OL 2016: What Happens When Your Pastor Endorses Your Offering of Letters from the Pulpit?

Rena Dragoo, Pat O'Meara & Joy Dinaro

 (Note: This is the fifth in a series about the congregations and schools in New Mexico that participated in the 2016 Offering of Letters. We have also featured Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary (and South Valley Preparatory and Holy Ghost Schools), Albuquerque Mennonite Church, All Saints Lutheran Church, and Peace Lutheran Church in Las Cruces).

When Joy Dinaro, Rena Dragoo and Pat O'Meara were planning the Offering of Letters at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Albuquerque, they thought it was important to get support from the the pastor, Rev. Warren Broussard, and associate Rev. Eric Ramirez. Short of having the Offering of Letters be the center of the homily, the next best option was an endorsement from the pulpit.  Immaculate Conception was one of seven churches in New Mexico that scheduled their Offering of Letters on April 24.

Fathers Broussard and Ramirez were more than happy to ask parishioners at the Jesuit church to  write letters urging our members of  Congress to prioritize support for maternal and child health programs, emphasizing nutrition. "Father Eric's endorsement was particularly strong," said Dinaro.

Because of the support from the pulpit, the Offering of Letters at Immaculate Conception Church resulted in a total of 316 letters to Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Sen. Tom Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich. The parish deserves a  #hungefistbump