P E T E R S TOWN T E C

THE SHINING SON

SPEC I A L PO INT S

OF INTEREST-

DEACON

VINCE’S

MESSAGE

LEAD ME LORD

NEW TECITES

THANK YOU

TEC TEAM 201

KITCHEN

NEWS

TEC ENCOUN-

TER 2016

WHEAT

MORE WHEAT

HOOT HELP

IMPORTANT

DATES

PRAYER

REQUEST

By: Deacon Vince Slomian

October 2016 P A G E 1

HAPPY FOURTH DAY TO ALL, Well, can you believe we celebrated the 200th TEC program at Peter-stown Hilton? What a great accomplishment for our TEC community. It was done in 40 years with the help of many, many people, religious, priests and deacons. Especially with the support of our local pastors and the Peter-stown community parishioners. All Saints Day is coming November 1st when we honor not only the heroic servants of God like St. Teresa of Calcutta, St. John Paul II, who are known, but also the unkown heroes, the unrecognized peace-makers like the Peterstown TEC community. We know some of these heroes and heroines whose names are not the official list of the Church. They live right around us. They go to school with us, worship with us, talk with us. Look for them and you will find them, at least some of them. The all-knowing Father knows all of them. He knows the Christians we will honor on All Saints Day, as they are countless. We can pray: “Make us worthy to share eternal life…with all the Saints who have done your will throughout the ages.” Those men, women and children who are special friends of God, are blessed and happy because they tried to carry out the program Jesus gives us in the Good News. Let us all try to carry it out. Try to be peacemakers, to be merciful, and pure of heart. Continue to be sup-portive of TEC, being on teams, on Wheat teams, doing Wheat in the kitchen. Baking and praying for every TEC. Living a life that Jesus wants us to live. Then we can hope that some day in the future, we will be among those God honors and awards on All Saints Day. With Peace and Joy in our hearts, Deacon Vince KEEP COMING BACK!

P A G E 2

T H E S H I N I N G S O N

LEAD ME LORD ROBIN SANTMAN

Are you voting on Tuesday November 8th, 2016? “I will be glad when this election is over!” That is an exclamation heard often these weeks leading up to election day. As Catholics we have a moral obligation to participate in politics, the organized building of a more just society. “People in every nation enhance the social dimension of their lives by acting as commit-ted, and responsible citizens. Let us not forget that “responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participa-tion in political life is a moral obligation.” (Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium[EG], 200) One of those obligations is to vote. Unfortunately, we regularly find that the candidates on the ballot often promote grave intrinsic evils. “Catholics often face difficult choices about how to vote. A Catholic cannot vote for a candidate who favors a policy promoting an intrinsically evil act, such as abortion, euthanasia, assisted suicide, deliberately subjecting workers or the poor to subhuman living condi-tions, redefining marriage in ways that violate its essential meaning, or racist behavior, if the voter’s interest is to support that position. In such cases, a Catholic would be guilty of formal cooperation in grave evil. At the same time, a voter should not use a candidate’s opposition to an intrinsic evil to justify indifference or inattentiveness to other important moral issues involving human life and digni-ty.” (Forming Consciences For Faithful Citizenship[FCFC],34) “Opposing evil and doing good are essential obligations. The moral imperative is to respond to the needs of our neighbors, basic needs such as shelter, food, healthcare, education, and meaningful work-is universally binding on our conscience, and may be legitimately fulfilled by a variety of means.”(FCFC,24,25) So what if both candidates support grave intrinsic evils, especially those related to the dignity of the human person and the common good? What are we to do? The USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) offer the following: “ The voter may decide to take the extraordinary step of not voting for any candidate or after careful deliberation, de-cide to vote for the candidate deemed less likely to advance such a morally flawed position and more likely to pursue other authentic human good.” (FCFC, 36) We must keep in mind that we will never make the world perfect but the benefit of our Catholic Faith is that we remain hopeful even in the midst of division, hatred, violence, and difficulty. This is because we do not put our faith in any particular candidate, political program, party, factor, or ideol-ogy. Our faith is in Jesus Christ. So we remember that although we may put trust in those elected to government office, HE is the only Savior we have. We know that while we strive to bring the world closer to peace and justice, through our civic engagement, no one but Jesus Christ can truly save us. (Mark Schmidt, Office of Respect Life and Social Justice, Archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa) Yes, I will be voting the way an informed Catholic should vote and at the same time praying God will lead us to select the right candidate. It is up to HIM who gets elected to office.

