Gesu School Philadelphia 25 Years

GESU SCHOOL  1993-2018

On May 9, 2019 500 people gathered at a reception and dinner to give thanks for the mission of Gesu School's first 25 years.  It was reborn in 1993 when its supporting congregation closed its doors.    It had been a parish school since about 1875.    We took the occasion to give a much-deserved honor to Win Churchill who chaired the first independent board and rallied the help of scores of benefactors, thus enabling the school not only to survive but also to flourish.

Prayer of Thanks for Twenty-Five Years

“Blessed are you, Lord Our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has granted a mission to Gesu School, sustained it’s staff and faculty, its children and their families, and invited us here to celebrate this occasion, Gesu School now 25 Years as a school reborn after its supporting congregation closed its doors in 1993.

How can we thank you for every day of these 25 years?!!   Every day people like Immaculate Heart Sister Ellen and Jesuit Father Neil bring to Gesu’s children and their families their love and skillful experience.   But these years started in uncertainty.   A school would have died without the neighborhood grandparents and parents who encouraged us to trust in the Spirit.  It would have died  without the love, the hope and the energy of our honoree this evening, Win Churchill.  Blessed are we to know him and blessed are we to experience his personal encouragement, his creative energy and his support down to this day.   Blessed are all those persons, many with us tonight, from both Christian and Jewish faith traditions who joined with Win to sustain the life of Gesu School.

Whenever we at Gesu thank Your Spirit, O God, we praise you for revealing to us the sacredness of Gesu’s children. While we take pride in offering a comprehensive, innovative education, the children inspire us in their joyful desire to transcend every form of poverty.   We learn from them as they respond to ignorance and prejudice with child-like wisdom and welcoming.   We learn from them as they share with one another and with us a legacy primarily of their African-American spiritual and personal resources.

Now on this occasion, O God, bless our companionship and our breaking of bread together as one community.   Finally, we ask you, Lord, to bless us and teach us as we serve all those in need.  May God’s Spirit continue to lead us to mend our broken world.   I ask us all now to repeat after me these two words.  Alleluia, Amen

GESU SPIRIT MEDAL WINNER!

      

Fr. Neil Ver'Schneider with some of Gesu's students.