Seminary Tea Committee members get busy making finger sandwiches.
Sentinel photo by Juan Kis
An estimated 400 people chatted with Archbishop John Vlazny and Bishop Kenneth Steiner and strolled through the sunny grounds of Dr. Brian and Tina Shaffer’s Dunthorpe neighborhood home last Wednesday afternoon during the 73rd annual Seminary Tea, a top fundraiser for seminarians planning to serve as ordained priests in the Portland archdiocese.
Donations continue to come in this week to the Seminary Tea Committee, the group that plans and organizes and hosts the event held at a different member’s home each year. A celebration Mass on Wednesday, June 4 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Northwest Portland, followed by a lunch, will honor the money raised from the tea with a check to Archbishop Vlazny for tuition assistance and other educational support for the young men.
At the May 14 tea, guests in dressy clothing were shuttled from a designated parking area at Lewis and Clark College to the Shaffer home a few minutes away. There, the rooms and hallways on the ground level of the two-storey home were decorated with fresh flowers, local artwork and tables topped with silver teapots and delicate, bite-sized hors d’ourves arranged on trays. All edibles were made the day before in the Our Lady of the Lake Parish cafeteria.
Friends Connie Manning and Rita Campbell say they come each year.
“It’s very elegant,” Manning said. “It’s a festive time of year.”
“People are so generous with their homes,” Campbell added.
Heads of prominent Catholic organizations, parishes and other groups who attend the tea each year say they enjoy the chance to visit with friends and acquaintances in a way that allows laity to assist the vocations of Catholic spiritual leaders.
“It’s a holy but challenging vocation and it’s good to know there is support from the laity,” said Dennis Keenan, executive director of Catholic Charities. “It’s a wonderful expression of support for the seminarians from the Catholic community.”
Community is what Dave Endres, director of development from KBVM radio, said he enjoys about the Catholic faith.
“We’re a close-knit community,” said Endres, a Saint John Fisher Parish member. “It’s nice to be a part of Catholic activities in the area.”
Nearly two-dozen committees in charge of each tea-planning minutae make the event run smoothly. The organized bustle in the Shaffer kitchen shows the 73-year-old tradition has evolved into one of the most premier fundraisers in the Oregon Catholic community.
On an air-conditioned shuttle ride from the home back to Lewis and Clark, the driver started a chat with two women.
“How was it? Did you enjoy yourselves?” she said.
“We sure did,” one replied, noting the afternoon heat, which beckoned tea guests to sit on the Shaffer’s patio and meander the breezy gardens. “Fortunately it wasn’t a typical spring day.”
