St. Bartholomew the Apostle Parish

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Fr. John J. Paladino
Pastor

Father Paladino was raised in Paramus, New Jersey and was
No. 8 of 10 children.

Father Paladino graduated Seton Hall University in 1987 with a degree in Psychology. He entered Immaculate Conception Seminary and was ordained a priest and received a Masters Degree in Divinity on May 25, 1991. Further studies included earning a Masters Degree in Education Administration from St. Peters College in 1998.

Father Paladino´s assignments have included parish work, education/campus ministry, and hospital chaplaincy.

Father Paladino was assigned as pastor to St. Bartholomew on May 1, 2005.

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Fr. Kevin A. Gugliotta
Parochial Vicar

Fr. Kevin grew up in the St. Francis Xavier parish in Newark, N.J. His mother, Mary, lives in Jefferson Township, NJ and he has two sisters and two brothers. He attended Essex Catholic High School, Newark, NJ and graduated in 1980. After studying engineering for one year at the University of Miami, Florida, Fr. Kevin transferred back to New Jersey and graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master’s degree in Management Engineering in 1987 and 1988 respectively. After working as an engineer for a few years, he entered the Immaculate Conception Seminary and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Newark on May 25, 1996. Fr. Kevin was a parochial vicar at St. Rose of Lima, Short Hills, St. Elizabeth, Wyckoff, St. Joseph, West Orange and a campus minister at Seton Hall University.

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Deacon Bob's Website

Deacon Robert Gurske
Director of Operations and Social Outreach

Deacon Robert Gurske has been a member of St. Bartholomew Church for more than fifty years, and is a graduate of St. Bartholomew Interparochial School.

From early on, he felt that God was calling him to a vocation in either the priesthood or brotherhood. He attended vocation days in the archdiocese, developed a strong relationship with the Marist Brothers, and attended early-morning Masses with the Jesuits at St. Andrew´s on the Hudson.

The upheaval in the American society of the 60´s and 70´s, however, caused him to reconsider his intentions and, on June 29th, 1974, Bob married his childhood friend Joanne, a lifelong supporter of the Sisters of St. Lucy Fillipini. Together, they have participated in nearly every ministry available to parishioners: Baptismal preparation, Pre-Cana, food pantry and CCD, just to name a few.

In 1998, Fr. Michael Merlucci approached Bob with the idea of becoming a deacon. With Father´s support Bob entered the diaconate program and was ordained a Permanent Deacon in June, 2002. His initial assignment was to both St. Bartholomew Church and as a Catholic chaplain to Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center.

Today, Deacon Bob continues to live out his vocation with the full support and encouragement of Joanne. They have two grown daughters, Mary Beth and Kate, also graduates of St. Bartholomew School.

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Sr. Elizabeth Calello, M.P.F.
Academy Principal

Sister Elizabeth Calello received a B.A. in Elementary Education from Felician College in Lodi, NJ, and a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia, PA. Sister has her certification in School Administration and Supervision.

Sister Elizabeth has taught grades K through 8 in the Archdioceses of Philadelphia and Newark, and in the Dioceses of Trenton, Camden, Cleveland and Albany. Her experience as a principal spans 16 years and five schools. Sister served as the principal of St. Anthony School, Akron, OH; Villa Victoria Academy, Trenton, NJ; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School, Schenectady, NY; Holy Innocents School, Neptune, NJ, and St. Peter School, Merchantville, N.J.

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Sr. Phyllis Vella, M.P.F.
Director of Religious Education, Grades 1-6

Sister Phyllis Vella, MPF was born in Newark, New Jersey and grew up in Nutley, New Jersey. While attending the Nutley public schools, her faith was nurtured through the Eucharistic celebrations at Holy Family Church in Nutley. It was during this time that she discerned her vocation to Religious Life by entering the community of the Religious Teachers Filippini and was invested on January 13 (the birthday of St. Lucy Filippini, the foundress of the community).

During the past twenty-five years, she has served in the Dioceses of Philadelphia (St. Nicholas of Tolentine); Albany (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel); Trenton (Holy Innocents and Villa Victoria Academy); and in the Archdiocese of Newark (St. Francis Xavier, Newark; Our Lady of Mt. Virgin, Garfield: St. Joseph, East Orange; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Orange; and St. Bartholomew, Scotch Plains).

Within these parishes, she has served as Teacher, Religion Coordinator, and Director of Religious Education.

