Many Parts, One Body

Pro-life efforts in the Diocese of Birmingham are diverse and widespread.  There are Crisis Pregancy Centers, educational efforts, prayerful witnesses at abortion facilities, education efforts, as well as the normal every day living out of the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy in our institutions and by individuals, all of which are “Pro-Life.”

My efforts in this office will be focused on communication and support.

We want all Catholics and all individuals of whatever background who live within the Diocese of Birmingham to know, first of all, that when they are experiencing a crisis, difficulty, or challenge related to any aspect of life – at its beginnings to its natural end – the Body of Christ is ready to embrace them in that difficulty and support them in decisions that celebrate God’s gift of life.

But how can they know that unless they are told?

So I’ll be working, first of all, in developing a mailing list of pro-life coordinators from  every parish and Catholic high school in the diocese.

These coordinators – as well as anyone else who would like to be on the mailing list – will receive bimonthly emails of local and national news related to life issues, ideas, bulletin notices and encouragement.

One of my priorities will be to develop a pro-life speaker’s bureau for our diocese with the names of individuals with particular areas of expertise, both in subject matter and experience with various speaking formats and audiences. If you have any names you would like to suggest for this resource list, please let me know.

We will be encouraging all parishes to have Pro-Life Committees and providing training resources and opportunities for those interested in serving on those committtees.

We’ll be working with parishes and local media in giving wider publicity to opportunities for pro-life witness and shared prayer inside churches and out.

That’s only a partial list. Stay tuned to this blog for frequent updates on local activities and resources.

Welcome

Welcome to the blog of the Office of Pro-Life Activities for the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama.

My name is Amy Welborn, and I am currently serving as the coordinator of the office, as a volunteer.

My husband, Michael Dubruiel was serving in this capacity as part of his position as Director of the New Evangelization for the diocese until his sudden death on February 3, 2009.

John Martignoni has assumed the position of Director of the New Evangelization.  Before he began the job on May 1, I had met with several pro-life ministry coordinators in the diocese and in listening to their sense of what the needs are in this area, I discerned that it would be helpful if there was someone in the diocese who could focus solely on the Pro-life office, even short term, and set some processes and programs in place to facilitate communication and strengthen the diocese’s active support for Pro-life ministries.

I presented the idea to Bishop Baker, and volunteered to work in this area as a volunteer. He readily agreed, and so here we are!

I have worked in and around the pro-life movement for years. In the early 1980s, I served as chapter coordinator for Feminists for Life, and then in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, I worked as assistant director and media contact for Gainesville Right to Life in Gainesville, FL.

If you would like to learn more about me, you can visit my web page or my own personal blog.

In terms of communication with me, please feel free to contact me in any of the following ways:

By email – adubruiel@bhmdiocese.org

By telephone, at the Chancery: 205-838-8322, and ask for the Office of the New Evangelization.

Please feel free to leave comments here in this blog, as well.