50 Years of Service and Catholic Services

When Mary Our Queen opened its doors September 1941, parishioner Martin Jansen was there. Now the 88-year old church trustee and head deacon is getting ready to celebrate the church's 50th anniversary, and he has more than 1200 fellow members to join him.

Mary Our Queen members will hold a celebration on September 24, offering picnic food, children's games, music and religious ceremonies and festivities, ending with mass at 5 p.m.

Although the golden anniversary is enough reason to celebrate, parish council secretary Robin Taillie said it's also about celebrating the growth and excitement found within the church body itself.

Also a catechism teacher and lector, Taillie said it was the church's friendly atmosphere that led her family to choose Mary Our Queen 17 years ago.

"The parishioners themselves really welcome new families and they welcome you participating in any of the things going on, so you never feel like you couldn't join something," Taillie said.

Taillie and Jansen said the youth group is probably the most vibrant and active ministry of all, with a large group of teens continually working community service projects and volunteering within town.

They just returned from a service trip in Queens, N.Y., and plan to do the some in Toronto, Ontario, Canada next year.

"The youth group is really great, that is something that has really grown and is doing very good," Jansen said. "The church really has come a long way through the years."

According to the Rev. A. Waine Kargul, pastor at Mary Our Queen, about five new people attending every week, which is rapid compared to a church he served as pastor at in Hartford before joining Mary Our Queen this March.

"We're a sizable congregation but it's also an active congregation, with a number of ministries and a younger parish-we have over 400 children registered, and an amazing youth group," Kargul said. "The rate of growth is a first for me, because the parish I was in before we did about three funerals a week and saw maybe one new person a month. It's an exciting change."

Kargul and parishioners said they look forward to celebrating together on Sept. 24, and hope parishioners who haven't come to church recently will come out and enjoy the day.