Mickey Nickelson said her mother was always volunteering at church. “So, it’s been part of my blood,” she said, adding that many women look for ways to use their gifts.

Nickelson, 76, a parishioner of Nativity of Our Lord in St. Paul, said she has many interests, but one passion is matching people’s gifts with service needs, a trait that will come in handy in her new role as incoming president of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women.

Mickey Nickelson

Mickey Nickelson

Her two-year term as president begins April 30, when she will be installed at the annual ACCW convention at St. Patrick in Shieldsville. She will succeed Betty Berge, a parishioner at Divine Mercy in Faribault.

Nickelson said some days it’s a little daunting to take on the task, “but one thing about these women, you don’t do it by yourself at all. There’s no one who said ‘I’ did it. If someone does a great job planning a retreat, there’s just no sense that the person did it alone.”

There’s a humility among the membership, she said, “and a richness in this group that I’m so happy about.”

The ACCW works with Council of Catholic Women groups across the archdiocese to support all Catholic women in spirituality, leadership and service. CCW groups serve their parishes and communities in a wide variety of ways, such as preparing funeral lunches, supporting charitable causes and hosting parish retreats.

The organization empowers women to enrich their spirituality and their leadership qualities, Nickelson said. “I think it’s a great opportunity.”

If she had been asked five years ago if she was going to be president of the organization, the answer would have been no, Nickelson said. If she had been asked six years ago whether she would ever pray in front of a Planned Parenthood site, she would have said absolutely not.

But things have changed. Through ACCW, Nickelson learned about praying for an end to abortion outside Planned Parenthood clinics, and discovered her parish’s involvement through its respect life program. So, for the past six years, she has volunteered regularly through Nativity during 40 Days for Life, a nationwide prayer effort to end abortion.

“There are things (where) you get out of your comfort zone and become part of (them),” she said. But she’s not afraid to get up in front of people, Nickelson said. She was a teacher early in her career. Later, she worked in development for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and retired as director of development in 2007 after working there for about 25 years.

“I think we’re all teachers in some way,” she said, noting people mentor each other without even using that term. “They are teaching people. And part of it is what this group is about as well: long friendships.”

Nickelson has been involved with the organization for about 15 years — six at the archdiocesan level. She started with her parish CCW serving funeral lunches, then chaired that effort for a month, and was a parish representative to its deanery, a geographical grouping of parishes within the archdiocese. Every time she attended a CCW meeting, she learned something new, she said.

“I think once you open the door, you just start doing other things,” she said. “I don’t think we should ever stop learning.”
For Nickelson, it matters that the CCW is an outreach of women.

“The thing about this organization is that when people come together, no matter what else goes on, if you don’t have time to sit with other women and tell your story, this organization would not last,” Nickelson said. “We could do a bloodmobile through our own community. But there’s something that happens when the women come together and do things together. There is the sense, the spirituality that comes across, and this organization is not afraid to do new things. They see a need and they fulfill it.”

For example, years ago one member learned of a need in an Appalachian community. CCW members from parishes across the archdiocese now collect gifts for two Appalachian parishes each year. Gifts for all ages fill a semitrailer.

Seanne Harris, president of Nativity Council of Catholic Women at Nativity of Our Lord, said its board is very proud that one of their own has taken on this leadership role with the archdiocese. Harris, who has known Nickelson for at least 20 years, said Nickelson brings a wonderful perspective to the council. “She appreciates the past and enthusiastically embraces the new,” Harris said. In her role at Nativity, Harris said she could count on Nickelson’s willingness to cheerfully take on any job.

“Mickey lives her faith out loud and is such a caretaker of our Church,” she said.

ACCW honoring four with Laywoman Volunteer Awards

Four women from the archdiocese will be recognized for their service at the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women’s annual convention April 30 at St. Patrick in Shieldsville, with the organization’s Laywoman Volunteer Awards. The winners were announced in 2020 but last year’s ACCW convention was canceled due to the pandemic. No new winners were announced in 2021.

Being recognized are Cindy Barta from Divine Mercy in Faribault, Agnes Dynes from Holy Childhood in St. Paul, Patricia Reinardy from St. Pius V in Cannon Falls and Jane Taylor from St. Bridget of Sweden in Lindstrom. Read about their activities and accomplishments.