Saint Francis Seraph Church

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St. Francis Seraph Church is a Roman Catholic parish in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was established in 1859 by Franciscan Friars of Province Of St. John the Baptist on the site of the first Catholic Church in Cincinnati, "Christ Church" which was built in 1819. Bishop Fenwick, in 1822, decided to move Christ Church to a location on Sycamore Street where St. Francis Xavier now stands. The church attempted to move the original frame church but it collapsed and fell apart.

The Church is part of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. Its name come from St Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order, which in turn founded the church. St. Francis had a vision of a six-winged angel, the seraph, for which the church is named.[1]

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[edit] Serving Over The Rhine

Alcoholism, drug dependency, inadequate housing, homelessness and under-education are major concerns in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood St. Francis Seraph serves. In keeping with the traditions of Saint Francis of Assisi, the church has several ministries which attempt to meet these needs.

The church property houses St. Francis Elementary School, a soup kitchen and The Sarah Center, which hosts several of the ministries. Within The Center are a Parish Nurse, an Emergency Services program and The Sarah Center Woman’s Enrichment Programs.

In honor of Saint Francis of Assisi’s love of animals, the Friars also hold an annual pet blessing in the Sarah Center Courtyard.

[edit] The Sarah Center

The Sarah Center is part of Saint Francis Seraph Outreach Ministries located in the Cincinnati, Ohio neighborhood of Over-the-Rhine, a community known nationally for riots and high crime. The center, located on the corner of Liberty and Vine, serves primarily low income patrons from the immediate neighborhood, providing emergency services, such as rental assistance and utility payments. But they are best known for their cooperative jewelry arts program, which teaches skills and provides a supplemental income for local women.

The Sarah Center was founded by Sister Jeanette Buehler, a Catholic nun with Sisters Of the Precious Blood in Dayton, Ohio. Her original idea was simply to provide a place for inner city women to come for a cup of coffee or someone to talk to or merely to get away from their daily lives of fixed incomes, disabilities and sometimes homelessness.

[edit] The Jewelry Program

Sister Jeanette started the jewelry program in 1995 as a way of bringing creative expression to low income women who had few opportunities for such pursuits. With money from grants and private donations, the center purchased tools and materials and provided basic instruction. They began using plastic beads and base metals but moved on to sterling silver, semi precious stones and fine glass and crystal. They made simple pieces for their own use until someone suggested they sell publicly to earn money.

[edit] Cooperative Economics

The Sarah Center began their supplemental income program with initial jewelry sales at the Historic Findlay Market where they set up a table each Saturday. For their efforts, each woman earned 60% of the sale price of her personal creations, with 40% going back to the program to pay for the cost of supplies. One of the rules of the program was that each person had to work if they wanted to sell their jewelry; so they practiced their selling techniques in class. Volunteers helped with transportation. The center has has numerous inquiries about their cooperative method of selling crafts.

[edit] Creative Growth

In 1995, Sister Jeanette brought in Ipori Lasana to teach classes and coordinate jewelry sales, but she left for graduate school several months afterward.

In January 1996, Carol Rucker, volunteer and Center advisory board member, took over Ipori's duties, bringing to the women her own style of wire and metalwork skills for which the program is now known. She added new suburban art show venues to he program and brought Lydia Morrison aboard, who learned enameling techniques and shared them in class.

The local news media took an early interest in the low income jewelry artists in Over-the-Rhine. The Cincinnati Enquirer has featured the women, collectively and as individual human interest stories, the Herald Newspaper as well. WAKW and WCIN radio stations interviewed the ladies; and both the Local Fox and ABC affiliates have had them as guests on local programs. The Cincinnati Magazine awarded them with a Best Of Cincinnati Award for the category, Best Guilt Free Baubles.

With all that attention, the Jewelry program grew with equipment grants and private donations for a kiln, rolling mill, buffer, blow torches, hand fabrication and forging tools; and their jewelry now sells at art shows and in local gift shops, including the new National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, a museum along the banks of the Ohio River dedicated to freedom. The Freedom center sells Sarah Center creations to visitors from all over the world.

[edit] Today

Sister Jeanette has moved on to an administration position in her order in Dayton. She trained Arlene Turner, who took over as director of the Sarah Center in her place.

Carol Rucker recently left the center to pursue a career as a writer and resume her own jewelry artist career. Before she left, she wrote and taught The Center's Crafts As A Business curriculum, passing on information which has helped many of her students build their own home-based Jewelry businesses.

The women, now a mix from all walks of life, still meet in the center on Tuesdays, where they sip coffee, talk and make jewelry all day.

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ St. Francis Seraph Ministries