Mr. Thomas C. Guelcher has been a member of the Serra Club of Erie for 34 years. Tom has held numerous seats on the Serra Board. For the past 20+ years he has been Secretary and Newsletter Editor.
He and his beloved wife, Mary Guelcher, were married for 54 years when Mary passed away on March 6th of 2018. They were members of St. Jude the Apostle Parish for almost 40 years.
Tom and Mary have two sons and five grandchildren. Their eldest son Jeff and his wife Christine are the parents of two daughters Megan and Kylie. Their younger son Stephen and his wife Nicole are the parents of three boys Will, Dylan, and Owen. Tom loves his role as Grandpa and always enjoys opportunities to spend time with his family.
Here is what Tom has to say about being a member of the Serra Club…
Serra’s mission is two-fold: to promote and support vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life and to assist in one’s own spiritual development. Being a member of Serra gives me the opportunity to participate in this mission. Having such an option in today’s hectic world, where we are continually bombarded with invitations to pursue materialistic objectives of dubious value, seems like a worthwhile alternative to me.
Serra provides a wide variety of programs and activities to pursue this mission with only one being a required activity. Each member is assigned two prayer partners. These are people in formation for religious life and we are asked to encourage them in their vocation by letting them know that we are praying for them. Programs and activities that take place each year include:
Monthly luncheon meetings that include a 15-minute presentation on a diocesan program or activity.
An annual evening of prayer and social gathering with the seminarians that provides an opportunity to get to know and encourage them.
An annual luncheon for all priests and women religious celebrating their jubilees. Being able to personally thank them for their dedicated service is very satisfying for me and highly appreciated by all of them.
An annual mass and dinner meeting at which the club honors a priest, woman religious, deacon and layperson of the year. This is also when the new Serra Club Officers are installed.
An attractive feature of Serra is that as a member you are free to decide to what extent you wish to participate in any of these activities. Serra has been and continues to be a way for me to assist the church and to nurture my own spiritual growth. I encourage anyone who might have similar interests to consider becoming a member of the Serra Club of Erie.