LEAD US LORD

P A G E 3

Tracy and Laura Knapp of Mendota, Illinois are the recipi-ents of this year’s “Spirit of TEC” Award here at Peter-stown. This award recognizes member(s) of our TEC Com-munity for their dedication, and service. They live out the Pas-chal Mystery in their lives, have contributed to TEC in a significant way, committed to serving the church, youth, and young adults, and generously share their love, faith, and en-thusiasm with others. This award was prepared and dis-played during this year’s” TEC Encounter 2016” which was held at Quincy University in Quincy, Illinois the last week-end this past July. Laura’s first TEC was #75 in 1991 while Tracy’s first TEC was #108 in 1998. They have worked in the TEC kitchen on Saturday evenings for almost 25 years. Tracy is the Building and Maintenance Chairman on TEC Council while Laura serves as Team Selection Co- Chairperson. They are members of Holy Cross Church in Mendota where Laura has been organist for more than 23 years. Laura

has taught at Holy Cross School for 19 years. Tracy is a construction manager and electrician. They have two children, Billy and Kurtis, who have also been on TEC weekends. Tracy and Laura continue to let their LIGHTS SHINE to all those around them! Congratulations Tracy and Laura!

T H E S H I N I N G S O N

Spirit of TEC 2016

Jasmine Guzeman, Lydia Mead, Emma Roden, Annie Sabotta, Aria-na Sanchez, Nakieta Urban, and Megan Wiesbrock. Welcome new team member Deb Hochstatter!

P A G E 4 T H E S H I N I N G S O N

WELCOME NEW TECITES

TEC TEAM 201 Lay-Leader- Tom Heitmann Assistant Leaders-Gary Rose, Jesus Torres Spiritual Leader-Fr. Jacob Rose Peterstown TEC Spiritual Director-Deacon Vince Slomian Assistant Spiritual Directors- Phil Grant and Colleen Harmon TEC Lay Director- Robin Santman Other Team Members: Greg Oseland, Sam Becker, Angel Diaz, Andrew Lopez, David Kasprowicz, Eli Otterbach, Jacob Quiram, Harrison Schimmer, Jeff Schimmer, Kim Schimmer, Austin Sullivan, and Tom Yucus

P A G E 5

TEC TEAM 200

T H E S H I N I N G S O N

THANK YOU! Thank you to all of the TECites and a friend of a TECite who came out to Pe-terstown to help with the annual Fall cleanup this past September 17th! Thank you to Don and Carol McLachlan, Rhonda Bezely, Anita Kobilsek, Jeanne Fitzpatrick, Connie Arteaga, and friend of TEC Ethan Mathias. We all spread out and got the Peterstown Hilton in shape for this year’s TEC weekends! Special thanks to Don for hanging our 40th Anniversary woodcarving which was beautifully done and donated by Jim Poisel.

Huge thanks to all who donated items/food!

Spring Valley Supermarket - Italian Bread Heartland Meats - Ground Beef

Sullivan's - Potato salad and pasta salad RO Pros - Water and ice

Anonymous chickens - 10 dozen eggs Anonymous bun lady - 64 buns

Kristi Althaus - Storage bins Lori Simonton & Kathy Otterbach- Friday night snacks

Becky & Mari Biers - Saturday night snacks Mendota Knights of Columbus - Grilled pork chops

Hennepin Crew - Coffee cake Daniella McConville– delicious cupcakes

Everyone who offered their time and talents to making it another suc-cessful TEC weekend!

If anyone is interested in donating items or food in the future, please contact me @ 815.866.6889 or rossranch92@gmail.com. We always

need help in the kitchen.

We love Wheat! Peace to you all, Jill Ross

KITCHEN NEWS-

P A G E 6 T H E S H I N I N G S O N

TEC ENCOUN TER 2016-

IGNITE THE FIRE! Each year there is a national summer gathering of TEC Centers from through-out the country, and on occasion the international TEC Centers attend as well. These gatherings used to be called “conventions” of which Peterstown hosted at Western University in the late 90’s with hundreds attending. About 10 years ago it became known as the “annual TEC Congress” of which Peterstown as-sisted in the hosting, with all the Illinois TEC Centers, in Peoria in 2009. We were in charge of the conference room decorations and had Peterstown repre-sentatives on the Wheat Team for that weekend. This year was the first year as the newly reorganized “Encounter” which was hosted by Great River TEC held in Quincy, IL from July 29-31. Robin Santman, current Lay Director, and Brenda Barnickel, current Assistant Spiritual Director and TEC Reboost Chairman, represented Peterstown by attending, along with over 115 other TEC community members from 22 other TEC Centers. Quincy University is a beautiful small Christian campus centered on Francis-can values. The weather was great for lots of walking and golf cart riding. The St Francis Solanus Chapel has a rich history and was attended by all for pray-er, mass and reconciliation. We were able to pray, play, network and share by attending breakout sessions of which we covered 6 of the 9 offered. There were keynote speakers each day focusing on: what local TEC communities may need to die to in order to rise and foster new growth, God shaping us like clay – crushing us down to rebuild us – putting us through the fire to strength-en us, and the thresholds of diversity and conversion. All three speakers posed questions to be discussed and to take back to our home communities. There was an Agape Dinner and Hoot with line dancing, along with a live and silent auction that raised over $9,000 for the TEC Conference. Peterstown donated a red cooler loaded with all “red items” in celebration of our 40th Anniversary, celebrated just a couple weekends prior. We succeeded in placing winning bids on several pieces of artwork/handmade items as a remembrance of our trip, and in turn made a monetary donation to the fundraiser.

