The director of worship for Nativity Catholic Church in Green Bay, Wisconsin prepared to bid the church congregation farewell after nearly 34 years with the parish.

“I began serving you as the second Worship Director in our parish’s history on Nov. 15, 1986,” Wayne Efferson told the parish in its June 28 bulletin.

He remembered that his wife was pregnant at the time with their first child, Amanda.

Over the next 10 years, the couple had three more children and today Amanda and her husband are expecting their first child’s arrival in September. 

“Like my own family, I’ve seen your children grow up and have their own children. I have had the privilege of sharing in your joys of new life, growth in faith and sorrows in death,” Efferson told the parishioners in the bulletin. 

While life has changed significantly in the past year, with a pandemic sweeping across the nation and changing the way that Mass is celebrated, Efferson said that he is nevertheless grateful for the time which he served with the parish. 

“For me, I did not think I would leaving the parish in the midst of a pandemic, but there are no guarantees in life,” Efferson told parishioners in the bulletin. "I hope I have helped you

enter into the Church’s Sunday worship, the celebration of the Eucharist.”

Efferson also expressed his gratitude to all those who helped him in his years at Nativity Parish. 

“I have been deeply touched by the light and love you bring to one another and to our parish community and I will truly miss working with each of you and celebrating Christ’s presence in our lives,” he said, the bulletin reported. 

While Efferson’s farewell cannot be celebrated in the traditional way, due to social distancing guidelines, the parish is hopeful that they will be able to have a recognition gathering for him at a later date. 

Congregants are invited to sent cards to Efferson at the parish office for the next two weeks.