Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Pastors to paddle for parish profit
Pastors to paddle for parish profit
100-mile kayak trip to raise funds for church debt, building
by Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published July 25, 2008
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Fr. Joe Horn (left) and Fr. Steve Wertanen fasten Fr. Horn's kayak to Fr. Wertanen's Jeep in preparation for their upcoming trip. |
Detroit — Two local pastors will be kayaking for dollars during the first week in August, as one tries to help pay down his parish's debt and the other seeks to raise money to build a new building on his parish's campus.
Fr. Steve Wertanen, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Trenton, and Fr. Joe Horn, pastor of Holy Family Parish in Memphis, will set out on a 100-mile kayaking trip on the Au Sable River in northern Michigan on Aug. 1.
Both are soliciting pledges from parishioners (and anyone else who would like to contribute), and the money raised will all go to their parishes.
"We'll be taking all those who pledge or donate along with us in prayer," says Fr. Wertanen, explaining that he and Fr. Horn will be celebrating Mass together each morning before they start out, and also pray the rosary each day as they travel.
They are calling the effort Padres, Paddles and Prayers, and will start out just west of Curtisville, and then complete their journey four-and-a-half days later just east of Mio.
Fr. Wertanen will direct pledges and donations that come in through St. Joseph Parish to helping pay down the parish's $2.6 million debt – money still owed on a major expansion program from 1999.
Fr. Horn is trying to help move Holy Family Parish's capital campaign forward with the pledges and donations in support of his participation in the kayaking experience. The parish wants to build a new Family Life Center on its property. Holy Family has previously raised $1.5 million of the estimated $2.1 million to $3.1 million needed for the building, which will include a gymnasium, hall, offices and meeting rooms. "We've just outgrown our space," he says.
Fr. Wertanen, 45, acknowledges that the trip will be well beyond his prior kayaking experiences: "I probably don't know what I'm getting into with this; the most I've done before is maybe three hours." He says he usually goes kayaking on the Huron River in Oakwood Metropark, near Flat Rock, but also has some experience of other rivers and lakes.
Fr. Horn, 43, has more experience of longer trips, but says the PPP trip will still be a challenge for him. "I've gone overnight before, but never anything like four days," he says. Previous trips have taken him to the Black River near Port Huron, the Manistee, Muskegon and Belle rivers, and to several lakes.
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Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic
Fr. Steve Wertanen (left) and Fr. Joe Horn assemble the oars they use to paddle their kayaks. |
And both priests, who have been friends since their days at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, have kayaked together before on Clark Lake, near Jackson, where Fr. Wertanen's sister owns property.
Undaunted by the prospect of the multi-day kayaking trip, Fr. Horn says confidently, "We're going to have a great time."
While on some days the priests will have to celebrate Mass out in the open, Fr. Horn points out that in Mio, the Catholic church and its grotto are very near where they will pull up their kayaks.
Fr. Horn was planning to begin promoting pledges and donations last weekend, but Fr. Wertanen started a week earlier, and was able to report he had already received more than $500 in pledges and $1,000 in cash donations.
To make a pledge to Padres, Paddles and Prayers, call St. Joseph Parish, Trenton, at (734) 676-9082, or Holy Family Parish in Memphis, (810) 392-2056.
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