoral Office for Stewardship and Development for the past 7˝ years, formerly worked as an executive assistant for the CNN Center in Atlanta. She will be responsible for Fruitful Harvest — which helps fund diocesan operations and generates funds for the Universal Church — and Seminarian Fund appeals. Waldrep also will manage the diocesan database, pledge processing and donor/parish relations.
“I really enjoy my job and am looking forward to this new chapter in my life,” Waldrep said. “Pam has been a wonderful mentor and supervisor. I’ve learned a lot from her. My favorite part of this job is working with people.”
“I am really glad that Kathy Waldrep is coming on board as an associate,” McCreary said. “Her background in Fruitful Harvest and the Seminarian Appeal is invaluable and her people skills are extremely good. She has history in the department, and I bring some management and leadership skills to the table that can benefit us.
“Pam is leaving us with a very well-run and well-managed department,” he said. “That weighed heavily on my decision to take on the job or not. For that, I am very grateful, too.”
McCreary was chairman of the parish finance council at the Fowler parish. He also served as a presenter and sponsor for the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults for 12 years, and worked on the Life Teen youth education program. He completed the Local Church’s Ecclesial Lay Ministry Program in 2005.
He and Sheila, his wife of 43 years, have three grown children and five grandchildren. The McCrearys are now parishioners of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Lafayette.
In recent years, McCreary said, he felt a call to serve the Church, but “I thought I was crazy to think about it. What would the Church do with an old car dealer? I felt an extreme amount of spiritual growth going through the Ecclesial Lay Ministry process. When I look at the last six years, coming on board with the diocese and ending up where I am — I say this very humbly — I see God’s hand in this.
“To be able to serve at this level,” he said, “with the possibility of a trickle-down effect and the number of people our department can assist and help in their Catholic faith is beyond my wildest dreams.
“Pam has left a legacy,” McCreary said, “and we will continue to move forward.”
In other staff changes ...
Margie
Crooks, who had directed the Pastoral Office for Family Life since February
2007, recently re-signed to become director of education for the Archdiocese
of Detroit.
A replacement has not been chosen.