Our parish has been asked to join together with parishes throughout the Diocese of Youngstown in offering our support to the 2019 Annual Bishop’s Appeal. Our financial need is $4.2 million. Our goal this year is to reach 100% participation. There are many ways in which you can participate. Please PRAY for the success of the Annual Bishop’s Appeal. Your prayers are meaningful and critical to our success as a Church family. DONATE to the Appeal. Use the response card you received in the mail OR use an envelope found in your pew to respond. VOLUNTEER your time and talents to any of the ministries of the Church. As of April 17th our parish has committed $29,676.05 & achieved 25% towards our goal of 100% participation. Please submit a response card even if you are unable to make a gift of any dollar amount. Your response will count towards our parish participation goal. We ask every family to prayerfully participate in the Annual Appeal. Thank you in advance for your reflection and generous response.

First Step to Service
Catholic Charities is calling children of all ages to participate in our annual “Care for Creation” contests. This year, there are two ways to participate. Children can participate in the Art Contest and/or Essay Contest. Please download entry forms and rules for each contest by clicking here:  Care for Creation Essay Contest or Care for Creation Art Contest. Deadline for all entries is Friday, April 26. There will be prizes awarded to the best work of art and essay. Please contact Nikole Baringer with any questions (330-744-8451, ext. 323 or nbaringer@youngstowndiocese.org).

Casino Bus Trip
The Sisterhood of St. Joseph Church (formerly Women’s Auxiliary of the Mantua Knights of Columbus #3766) is hosting a Casino Bus Trip to Mountaineer Casino in New Cumberland, WV. Join them on Monday, May 13, as they leave St. Joseph Church parking lot at 9:00 a.m. & return by 6:00 p.m. Cost is $40.00 per person & includes $20.00 in free play. For more information and to reserve your seat, please contact Mary Ann Feddor at 330-842-0505. Participants are asked to provide their player's card number or birthdate when making your reservations.

ORF Chairpeople Needed 

• Main Raffle Booth > Thank you to Kathy Gray who has agreed to chair our Main Ox Roast Fair Raffle Booth! Be sure to contact her if you’re willing to work a shift or two.

• Lemon Shake-Up Booth > Nicki & Marvell Wring have agreed to come back & chair this popular booth. They welcome anyone who'd like to "shake things up". Thank you to Rob & Terri Perhach who are stepping down after having chaired for several years.

• Hamburger/Hotdog Booth > Jessica & Bob Globokar have stepped up to volunteer to take over this booth. We appreciate the Safko family who chaired it for a number of years (they’ll still be available to help out some).

• Kids Ox Land > Appalachian Experience will chair this fun, family game booth under the direction of Sean Fejes. Thanks for continuing to provide a church-run area for the kids.

• We're still looking for a chairperson for the Frog Jumping Contest.  

• We are still in need of someone to co-chair the Tradebooths for the 2019 Ox Roast with Tony Marinelli. If you’d like to  assist in coordinating all of the outside vendors who have booths at the Fair, please contact Vicki Ferrara (330-730-2603) or Tony Marinelli (330-296-3097).

If you are interested in chairing any of these booths or need more information, please contact the Parish Office (330-274-2253 or parishoffice@stjosephmantua.com). How-to info. and set-up help provided. How-to info. and set-up help provided.

Finding The Ox
For this year’s Ox Roast Fair we are starting a contest of sorts for free raffle tickets. You are encouraged to look for the stamped red Ox Roast Fair logo stamped in your printed bulletin (not the small printed logo that's always on the front cover). If you find it, you win one free Main Raffle ticket! There are five winning opportunities every other week.

2019 OX ROAST FAIR MAIN RAFFLE

First Prize:       2019 Ford EcoSport SE 4WD*
                            (provided by Kepich Ford, Garrettsville, OH)

Second Prize:  $1,500 Cash

Third Prize:  Paddle & Dine Experience for 4 (valued at $320.00)
 (provided by Breakaway Excursions, Mantua, OH )

Enjoy a 2 hour group kayak paddle on the Upper Scenic Cuyahoga River followed by an Upscale Catered Dinner served riverside with a bonfire

Tickets:  $10.00 ea., 3/$20.00, 10/$50.00, 30/$100.00
(ticket printing sponsor - Kepich Ford)

Purchase at https://connectnowgiving.parishsoft.com
(checking/savings direct withdrawal, debit & credit cards),
at area events, thru St. Joe parishioners, or during Fair 

Mark Your Calendars!
The Appalachian Experience group is hosting a Huge Rummage Sale at the St. Joseph’s Hughes Hall (11045 St. Joseph Blvd., Mantua) on Saturday, May 25, 9:40 a.m.-7:00 p.m., and Sunday, May 26, 9:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Donations of clean, usable items are appreciated and may be dropped off at the Hall on Thursday, May 23, 9:30 a.m.-7:00 p.m., and Friday, May 24, 9:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m., or by appointment (no TV’s). Sunday is fill-a-bag day for $3 and fill-a-trunk for $10 (starting at Noon). Volunteers are needed to help with set-up, sale hours, and clean-up. Donations of soups & other food items for volunteers are also most welcome. For further information or to volunteer, please contact Dan & Sean Fejes (330-274-2481 or sfejes24@gmail.com). Funds raised will go towards this summer's trip to participate in the Housing Repair Program at Binns-Counts Community Center in McClure, VA.

St. Joseph Church now has a system called My Own Church for updating your family information! All users must have an account to access the ParishSOFT Family Suite website. Users who do not have an account must sign up for an account to receive login credentials (username and password). All you need to do is hit the blue "Update Your Info" button and create an account. This is how you will be able access your 2018 Contribution Statement (if you do not have computer access, please sign-up in the Narthex or contact Kathi at the Parish Office, 330-274-2253 or ktrares@stjosephmantua.com, to request one). For more details including FAQs and how to videos, click here.  Please remember to check out My Own Church soon! 

Parish Business Directory & Directory of Talents
St. Joseph Church is creating a Parish Business Directory of parishioner-owned businesses and professional services in an effort to help the parish provide economic support within our own community.  This new Business Directory is intended to be an online resource that gives current information such as contacts, links to websites and other descriptions of these businesses. In addition, we're putting together a comprehensive list of talents and services. There will also be a printed edition created as the lists develop. Click here to learn more.

ParishSOFT Giving (formerly ConnectNow Giving)
We’re pleased to announce that St. Joseph Church now provides online giving through software called ParishSOFT Giving (formerly ConnectNow Giving). This is a convenient and safe way to make a one-time or recurring donation. It replaces the WeShare Online Giving that we previously used. ParishSOFT Giving is part of our parish database. It is less expensive for the parish and contributions are automatically entered into the database (rather than the secretary printing out a report and manually entering them). Getting started is easy! - just click on the ParishSOFT Giving button (on the right hand column under Links). To learn more about this convenient way to donate to St. Joseph Church, please visit our ParishSOFT Giving webpage.