Category: Religion

Posted on by

Keep The Faith In Frankford President Inspires Hope

by: Sabrina Silva and Jared Phillips/PhiladelphiaNeighborhoods.com

Since the closing of St. Joachim’s parish and Mater Dolorosa churches in the region three years ago, its members were given no choice but to merge into the Holy Innocents parish. However, for Keep The Faith In Frankford’s President and Executive Director Pat Smiley, the church’s closing showcased the strength its church members had on the community and its faith.

“This was also the time of Pope Francis, who said that we needed to get more involved in our communities and that we should step out onto the street,” Smiley said. “We were forced out onto the street, but that’s where the Pope wanted us and that’s where we’ve been.”

In light of the closing, Smiley started the Keep The Faith In Frankford organization to continue the presence of the churches in the community. The organization works out of St. Marks Church and holds weekly prayer services in front of the now-closed St. Joachim’s Church.

Before KTFIF, Smiley owned a neighborhood daycare center. Now, with a background of teaching, Smiley has put her energetic personality into bettering a community.

“I’ve always been an active-type person in trying to make things better,” Smiley said. “And in trying to deal with injustice.”

smiley-4-1-577x412

KTFIF has brought Frankford residents and other community members together to improve the neighborhood. Mary Moretz, vice president of the executive board has been with Smiley since day one of the organization.

“She just knows what needs to be done, who we need to reach out to, and she’s very talented and creative. We always just seem to get things done, and anything that we plan always comes together thanks to Pat,” Moretz said.

Various other organizations come together to help Smiley and KTFIF. Organizations such as Frankford Friendlies, Frankford Forward, and The House of W.I.N., work alongside KTFIF to better the community.

“What we are trying to do is connect people to make Frankford a better place to live, and that includes other civic organizations,” Smiley said. “You have a lot of people that are working together with people they wouldn’t have ordinarily met if it wasn’t for us or if it wasn’t for our church closing.”

Former St. Joachim’s parishioner and current KTFIF member Maureen Taylor has been a part of the organization since the closing of the parish. A member of the Parish for over 35 years, she was one of the church members affected by the close. Taylor helps out with feeding the homeless in the community as well as with the history tours of the Frankford neighborhood.

“Our group is trying to keep in touch with former parishioners by doing some of these community activities,” Taylor said. “So we’re just trying to be a home base for them.”

smiley-1-1-577x385

Community activities are highly important to the organization. Smiley believes they are crucial not only for the church members but for the residents of Frankford and its neighboring communities.

When former parishioner of St. Joachim Church and active Keep The Faith In Frankford member Al Stark, Jr. passed away, members of the church organized a “Spirit Day” to honor him. Now in its third year, KTFIF has combined the event with the “Dining with Dignity” effort, which is run by the Northeast Committee.

“We have games for the children,” Taylor said. “We try to get neighborhood groups to set up informational tables so that people coming through are informed of what services are available in the neighborhood.”

Though the event is set up by the KTFIF organization, many leaders from other organizational groups come by to help out.

Caroline Payton, founder and CEO of House of W.I.N., joined the KTFIF organization as a volunteer in preparation for the “Spirit Day.” Payton’s contribution is working with the young children during their basketball game event.

smiley-2-1-577x385

Smiley, alongside the members of KTFIF and other community organizations, have been doing all they can to not only better the Frankford neighborhood, but to bring its residents together for the greater good.

Smiley recognizes the success of KTFIF and other organizations in the neighborhood.

“Sometimes things are a blessing in disguise.”

Pat Smiley Profile Story from Philadelphia Neighborhoods 2 on Vimeo.

 

-Text, images and video by Sabrina Silva and Jared Phillips.

Posted on by

Christ Fellowship Christian Church is Moving

The Church building and lot, located at 1639 and 1637 Harrison Street Philadelphia PA 19124, is up for sale as a package. We would like to keep the building as a Church, as it has a history to the Frankford community.

Call Pastor Gayle at 267-893-8263, for more information and to schedule a day and time to come and take a look.

Posted on by

Catholic Daughters of the Americas to Meet

Court St. Francis De Sales #2617 of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas will resume meetings on Saturday, September 10, 2016 at 11 A.M. in St. Joachim Church Hall, 1527 Church St.  

Membership is open to all Catholic women age 18 or older.  If you are looking for a place to share your faith with other women and work to help others, we invite you to come visit and find out what we are all about.  

If you have questions, call Tina Dambach, Vice Regent @ 215-779-2054. 

Posted on by

World Class Musician at St. Mark’s in Frankford

On almost any Sunday at St. Mark’s Church in Frankford, you can hear acclaimed, award winning pianist, Timur Mustakimov,  play the piano.  He has been the church’s pianist for almost 2 years.

The gig in Frankford was not a career move for Timur, he was studying at Temple for a doctorate and needed a job and Rev. Clodfelter, the Rector, managed to secure his services for Sunday Worship Service.

