Meet our RCIA Candidates & Catechumens

Terry lives in Hillsborough and is a wife and mother of three grown children, two of whom work at UNC in Chapel Hill, and a daughter currently living in Brooklyn, New York. Terry started attending Holy Infant early in 2019 and quickly felt at home and welcome. Terry had attended a number of different churches before being baptized in a Baptist church while living in Charleston, South Carolina. One of Terry's sisters was initiated in the Catholic Church and this put it "on her radar" when she and her family moved to North Carolina. Both Terry and her husband work in the emergency room at the UNC Hospital in Hillsborough; please keep them in your prayers along with all those affected by the pandemic.
 

Lori was raised as a Jehovah's Witness, which all of her family still is, but Lori has always allowed God to lead her, and her faith journey has brought her to being called by God to the Catholic Church.  Lori has found peace in the community of Catholics and especially the welcoming members of the Holy Infant Church family.
 

It is my great pleasure to introduce to you, the people of Holy Infant, our new catechumen, Sarah Parrott!  I have known Sarah for about a year since she started coming to our Sunday liturgies and high school youth ministry events.  Sarah has a great sense of humor, she is thoughtful and eager to serve others.  She likes board games and sports, and she loves music—most of us have heard her beautiful voice as a cantor and choir member at our weekend liturgies!  I know I speak for everyone who knows her in saying that it is a joy and a blessing to count her as a friend!

Sarah’s journey with our community started with a couple of her friends, especially Julian Brown and Lorelei Dippy, who shared with her their experience of faith and the relationship they have had with the Lord.  They invited her to “come and see” as a part of our TYM community.  Clearly, God had already put into Sarah’s heart a hunger for him!  Through the course of this past year, I have watched her grow in faith, and embrace her own relationship with the Lord. 

At the Saturday evening liturgy on March 14, Sarah was formally accepted into the Order of Catechumens, preparing for Baptism.  Over the next year, Sarah’s faith journey will be supported in our RCIA program while she’s here in town, and then continuing at the University of Colorado starting in the fall.  (Congrats to her for her college acceptance!)  Her plan is have her Baptism and Confirmation back here at Holy Infant, with Julian as her sponsor, and with this community who have made such an impact on her life!  We are looking forward to that event with joy!  (written by Jim Smith, TYM catechist)

Alex Briggs is a very special 12-year-old young man. Born and raised in Durham, NC. He is a 6th grader at Excelsior Classical Academy. Alex outsmarts his entire family when it comes to the computer and has rescued his "Auntie Sarah" numerous times when faced with technological challenges and ignorance. He enjoys cooking, coding, and creating "how-to" videos for his YouTube channel. He has a sweet and caring heart and often self initiates helping others, particularly his younger cousins and neighbors needing a helping hand.

Alex has been preparing for full initiation for two years and had planned to be baptized this Easter (2020). Alex, together with the whole church, is looking forward to the day when we can gather together again, and is very excited to celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation.