Welcome

Welcome to our new Director of Religious Education and our new Building Manager (“Sexton”)

It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce that the parish has hired two new full-time employees. They are Phillip Bellini and Liam Cousino. Phillip comes to Good Shepherd Parish after having worked for the last six years at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Kenner. While there he was directly in charge of the CCD program, the RCIA program, Sacramental preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation (for the church and school) and Adult Religious formation. Phillip has a virtually every certification from the Archdiocese of New Orleans to serve as a DRE and a catechist. Some of you may know that Phillip was responsible for bringing the Vatican Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles to the parish on Corpus Christi weekend. Stay tuned for more details about parish religious education to begin this Fall.

Liam Cousino is originally from French Canada, and is married to Kate, who sings in our choir. They have two boys, Guillame and Pascal. You’ve undoubtedly seen him around the parish, as he’s been a parishioner here since shortly after Katrina when he came to take part in the city’s reconstruction efforts. Recently, Liam has taken charge of the building committee, and through this work Liam has accepted the responsibility for directing the restoration of our church as a full-time employee. Liam is a master carpenter from a family of carpenters, and has a strong background in the craft that was originally used in the construction of the church. This type of knowledge will be crucial in undertaking a restoration that seeks to respect the integrity and wisdom of the older techniques while integrating them with the modern use of electricity, acoustics and climate control.
This weekend both Phillip and Liam will attend all of the Masses in the parish so that you can meet them (if you haven’t already). With these new hires, I am assured that you will start to see progress in our religious education programs and parish building progress. As far as titles, Phillip will be the Director of Religious Education, informally known as the “DRE.” Liam, who comes from the old Anglo-Latin school of Church terminology, will be known as the parish “Sexton.”