Mickey Nickelson, who was installed April 30 as the new president of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women, said she had been asked other times about serving in this capacity, but she didn’t discern as much about it as this time.
“Maybe it was the isolation that we’ve had lately that gave me time to really think about what God’s calling me to do,” she said. “Sometimes when I get kind of worried about ‘can I really do this?’ I go, ‘I don’t think it was your choice exactly, Mickey. I think the Lord was telling you through the Holy Spirit.’”
Mickey Nickelson
Nickelson discussed her new role during an interview with Patrick Conley, host of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show, for an episode airing at 9 p.m. May 7 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
Nickelson described some of the ACCW programs including “our commitment to Our Lady of Peace Home, our whole involvement with respect life (and) our grandparent ministry.” She also talked about the Appalachian Project, in which ACCW members each year collect a semitrailer full of gifts for two parishes in Appalachia. The ACCW also encourages women to form partnerships to pray for each other on a daily basis.
“We’ve started a new program called Mentorship, so that a person who knows what’s going on can partner with a woman who wants to be more involved,” she said.
“These women have supported me, but they’ve also challenged me to do things that I normally would never have said ‘yes’ to,” Nickelson said of ACCW. “And I think that all of us need to be challenged and grow no matter what age we are.”
Nickelson said she enjoys matching each person’s gifts to opportunities, but sometimes people need to be asked to step forward.
“I was asked, and that personal invitation is so important,” she said. “So, I would like to see us be involved in reaching out to people, letting them know that they need to come forward.”
Nickelson said she just wants to be wise in her decisions. “I pray for that,” she said.
When Conley asked how women who are not members can become involved, Nickelson said many parishes have their own Council of Catholic Women. “I would start there,” she said. “They should know about us.” She also suggested visiting the ACCW website, accwarchspm.org.
To learn more about the organization, tune in to this episode of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show. It also airs on Relevant Radio at 1 p.m. May 8 and 2 p.m. May 9.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes interviews with Brian Ragatz, president of the Catholic Schools Center of Excellence, who discusses the valuable contributions of school workers and how they will be recognized at a virtual gala May 8, and Anne Fredrickson from Alpha Women’s Center, who describes its mobile women’s clinic.
Listen to all of the interviews after they have aired:
soundcloud.com/practicingcatholic
Practicing Catholic on Spotify
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