Eileen Ziesmer -- OLPH-St. Agnes Parish, Highlands
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
For Eileen Ziesmer, the new role of director of religious education in Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish is only one facet of a mission she considers to be of the greatest importance: kindling the flame of faith into a warm and welcoming fire for many families who continue to suffer the after affects of Hurricane Sandy.
This July, the merger of OLPH in Highlands, a town badly battered by the storm, and St. Agnes, two miles further up the road in Atlantic Highlands, created one contiguous faith community and a religious education program for 375 young people from first through eighth grades.
Ziesmer, a member of St. Rose Parish, Belmar, for 15 years who taught religious education for a number of years there, sees the nurturing of the children in their faith as a primary aim. But she will also serve as a part-time pastoral associate with a focus on family ministry and adult faith formation.
In a telephone interview, Ziesmer said the multi-faceted role is the inspiration of Father William Lago, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish who views an overall approach to religious education as one of the keys to unifying the community.
Ziesmer, who worked with Father Lago when he was parochial vicar in St. Rose Parish, said the aim is to create a “solid new approach” that will bring the faith to families. “Religious education is a definite part of that,” she said.
“There is a real sense of the multiple needs of the community, especially after Sandy,” she said. “There is a real emphasis on all generations,” from seniors to adults, to young adults to kids.
Ziesmer earned a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers, the State University and worked in the social work field for 25 years. She earned a master’s degree in theology from Seton Hall University, South Orange.
She said the focus to be placed on the family in her new role is in harmony with her own faith heritage. Born to very devout parents, Catherine and William Pavinscich, who nurtured her in faith, Ziesmer said she and her husband Werner raised their daughter Catherine in the same tradition. She noted that Catherine was awarded the Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. Scholarship for her studies in The Catholic University of America, Washington.
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For Eileen Ziesmer, the new role of director of religious education in Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish is only one facet of a mission she considers to be of the greatest importance: kindling the flame of faith into a warm and welcoming fire for many families who continue to suffer the after affects of Hurricane Sandy.
This July, the merger of OLPH in Highlands, a town badly battered by the storm, and St. Agnes, two miles further up the road in Atlantic Highlands, created one contiguous faith community and a religious education program for 375 young people from first through eighth grades.
Ziesmer, a member of St. Rose Parish, Belmar, for 15 years who taught religious education for a number of years there, sees the nurturing of the children in their faith as a primary aim. But she will also serve as a part-time pastoral associate with a focus on family ministry and adult faith formation.
In a telephone interview, Ziesmer said the multi-faceted role is the inspiration of Father William Lago, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish who views an overall approach to religious education as one of the keys to unifying the community.
Ziesmer, who worked with Father Lago when he was parochial vicar in St. Rose Parish, said the aim is to create a “solid new approach” that will bring the faith to families. “Religious education is a definite part of that,” she said.
“There is a real sense of the multiple needs of the community, especially after Sandy,” she said. “There is a real emphasis on all generations,” from seniors to adults, to young adults to kids.
Ziesmer earned a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers, the State University and worked in the social work field for 25 years. She earned a master’s degree in theology from Seton Hall University, South Orange.
She said the focus to be placed on the family in her new role is in harmony with her own faith heritage. Born to very devout parents, Catherine and William Pavinscich, who nurtured her in faith, Ziesmer said she and her husband Werner raised their daughter Catherine in the same tradition. She noted that Catherine was awarded the Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M. Scholarship for her studies in The Catholic University of America, Washington.
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