Rita Waldref plans to keep serving

 

By Catherine Ferguson SNJM

As Rita Amberg Waldref retires at the end of January after 26 years as charity and social justice coordinator of St. Aloysius Catholic Parish, she expects to continue to find ways as a volunteer to work for social justice.

"I have loved parish ministry since the beginning. Being with the parish is where the people are. We meet, pray and serve together. It is where we are grounded," she said.

When her work as charity and social justice coordinator became full-time in the early 2000s, she found her niche in parish life.

Rita's work has focused on five areas: racial justice, environment, homelessness, immigration and the relationship with St. Aloysius' Sister Community in the Bajo Lempa region of El Salvador.

Because of her leadership, St. Aloysius has one of the most active social justice parish programs in the Spokane Diocese. A vital aspect of her work is the many volunteers who have built the programs and the ways she has seen them grow in their faith and personally.

In each of the last four years, Rita and her husband, George, have led a delegation to the Mexico-Arizona border. They have learned that reality differs from what is portrayed on the news. When they return, Rita asks each delegation member to write a short reflection on the trip for the parish bulletin so that the entire parish can benefit from their experiences.

She shared some quotes from Jim Andrews, one member of this year's delegation.
• "Proximity changes everything."
• "This trip humanized what political rhetoric, the news and social media can so easily dehumanize."
• "As we met those immigrating and heard their stories, it was clear we would make the same decisions they have made. Immigrants are no different from us."
• "The most significant impact our 'tougher' border policies have had is to effectively dehumanize and criminalize good people, and in turn actually empower and enrich the cartels."

Through Rita's efforts, St. Aloysius has also sent delegations annually to visit the Sister Community in El Salvador since 2005, except when COVID made it impossible to go.

"So many people have told me that coming to know the people and the reality in El Salvador was a life-changing experience for them," Rita said.

In the past, a Gonzaga Prep donor provided funding for students to participate. During his visit, one student, Logan, became sick with parasites, as did Rita's husband George. At the drugstore, he told Rita, "No matter that I got parasites, this has been the best experience of my life."

When Rita met Logan again as a young adult, he told her that it was still the best experience of his life.

Other opportunities Rita has facilitated are through programs in the Just Faith ministries series that provide small group programs to advance peace, racial equity and a sustainable world.

"I facilitate a program first to see what it is like. By now we must have done 14 or 15 eight-week sessions," Rita explained. "The most recent was called 'This Land Is Not Our Own: Seeking Repair Alongside Indigenous Communities.' I was particularly moved by the program and participants told me it was an eye-opener for them."
Rita chose to retire at the end of January so she can lead a final delegation to El Salvador.

"I don't know if the visits will continue once I retire, because I have been told they won't hire for my position until summer," said Rita, pointing out that the role is crucial because this is a time of so many needs."

Rita's more than 50-year history of working for the Catholic Church as a religious educator or doing parish ministry has paralleled the expanding number of ministries open to lay women and men since the Second Vatican Council ended in 1965.

In 1969, she graduated from Mount Marty University in Yankton, S.D., with a teaching credential and spent one year teaching American literature in a public high school there.

After her experience the first year, she did not like teaching or want to be a teacher.
"Whenever I reach a point in my life when I don't know the next step, God always steps in," Rita explained.

From reading the National Catholic Reporter, she learned about summer school at Gonzaga University.
"I came here by bus and called a friend of a friend. The call went to the wrong person, but," Rita said, "not the wrong person as far as God was concerned."

The person on the line directed her to Father Severyn Westbrook, then the associate pastor at St. Patrick's in Walla Walla. He said, "I have a job, and you would be just perfect for it."

Rita came to Walla Walla in the early 1970s, probably as one of the first lay woman in the Catholic Church to take on the ministry of religious education coordinator for the city.

"I think my only real qualification for it was enthusiasm," she said.
For about three years, Rita worked with the priests and people of Walla Walla, creating a religious education program for elementary school children of three parishes. As time went on, she also worked on a program for the high school students and for adult education.

"During that time," she said, "I saw myself as one who has been gifted with faith. As a Christian, I had been asked to share this faith in a unique capacity by coordinating an overall religious education program in Walla Walla and as a coordinator, I hoped that this program deepened the faith commitment of those who participated."

She also developed an appreciation for the volunteers needed to carry out a successful program and an understanding of the need for training them with the skills to succeed. This learning deepened over time and marked her current ministry at St. Aloysius.

Rita had planned to stay in Walla Walla a fourth year, but a priest friend said, "You will never find a man to marry in Walla Walla. I know a parish in Spokane who is looking for someone just like you."

Rita arranged to meet Father Joe Showalter, then the pastor at St. Aloysius, at a liturgical music concert at Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral. He hired her for religious education. She came to Spokane, met and married George, and three years later was working at the Family Life Office for the Spokane Diocese.

She then began as a part-time parish minister at St. Anthony's in Spokane, but she said, "God was always at work in my life."

A priest friend told her she was needed at St. Patrick's parish in Spokane, so she interviewed with the parish council and, even though she told them she was looking to have a second child, they hired her.

Rita found the people at St. Patrick's warm and friendly. The pastor and staff were committed to becoming an inclusive Vatican II parish. People were excited about the new liturgy and new openness in the church.

Eventually having two little children and a full-time parish job became too much, she left active ministry for a time but continued doing short workshops on religious education.

When she was ready for full-time work, a position opened at St. Patrick's, and she worked more than 10 years in the community she loved, doing various kinds of parish administration, including liturgy and religious education.

When the situation changed, she resigned.
"Once again God stepped into my life and within a month, Don Weber, the parish administrator at St. Aloysius, called and hired me for a part-time job. I was to improve the chaotic Sunday evening Mass, attended mostly by students. They needed regular liturgical ministers."

From there, her position gradually morphed to full-time with varied responsibilities. She also decided to get a master's degree in pastoral ministry at Gonzaga in 2002 just before her oldest daughter earned her own.

After she leaves St. Aloysius, Rita will travel with George. She is looking forward to again walking the Camino de Santiago, or the Way of St. James, a pilgrimage in northern Spain that leads to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. It has been a Christian tradition for more than 1,000 years.

"I love the Camino. This is our sixth time doing it. I feel grounded when I am walking it. We meet so many people, some faith-filled, some searching and some who have just come," Rita explained, adding, "We still keep contact with some we have met on the way."

Rita also wants to see Notre Dame, which burned on her birthday in 2019.
"I loved the old cathedral and felt blessed to be there," she said.

Regardless, Rita's journey continues, and God may step into her life in an unexpected way once again.

For information, email ritaambergwaldref@gmail.com.