37th National Convention: Philadelphia 2008
Kolping Society of Philadelphia
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37th National Convention: Philadelphia 2008 Kolping Society of Philadelphia |
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Philadelphia Kolping is delighted to host the 2008 Kolping National Convention in Philadelphia, PA from August 29, 2008 to September 1, 2008. Our site is the Society Hill Sheraton, 2nd and Dock Streets, Philadelphia, PA. Please see the links below for more information. Please have your registration forms in by July 15, 2008. We look forward to your visit!
To Philadelphia Kolping Members: We need help in many areas, with committee chairpersons and assistants. We will have monthly convention meetings in 2008. One hour prior to the regular membership meeting. If you are interested in helping in any way, please make an effort to attend this meeting. Your input is appreciated. Our Convention Chairman is Phil Rothenheber. Friday, August 29, 2008 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Saturday, August 30, 2008 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. 5:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. Sunday, August 31, 2008 9:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. 3:00 p.m.
Monday, September 1, 2008 8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 a.m.
Convention Articles from the Banner
Convention 2008 (from January) The New Year is a time of rebirth, a time to reflect on the year past and focus on the future that the New Year brings. To the members of Philadelphia Kolping, 2008 is a very special time to look ahead, to look forward to the National Convention. It will be Philadelphia Kolping’s great honor to act as the host of what we are sure will be a wonderful weekend starting Friday, August 29th through the Labor Day weekend end on Monday, September the 1st. If you have never been to Philadelphia you are surely in for a treat. Philadelphia is not only the home of the first seat of government for the United States it is also home to the Liberty Bell and the Betsy Ross House. Only just up the river Washington made his famous crossing of the Delaware to insure this country’s Freedom. To fully allow the National Conventioneers a feel of Philadelphia’s history we have selected the Sheraton Society Hill Hotel right in the heart of Philadelphia’s historic District. The hotel is located at 1 Dock Street (2nd & Walnut) and has 365 guest rooms. Conveniently located just off of I-95, it is the perfect location for out of town guests. Events during the weekend are scheduled at both the Sheraton and also the Kolping House on Southampton Road. Please take a moment as the New Year begins to check your busy schedules and mark down Philadelphia as your special Labor Day destination. Each month as we get closer to the 2008 National Convention, we will fill you in on the details of the events, times and places in the Banner. Take a moment to look over our article each month. In addition, Kolping Philadelphia thought it might be of interest to Conventioneers to get a feel for our grand city so we will also try to give you a flavor of our city’s history and spirit in the coming issues. Kolping Philadelphia will be dedicating one page of our website to the convention at www.kolpingphilly.com if you need more information you can check our website. Philadelphia has long been known as the “City of Brotherly Love” and this spirit is deep in the hearts of all the members of Philadelphia Kolping. As Jesus spread his love to all people around the world we in Philadelphia have always felt it our duty to spread Philadelphia’s love of life and liberty to all who visit our city. Convention 2008: A Journey to Philadelphia Father Kolping was a man who believed in the great spiritual journey, the kind of journey that led many men and women from Germany to other parts of the world. From its earliest time as a colonial city, Philadelphia has always been a place where journeys end and begin. Many of this country’s founding fathers came to Philadelphia from Europe to start a new life and build a new nation. Likewise, Philadelphia was a starting point for many new immigrants in their quest for a new life in the many cities and towns and countryside of Pennsylvania. From this idea of journeying and the spiritual journey the 2007 Convention draws its theme of “Kolping: The Journey Continues.” The Convention’s journey will begin in late August this year as Kolping members from around the country converge on the city of Philadelphia and its historic district. Nestled on Dock Street, the Sheraton Society Hill will act as our starting point into a fascinating journey into the spiritual history of the birth of a new nation. Only a short walk from the hotel, conventioneers will step back in time to a nation’s first capital city when they visit Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. A wonderful spiritual place to visit is Philadelphia’s Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, a great example of Roman-Corinthian architecture, and one of its founders is Saint John Neumann. In addition to the many sites of the birth of the nation, conventioneers will be only a short distance from Saint John Neumann’s shrine. Like many of our Kolping members Saint John Neumann’s family was part German. John was a small and quiet boy with four sisters and a brother. He was named after Saint John Nepomucene. An excellent student, John felt drawn to religious life. A Seminarian at Budweis, Bohemia in 1813, he studied astronomy and botany in addition to theological topics. Because Bohemia had an over-abundance of priests, John decided to go to America to ask for ordination and work with émigrés. He walked most of the way to France, then took ship for America. He was a welcome sight in New York when he arrived because Bishop John Dubois had only 36 priests for the 200,000 Catholics in New York and New Jersey. After being ordained in Buffalo and spending time as a priest in the countryside of New York, he became part of the Redemptorists in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His journey with the Redemptorists led him first to Baltimore and then to Philadelphia where he was appointed Bishop in 1852. His works in Philadelphia led to the building of fifty churches, the beginning of a cathedral, and the opening of almost one hundred schools. He wrote newspaper articles, two catechisms, and many works in German. He was the first American man to be canonized in 1977 by Pope Paul VI. The shrine of Saint John Neumann is located at 5th Street and Girard Avenue; the same street that houses Independence Hall. It is a great place to begin or continue your spiritual journey with Christ. We, the members of Kolping Philadelphia, look forward to being part of your continued journey. For more information on the Shrine of Saint John Neumann you can visit the site at http://membrane.com/philanet/neumann/.
