Dorothy Doyle

St. Stephen's Parish/Spirit of St Stephen's Catholic Community has embraced me since the 1980’s. I felt a sense of belonging when I started attending, especially when I first saw a woman (gasp!) walk to the podium and give the homily in a Catholic church. And I fell in love with the community at a retreat when I, as a single mom, saw that my son made friends quickly, and was cherished by the community. It meant the world to have that support during a difficult time. 

I’m running for council to give back to the community that has given so much to me. 

I am now a retired hospital pharmacist. Even before pharmacy school, my work background included facilitating meetings and giving presentations, skills which I think may be of benefit to the council. My passion is justice advocacy. I’ve been a member of Bread for the World since the 1970s. Many years ago, I served on St. Stephens Legislative Advocacy Project (LAP) committee. Later I reconnected with LAP after it had become part of the Justice Commission of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. I chaired the LAP working group for a few years, and was our Justice Education and Action (JEAC) liaison to LAP. Recently I served as president, then communications chair, of the League of Women Voters of St. Louis Park (LWVSLP). I'm also now part of the legislative advocacy subcommittee of Spirit's Social Justice Committee. 

Thank you for considering my candidacy for council!

Bill Dumas

My name is Bill Dumas and I am running for a position on the Spirit council. Along with my wife Ivy-Jo, I have been a part of St Stephen’s/Spirit community since the late nineties. WHAT? Where HAS the time gone? Over the years I have served on the church council several times; worked on building maintenance/facilities committees in various forms; worked on planning and executing building moves; serve as a liturgy coordinator; as a homilist from time-to-time; and probably served in a few other capacities. 

I’m choosing to run for council again because it’s time to step up again. While I’m not a “mover and shaker," I’m not afraid to speak up; able to offer solid insight (at times); but most of all I’m a good listener.

One challenge I see that we face is how to go about growing our community. While I don’t have any ready answers as to how about doing that, I think it’s a question we need to address. Thanks for your consideration.

“Open your heart, be courageous, keep your sense of humor." - Pope Francis

Michael McCarthy

I have served three years as a member of the Spirit Community Council, and I am running for reelection. I’ve been a member of this community for more than 33 years. My wife Martha Benda introduced me to the community, and we were married at St. Stephens and raised our three kids among those of you around during the early part of this century. 

Besides council work, including as a liaison to the Communication Committee, I also help with AV tech to support our in-house and online production. I’ve been employed for almost 25 years in communications at the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies. Before that, I was an associate editor with Catholic Digest magazine when it was published by the University of St. Thomas.

These past three years have been busier and more challenging than I ever could have imagined. And I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, especially getting the opportunity to work closely with and learn so much from the amazing folks on our community council. We’ve endured many challenges together, focused especially on preparing our community for the coming years. We’ve made a lot of progress and created a robust new organizational structure due to the wisdom, hard work, and prayers of so many of you.

My priorities in particular:

1) improve connections among community members, continuing to seek the best technology to support this goal when appropriate

2) build our community membership through welcoming and outreach initiatives

3) nurture community volunteers and prevent burnout through improved listening, prioritization of efforts, and practical decision-making

4) continue to bring the Gospel message to the broader community by focusing on ways to support social justice efforts within our community and through collaboration with our New Branches neighbors and beyond

I’d be honored to continue to serve you as a council member for another three years. I remain in awe of this community, particularly for the depth of your commitment to serving the needs of others and nurturing the spirit of life in all you meet