The St. Gertrude Catholic Men's Fellowship aims to encourage men to gather within their parish communities to support ea...
The St. Gertrude Catholic Men's Fellowship aims to encourage men to gather within their parish communities to support each other via, prayer, sharing and fellowship. There are now over 200 such parish groups in the greater Cincinnati area (see the Cincinnati Catholic Men's Fellowship web site at http://www.thecall.org).
St. Gertrude's Men's Fellowship Group meets every 2nd and 4th Saturday in the school cafeteria from 7:30 - 9:00 a.m. Coffee and doughnuts are served and we promise to start and end promptly.
The St. Gertrude Catholic Men's Fellowship aims to encourage men to gather in support of one another, in a faith based environment, so as to form stronger and happier families to better cope with the stresses men face each day.
We gather each 2nd & 4th Saturday of the month in the St. Gertrude School Cafeteria from 7:30 am to 9:00 am Coffee and doughnuts are served and we end promptly at 9:00 am.
We discuss our lives in the light of our Catholic faith and share experiences that will benefit us as husbands, fathers and members of the community. We socialize, pray and discuss our faith as well as issues we are grappling with in our everyday lives. In this way, we support, affirm and offer insights to one another about the challenges men encounter in both their home and work lives.
Members of the St. Gertrude Catholic Men's Fellowship strive to reinforce Christian values. We reach out to share those values with others in the group and more broadly within our community. The benefits are clear as we:
Cultivate faith based friendships among fellow parishioners, and
Have fun, and
Learn from one another!
Background
Our Vision sees small pockets of men, meeting in Parishes, linked as Brothers in Jesus Christ so as to prayerfully – and unconditionally – support one another. To raise awareness and create excitement, we organized massive gatherings of Catholic men under the “ANSWER THE CALL” banner. Those events began right here at St. Gertrude in 1995, when Fr. Clem Burns was Pastor, and he hosted the very first Catholic Men’s Conference. We had to turn men away at that initial gathering as the Parish Center was overflowing!
During our peak years, over 10,000 men gathered for a day, in many of the large venues around Cincinnati, to hear nationally recognized Speakers. We celebrated Holy Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation with our local Archbishop, area Bishops and over 100 Priests and Deacons. It was awe inspiring to see thousands of men witnessing to their Catholic faith. Our Cincinnati community took notice, as did many cities around the U. S., and this movement took off.
What started in Cincinnati 25 years ago has spread throughout the United States and beyond to places like Guam for example. Events like our “ANSWER THE CALL” Men’s Conferences have been held in more than 60 cities over the years and there are countless Parish based Men’s Fellowship groups active around the country.
All of this has more to do with many men listening to this “call” on their lives, from the Holy Spirit, and responding to it.