37th National Convention: Register for the Journey March in Philadelphia is a harbinger of springtime, a time when trees start to get their first buds, and crocus flowers start to spring through the frozen winter soil. This year, March is extra special to Philadelphia Kolping because we are sending out our National Convention mailing. In the next week or so you will be receiving a mailing laying out the Convention and all of its activities. The Journey Continues for all of us, starting with this important mailing. Our planning depends on your response. We ask that you give this mailing your utmost consideration and if you do not receive the registration forms by April contact our Convention Chairperson Phil Rothenheber by phone at 215-704-9483 or by e-mail at Rothber@aol.com and ask that the information be sent. The 37th National Convention schedule will feature many spiritually uplifting and joyous events. Saturday will start with a prayer service followed by Convention meetings at the Sheraton Society Hill. In the evening buses will depart the hotel for a fun filled evening of dining on some of Philly’s finest local fare and dancing to sounds of one our best local German bands, The Kapelle Fellas. Staging of Saturday’s gala event is at the Philadelphia Kolping House on Southampton Road. As part of our planning we have come across a unique opportunity for those persons attending the Convention but who will not be delegates at the meetings. As a group it would be possible for non-delegates to take part in a trolley tour on Saturday covering many of the historical sites of the city and also a visit to the Saint John Neumann Shrine which is not normally part of any city tour. The tour would cover Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed; the Liberty Bell; the National Constitution Center; the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Rocky scaled those now famous steps; Chinatown; South Street, the hippest street in town; the Franklin Institute Science Museum; and the Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. To plan for our own personalized tour we will need to gauge interest as we must commit to a whole trolley. We ask all potential Convention visitors to indicate their interest on the pre-registration form in their mailing. That way we can determine if interest will make this personalized tour feasible. The tour’s cost is around $25.00 per person. Sunday will be another exciting day with a procession and then Mass at Old St. Mary’s Church followed by a sumptuous Brunch and Awards Program at the hotel followed by plenty of time to explore center city. Old St. Mary’s Church was the second Roman Catholic institution in Philadelphia founded in 1763. It was the site of the first public religious commemoration of the Declaration of Independence and became the first Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Diocese of Philadelphia in 1810. Members of the Continental Congress officially attended services here four times from 1777 to 1781 and the ecumenical George Washington worshiped here on at least two occasions. John Barry, Father of the American Navy was an early subscriber to Old St. Mary’s Church. For more information on Old St. Mary’s Church go to the website www.ushistory.org/tour/tour_stmary.htm. Philadelphia is a city that has a lot to offer. Nestled between two large rivers the Delaware and the Schuylkill, Philadelphia has one of the largest park systems of any city in America. Whether you like history, sports, nightlife, river cruises, fireworks, Oktoberfest or some of this country’s oldest churches and shrines; you’ll find it all here. Come let Father Kolping’s Journey Continue with us, August 29 to September 1, 2008. Remember to mail in your Registration Forms as soon as possible. ~ Elizabeth and Chris Hess
Philadelphia: First in National and Spiritual Gifts (from May) Philadelphia has long been a city associated with firsts. It was our nation’s first capital. It was the first U.S. city to have a German Historical Society and the first city to be granted a Catholic parish based on a specific national group. Founded in 1789, Holy Trinity Catholic Church was created to serve the growing population of Germans in Philadelphia. It was the first parish church in the United States established specifically to serve a national group. By the 1780’s the population of Catholic’s in Philadelphia was growing quickly. Of that group the largest amount were Germans. In fact Germans accounted for more than half of all Catholics in the city. Their request to build a separate church and school where they could pray and teach in their native language received approval of John Carroll, Prefect Apostolic, in 1788. Listed as a parish for Germans living in the area bounded by Delaware River in the east, Callowhill Street to the north, the Schuylkill River to the west, and Christian St. to the south, Holy Trinity today is still a German-American Parish and appears almost exactly as it did in 1789. The front of the church is placed perpendicular to Spruce Street so that the altar faces east, a custom of early Catholic churches in America. Holy Trinity’s brickwork is one of the city’s finest examples of Flemish craftsmanship. As another first, Holy Trinity, in 1797, established America’s first Catholic orphanage to care for the many children left homeless by the deadly yellow fever epidemics of the 1790’s. In Philadelphia, like almost every corner of the world, Germans of the Catholic faith have always been a guiding light of hope and compassion. Father Kolping’s greatest gift to all of us was his dedication to the family and the every day working man. Kolping Groups around the world help families gain roots and enrich their spiritual lives. Holy Trinity church is a shining example of how German Catholic’s have cared for their fellow man. At Kolping Philadelphia we have always felt of ourselves as a family with open arms. Each of our gatherings is filled with Gemütlichtkeit and good cheer, time spent bringing us closer to each other and to God. All Kolping Groups are always in our hearts and our prayers. We ask you all to visit us. Come sit with us. Pray with us. And continue the good works that the many Germans before us have started. The National Convention in Philadelphia on Labor Day weekend is a good place to start. You can visit our website Convention forms and other information at www.kolpingphilly.com. Holy Trinity Church is only blocks away from the National Convention Hotel. It’s just a short walk with a little time for reflection on God’s gifts to us all.
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For inquires about the organization please send email to phlkolping@aol.comFor questions this website, send email to the webmaster at
calicocomp@aol.com.
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