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U p F r o n t
By Karl Keating
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ECCLESIASTES 3 reminds us that there is a time for every matter under heaven, including a time to seek and a time to lose. Recently Catholic Answers lost two long-time staffers, but, seeking through prayer, we gained three outstanding additions to the apostolate.
Jack Gergurich I have known for more than two decades. A long-time prolife activist, he is a CPA who ran his own accounting firm, then joined Catholic Answers as controller. His skills proved especially helpful in giving the apostolate badly-needed fiscal order. (He failed only in trying to instill in me a lively appreciation of the difference between a credit and a debit.)
For years Jack had been thinking about going into business for himself and starting a Catholic book store. At last he decided that what was needed even more than a book store was a company that could be a one-stop site for orthodox Catholic audio and video tapes. While many organizations produce good materials, Jack recognized that most Catholics don't know where to turn to find a wide selection. He hopes to remedy that, and we expect to see much good come from his company once it gets itself established over the next few months.
A month after Jack "graduated" from Catholic Answers, another long-time staffer went into his own business. When I quit my law practice and started to work full time as an apologist, Patrick Madrid was one of the first to join me. He contributed to our publications, gave innumerable (and invariably well received) parish seminars, oversaw fund-raising efforts, and coordinated outreaches such as the ones we undertook at the World Youth Days.
To supplement his regular salary, Patrick began to try his hand at book publishing. His first effort, a collection of conversion stories, proved successful, and, extrapolating from that success, he calculated that publishing could provide him a salary larger than the modest one paid him by Catholic Answers. (This is one of the banes of running a non-profit apostolate: You rarely can pay staffers what they need or deserve.)
With a large and growing family and with looming college expenses for his offspring, Patrick thought it prudent to enter publishing full time. The move was good for his family and, I think, will prove good for the Church since he will be issuing orthodox and useful Catholic literature designed to educate Catholics and non-Catholics about the faith.
Although there is a sadness in not having Jack and Patrick join us at morning prayer, at meetings, and in our daily work, recent months have given us compensating joy as we welcomed new employees.
Peggy Frye was the first to come on board. Many of you already know her because it is usually her voice you hear when the phone is answered. Peggy became a Catholic four years ago, and her exuberance on the phone is a consequence of her exuberance for the faith.
She has been fielding many of the dozens of apologetics calls we receive each week. We thought we were hiring a receptionist, but we ended up hiring an apologist who has a winning phone personality. (God is good!)
Joining us in November as our vice president of finance was Philip Lenahan. Phil came to us from a Fortune 500 company, where he had been controller of a $300-million division. He brought with him not just accounting sophistication (he is a CPA), but a keen desire to promote the faith.
Already Phil's stewardship has proved fruitful: Catholic Answers is stronger than ever in its internal organization and finances, and the improvements he is implementing will allow the apostolate to expand this year into new fields such as book publishing and electronic media.
On the side Phil counsels Catholic families on financial responsibility (he is an advocate of regular tithing, and he teaches folks how to tithe and get out of debt simultaneously), and he contributes a monthly column to the newsletter published by St. Joseph Covenant Keepers, the Catholic alternative to Promise Keepers.
Our newest staffer comes from Nashville. Terrye Newkirk undertook her Ph.D. work in English at Vanderbilt University. Her dissertation examines how the Catholic Church was portrayed in Victorian literature.
A native of Oklahoma and a convert from Unitarianism, Terrye has done editorial work for several Christian publishing houses, has taught English and journalism at the college level, and has had hundreds of articles and poems published.
She has been a system operator of an electronic bulletin board on the Catholic Information Network, and some of her songs have been picked up by popular recording artists. She notes that she no longer is fluent in Anglo-Saxon, there being few people to practice with, but her French is still fine.
Terrye's name you will find on our contents page, where she is listed as the new associate editor. Her steady hand and good judgment will become apparent, I think, over the next few months as we improve and expand This Rock. As you might expect, I am more than pleased to have such competent assistance in producing this magazine.
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