Immaculate CONCEPTION
Roy and N
Meet Parishioners
Living Stewardship and Dis
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f you have been coming to Mass at Immaculate Conception for a while, chances are that you have received a warm welcome from Roy and Nancy Bennett at some point! Roy and Nancy have served together as ushers since they first joined our parish family in 2002. The ministry is just one of many they have enjoyed over the years and the one that perhaps best fulfills their desire to make and maintain close connections to so many others in our faith community. Reflecting on life at Immaculate Conception, Nancy is quick to give credit where credit is due. She is thankful for the many ways that her twin sister, Joan Finnegan, encouraged her to make a full return to the Catholic Church and really dive into parish life. For many years prior, Roy and Nancy had been alternating their Sundays between Catholic churches and the Methodist churches of Roy’s upbringing. After years of splitting their time between faith traditions, the Bennetts realized that they needed to make a change. “We were going to Catholic church every other weekend and Methodist church every other weekend, and I felt totally lost,” Nancy says. “Something was missing and I wasn’t getting
Roy and Nancy Bennett (second and third from left) with their daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons
anything out of it. We needed to get our trust back in God. My sister, Joan, was the one who got me to come get involved with the church. She is my mentor.” Not long after the Bennetts committed to attending Mass weekly, Roy decided to enroll in our parish RCIA process. He entered the Church, and he and Nancy had their marriage convalidated in the Church by Fr. West in 2002.
Roy still remembers the feeling he had as he was confirmed in the Catholic faith during the Easter Vigil Mass. “The word that comes to mind is ‘humbling,’” he says. “The RCIA process was enlightening, and the Easter Vigil was the end of a long journey. I was very satisfied with it.” As demonstrated by his 37year career in the Army, followed continued on page 5
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