P A G E 7

T H E S H I N I N G S O N

The TEC Conference keeps a Book of Life/Remembrance in which TEC Cen-ters add names of those who have passed away since their last attendance at a national gathering. We prayerfully added David “PAK” Pakula, Les Grant, Rick Wujek and Ginny Funfsinn for Peterstown that have gone to be with the Lord since summer 2015. Annual awards are presented and Spirit of TEC awards are revealed for all those nominated at TEC Centers. Tracy and Laura Knapp were Peterstown’s recipients this year. The location of the next annual gathering is also an-nounced, which will be in Wichita, KS from July 7-9, 2017. Check out the August 2016 issue of the TEC Communicator at tecconference.org for more highlights of the event, as well as the Peterstown TEC Center bulletin board for more photos. New friends were made, hugs were shared with old friends, and hearts were set on fire for Christ during the gathering. We came away with the affirmation of how Peterstown is truly blessed with our location/atmosphere and strong supporting community. Please consider attending an annual gathering in the future. It’s an awesome experience and Reboost to Re-Ignite your Light!!

P A G E 8

Helping in the TEC kitchen is one of many ways TECites and parents can do WHEAT for the TEC Program. Volunteers are always in needed! If you would like to help in the kitchen contact Jill Ross-rossranch92@gmail.com or call 815-866-6889. You can bake cookies as a form of WHEAT then bring them to the gym kitchen Friday night or Sat-urday of the TEC Weekend. When it comes to serving the meals it is policy that teen girls do not serve in the dining area on Boy’s Weekends until the Candlelight Dinner on Sunday evening. This is one of many surprises on the weekend. Those who serve the meal are called escorts where part of their WHEAT is indi-vidually escorting the candidates to the dining area. Girls are asked to dress modestly, wearing either a dress or slacks. We ask those teens who made the previous TEC Weekend as a candidate to attend the Hoot Mass rather than serve the Candlelight Dinner. Keep in mind for good health and safety, we ask you to consider not doing WHEAT in the kitchen if you have a serious cold or the flu. Other WHEAT is to attend the Hoot Mass, Hoot, and Candlelight on Sun-day Nov, 6th starting in the Church at 5:30. Please consider staying for the Candlelight. It only lasts about 10 minutes at the end of the evening and so worth the stay! As always, WHEAT letters are always appreciated for the Team and Candidates!

T H E S H I N I N G S O N

WHEAT

MORE WHEAT- Thank you to the TECites from TEC #199 who came back to help clean up after TEC#200! You all did a great job! We were all finished by 5:00! With many dedicated helpers it sure didn’t take very long!

T H E S H I N I N G S O N P A G E 9

CLIP AND SAVE IMPORTANT TEC DATES

Please make sure to mark your calendar so that you don’t miss out on all the fun we have at the TEC Hilton, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.

OCT. 26th-

Council Meeting 6:00p.m.

Safe Environment Session 6:30 p.m.

4th TEC #201 team meeting 7:00 p.m.

1st TEC #202 team meeting 7:00 p.m. in gym

Nov. 2nd-

TEC #201 team meeting (pot luck) 6:30 p.m.

NO TEC#202 team meeting

Nov. 5-7-

Boy’s TEC#201 Weekend

Nov. 9th-

2nd Girl’s TEC#202 team meeting 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 13th-

Follow-Up 5:30 Lounge

Nov. 16th-

TEC #202 team meeting 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 21st-

Monday- Council meeting 6:00 p.m.

Safe Environment Session 6:30 p.m.

TEC #202 Team meeting 7:00 p.m.

HOOT HELP NEEDED-

Do you have a skit in mind for the upcoming Hoot? Perhaps you play a musical instrument or sing? Sharing the gift God has given you as an act of "WHEAT" during the Hoot would be great! Please contact Sam Becker (815-866-1002) or Sophia Suarez (815-915-3248) if you would like to be included in the variety show at the Hoot!

CLIP AND SAVE IMPORTANT

DATES

Pray for the team of TEC#201 as they pre-pare for the girls TEC weekend to be held

November 5-7

Pray for all TECites and their families who are suffering from illness, loss of jobs, and other stressors of life. May God grace them

with his healing touch and give their caregivers strength and faith.

Remember all prayer requests may also be

submitted on the Peterstown TEC website at https://www.peterstowntec.com.

KEEP PRAYING: CHRIST IS COUNTING ON YOU

PRAYER

REQUESTS

Peterstown TEC Program 1307 Henry St. Peru, Il 61354

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED