Social Committee resumes at Randolph’s Resurrection Parish

The Social Committee ministry at Resur­rection Parish of Randolph has reconvened meetings that were halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ministry’s meetings resumed on June 14 with the goal of creating fellowship opportunities for parishioners.

Husband and wife Mike and Claire Lambariello, members of the Social Committee for 15 years, have served as presidents of the group since the summer of 2013. Mary Ann Simonenko has been co-president for 12 years.

“We put out a call for new members,” said Claire Lambariello. “We had about 12, but we lost some members due to illness, and people moved away. Five new members showed up, as well as some of our regulars. We had about 14 people (at the meeting).”

Lambariello said that the Social Committee’s goal is not to raise money or funds but to hold fellowship events for parishioners to socialize and relax and to get to know others in their parish community.

Lambariello added, “Even if they don’t know anybody else at the event, everyone is super friendly and inviting. I, myself, have gone to things at our church where I didn't know anyone, and I found a lovely group of people to sit with and got to know them.”

In the past, the Social Committee has hosted an annual pancake breakfast on Super Bowl Sunday, a Friday night fish fry in the spring, a parish picnic in the fall, and both an Oktoberfest and wine tasting in October. This year, the picnic has been put on hold for a special Oct. 21 roast beef dinner to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the Resurrection Parish church building. A possible St. Patrick’s Day party is being discussed for March 2024.

Moving forward, the Social Committee will proceed slowly and gauge its progress.

Lambariello said, “We’re going to start small. We decided to do two or three events this year, and we want to see how the October dinner goes and see how many people attend. And then, if that goes well, we’ll have the pancake breakfast — everyone loves that — and then we’ll plan our March events. We try to pick dates when the largest number of people can come and help.”