Source: The Roanoke Times, Va.存倉Aug. 10--Even the most dedicated faithful can find themselves entrenched in an almost mechanical Sunday routine: Go to a worship service, go home, repeat next week.It's common in churches across the spectrum, but not ideal, according to Chuck Frost, a St. Andrew's Catholic Church pastoral associate.Over the past two years, the St. Andrew's staff kicked around an idea that could break people out of the mundane cycle. A festival formed in the minds of church leaders. It featured music, a speaker, and an opportunity to unite a group of parishioners that is usually split over four separate services.It would be called the Festival of Faith.Still, Frost said, organizing such a large event was a risk because of the costs involved. And in October 2011, the idea was about to be set aside. That's when then-Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Catholics worldwide announcing that the church would observe a "year of faith" from October 2012 through November 2013, a letter that spurred St. Andrew's to go forward with its suddenly aptly named festival."The bigger church is asking us to do this, to inspire people and renew their faith," Frost said.The Roanoke church is hoping to energize legions of local Catholics with the event, which kicked off this evening and will run through Tuesday.After 15 months of planning, Muriel Kelley said the weekend's events will be the first of their kind for St. Andrew's. Kelley, the chairwoman for the steering committee that planned Festival of Faith, said one of the church's goals is to bring all of its parishioners together for a unique experience.The church expects about 1,500 people to be on hand Sunday morning for a special combined Mass and boxed lunch, Kelley said. The Mass, along with events on Monday and Tuesday, will feature keynote speaker Mike Patin, who is known nationally for using humor and energetic talks to encourage further engagement with the faith.But to start the festival, the church called on the internationally touring band Ceili Rain, a group infused with Celtic sounds and a Christian message. Bill Bleistine, the drummer, said the group is composed of Catholics, but tries to make music that can lift the spirits of anyone."We wan自存倉 them to feel better leaving than when they came," he said.He said much of that is accomplished in the songwriting of lead singer Bob Halligan Jr., who spent years penning pop songs for bands such as Judas Priest and Joan Jett."He finds a great story or a great character or a great lesson and finds a way to tell it without being preachy or making people uncomfortable," Bleistine said.The band includes St. Andrew's parishioner Burt Mitchell on bagpipes and whistles, and he led the band to the stage by marching through a tent that held 1,500 chairs the church has set up for the weekend's events.After introducing the night's entertainment, Frost watched as the festival kicked off in the big tent, but he had his eyes on a smaller tent, a blue one standing closer to the church. He said over the next few days, that tent will be offering parishioners the chance to become more involved, more engaged.He called the festival a spark plug, hoping it will boost enthusiasm and dovetail with the Catholic New Evangelization movement, which seeks to spread the faith by energizing existing members."It's renewing the church internally so it bleeds over," Frost said. "We will draw people in by our lives. We hope that if their faith is energized, the world will see it and want to know more about it."Even planning the festival, Frost said, has made waves within St. Andrew's members who worked to set the event in motion."It's renewed their faith," he said. "There's a certain excitement among the many who pitched in."Sunday's lineup features the combined Mass at 10 a.m. with Patin, then lunch and music at 11:30 a.m.Monday will bring vendors to the church at 5 p.m. to serve dinner as the church celebrates Mary and listens to another talk from Patin. And on Tuesday, vendors will return as Patin's final keynote closes the festival.Those attending the festivities can park near the church or at locations serviced by a shuttle. Sunday, the shuttle will be running from the Roanoke Civic Center. On Monday and Tuesday, the shuttle will run from the Elmwood parking garage.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Va.) Visit The Roanoke Times (Roanoke, Va.) at .roanoke.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉新蒲崗
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