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Mrs. Patricia Krema
Director of Religious Education, Grades 7-8

Pat Krema and her family joined St. Bartholomew´s Parish in 1995, after moving to Scotch Plains from Chicago. In Chicago, Pat taught high school biology, middle school math and science, and coached high school cross country and track and field. She also married Rich Krema and had two children, Andrew and Madeline. After several years of teaching, Pat went back to research, working for an EPA contractor monitoring Great Lakes water quality. Her work with the EPA led her to graduate studies in the Biology Department at Loyola University Chicago. She also conducted research and worked as a teaching assistant in field ecology at the University of Michigan Biological Station. After moving to New Jersey with her husband´s job transfer, Pat began working with the Confirmation program at St. Bartholomew´s Parish in 1998. She also spent time volunteering within the Scotch Plains Fanwood Schools as a PTA President at Evergreen Elementary School and served as an officer on the Scotch Plains Fanwood PTA Council. In 2005, she became the Associate Director of Religious Education for Confirmation. She currently holds a B.S. in Secondary Education from Bowling Green State University, an M.S. in Biology from Loyola University Chicago, and is currently working toward a Masters degree in Pastoral Ministry at Caldwell College. When not studying or working at St. Bartholomew´s, Pat enjoys spending time with her family and friends, walking her dog, Champ, and running. She recently completed two New York City Marathons.

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Mr. Paul Milan
Director of Sacred Liturgy

Paul Milan was born in Bayonne NJ and grew up there, attending Marist High School and St. Peter´s College in Jersey City. He has been working in the field of liturgical music full time since 1994. Prior to joining the staff of St. Bartholomew the Apostle, he worked at St. Bernard of Clairvaux parish in Plainfield, St. Joseph´s parish in East Rutherford and Our Lady Star of the Sea parish in Bayonne.

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Mrs. Linda Attanasio
Director of Adult Education and Formation

I graduated from John Jay college of Criminal Justice in New York City with an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice and a Bachelor´s Degree Cum Laude in Government and Law. I later attended Seton Hall University for Graduate courses in Religious Education.

In 1996, I graduated from Felician College with a Certification in Religious Studies. In addition, I hold Certifications from the Archdiocese of Newark as Lead Catechist in "Catechesis with Children" and "Jesus Model of Catechesis".

For over 20 years I have lived in Westfield with my husband Victor and our three children, Anthony, Michael and Victoria. I have been working in Ministry for 16 years. On a personal note, I love to read and cook in my spare time. My husband and I also enjoy planning and taking vacations together and with our children.

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Mrs. Diane McGee
Director of Family Faith Formation

Diane McGee was raised in Roselle, New Jersey along with her 3 younger siblings who all attended Saint Joseph the Carpenter Grammar School. Their family moved to Mountainside, New Jersey during their high school years and Diane graduated from Jonathan Dayton High School. She and her future husband, Tom, met at Rutgers University in New Brunswick where Diane earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. She entered the business world and worked for Federated Department Stores and Automatic Data Processing for many years. She and her husband, Tom, married shortly after college and had three children, Erin, Michael, and Connor. They moved to Mountainside just prior to the birth of their son, Michael to be closer to her parents and extended family. Diane, Tom, and their children attended Saint James the Apostle Parish in Springfield where they became involved in parish life.

Diane became a catechist during that time, at the request of her daughter, and then felt the call to participate more fully in the life of the Church. She became the Director of Religious Education over ten years ago developing the faith formation program from grades k – 8, the sacramental programs of First Reconciliation, First Eucharist, and Confirmation as well as their Special Needs catechetical program. With the encouragement of her Pastor Father Bob Stagg, Diane enrolled in the Masters Degree program at Caldwell College in Pastoral Ministry. She graduated in the spring of 2009 and her dissertation titled: Widening the Door of Inclusion for Children with Autism through Faith Communities was recently published.

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Paul and Angela Kobliska
High School Youth Ministers

Angela and Paul met as co-workers in 2003 and married in November 2008. They are both teachers in town, Angela at Park Middle School and Paul at Terrill Middle School as 7th grade math teachers. Paul attended the University of Scranton and graduated in 2000 with a degree in Accounting and a minor in History. Paul coaches soccer in town and is the assistant varsity coach at Seton Hall Prepatory. He is currently attending graduate school, at The College of St. Elizabeth, for Educational Leadership.

Angela attended Rider University and graduated in 2002 with a degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Mathematics. Angela tutors students of various ages in mathematics and plans on starting her Masters degree in School Psychology next year. Angela and Paul enjoy spending their time with family, friends, their students, and each other and welcomed their first child, Paul Santino, on January 1st, 2010 at 12:32am, the first baby born at Overlook Hospital in the new year. TOP

Bartholomew
Minister of Hospitality

Bartholomew comes to the parish from the ShakeA-Paw organization in Union, NJ. Although he arrived as a puppy, Bartholomew is now almost one year old and has become thoroughly familiar with his surroundings.

He loves to hide bones both in and outside the rectory. He enjoys chewing rawhide bones, slippers, pillows, his bed and a stuffed squirrel toy. His favorite pastimes include chasing rabbits and squirrels, visiting with Mr. & Mrs. Kovalcik (his adopted grandparents) and taking Fr. Lester for a walk.

Bartholomew (he’s too cool for a last name) loves gourmet meals and Frosty Paws ice cream for dogs.

Fr. Paladino is the love of his life and Bartholomew only responds to his master’s voice.

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