It is an interesting collaboration, which the two seem to enjoy.  Timur will often play a piece before the start of the service, kind of like a warm up act for the main attraction.  He always seems to find music that will support the message that the priest, Father Jon, is trying to get across. The two collaborate beautifully.

The acoustics at St. Mark’s make it a great venue for any performance in the cavernous, Gothic, cathedral building.

Timur’s most recent achievement was winning first place of the second Midwest International Piano Competition! After competing with nineteen other pianists in the senior division from ten different countries, Mustakimov was the winner of a $10,000 cash prize and a CD recording with the Blue Griffin label. Timur was also the winner of the new Audience Choice Award, for which he received $500.

From the Iowa Public Radio Web site:

Timur Mustakimov performed Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and Brahms’ Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118 No. 2 for the final performance. Second place and $5000 winner was Alison Lee from the United States. Third place and winner of $2500 was Zhenni Li from China. First place in the Junior Division was JJ (Jun Li) Bui from Canada, winning $2500. Second place and winner of $1500 was Arthur Wang from Canada. Third place went to Jeffrey Chin of the United States, receiving $1000.

Russian pianist Timur Mustakimov, 28, is the winner of NTD International Piano Competition (New York, 2014), Heida Hermanns International Piano Competition (Westport, CT, 2013), Mannes Concerto Competition (New York, 2011), Jacob Flier International Piano Competition (New Paltz, 2007), Bach Piano Competition (Kazan, Russia, 2003).

Timur received his undergraduate degree from Kazan State Conservatory (Russia) under the tutelage of Alfiya Burnasheva. He continued his education at Mannes College in the studio of Vladimir Feltsman receiving full scholarship for the Master’s and Professional Studies programs. Timur is currently working on his Doctoral Program in the studio of Dr. Abramovic.

See the video below for a close up look.

 

Consider stopping by St. Mark’s on a Sunday morning at 10:00 AM.  Besides the music, the Clodfelter homily is always entertaining in itself.  It will be an experience to remember.

 

 

Posted on by

Eric Stieffenhofer Left Us Smiling!

Eric and Bee dancingEric Stieffenhofer almost made it to his 81st birthday. He liked marking milestones and he had had many in his life. You couldn’t sit in his and his wife, Bernice’s (Bee’s), living room without him pointing out to you his wedding picture proudly hanging over the mantle.

Married for 56 years, he always said it was destiny because you could find the letters of his name, B E R N I C E. A real love story they had. They met at the Fairmount Wallet factory where they both worked. In fact, they were both engaged to someone else. Eric was right about that destiny – they broke off their engagements and the result was five children, Lori, Krae, Beth, Mark and Tara and 12 grandchildren so far.

Initially settling in the Hunting Park area, the family moved to Northwood in 1974. They liked the diversity of the people and had very good neighbors. Beth tells the story of one of the neighbors asking about Eric only to learn that he had really just died. The man stopped and stood in the middle of their street upon hearing this news.

Eric would stop many people walking by as he sat on the front steps. Whether he knew you or not, he soon had you engaged in conversation. You would think you knew him all your life. No matter how he was feeling, Eric always wanted to lift others up. He would do that with a joke. Even the way he told them, you were intently listening until the punch line.

Truly, Eric put the “Pop” in “Pop Pop” as the grandchildren called him. Pop Pop would do the silliest things to keep them entertained. They loved to be with him and his family was most important. He would wrestle with the kids and always showed an interest in whatever they cared about. His granddaughter, Megan, would do puzzles with him on the iPad. His family just loved being with him because he was so much fun. He knew a lot about sports and there’s a lot you can learn from the game shows that he and Bee would watch. Eric was a favorite uncle, too. Eric loved parties and dancing; he knew how to enjoy life.

Eric and Bee were VIP’s, very important parishioners of St. Joachim. I used to see Eric at Mass, and he struggled with health issues that would have stopped anyone else in their tracks, but he was able to keep going.

During one of my visits, he showed me how he kept up with all the Keep the Faith in Frankford news on his iPad as we worked to reopen St. Joachim. I was impressed. Eric took the closing of the church, very, very hard. In fact, his family felt that when his beloved St. Joachim closed in June, 2013, that his health declined further as a result.  He truly believes St. Joachim will reopen. He recounted a vision he had one day and told me he knew the Church would open again. I believe, Eric and we sure are trying!

Eric had special powers. One of them was his sense of humor, a gift he shared freely with all those he came into contact with. His son, Mark, during Eric’s funeral Mass, began a eulogy to his father by telling all gathered a joke. That made us all feel a little better. We all smiled. Eric was still lifting us up and reminding us to smile. We won’t forget to “hear the laughter”, Eric, and we won’t forget you either. You are a part of all of us. There won’t be much resting in peace in heaven as you’ve already had them laughing with a few good jokes!