Fr. George Smiga was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland in 1975. He has been pastor of St. Noel since 1991. In 1985 he received his doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Gregorian University in Rome. Along with serving the pastoral needs of St. Noel, he teaches as part of the scripture department at St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology in Wickliffe, Ohio.	Pastor
Pastoral Associate	Alice Hinkel is one of two Pastoral Associates on the staff of St. Noel. She is a diocesan certified pastoral minister and as pastoral associate her areas of responsibility include RCIA, working with our Social Concerns Commission, assisting individuals seeking an annulment, serving on the Pastoral Council and visitation of the sick. ahinkel@stnoel.org
	Deacon David Nethery was ordained a deacon for service to the diocese of Cleveland in May, 2008. Through St. Noel’s RCIA program, he was received into the church in 1998. David and his wife Antoinette have been members of St. Noel since 1993. In addition to assisting at liturgies, David is involved in various ministries and service activities at the parish. As a full time occupation, David does medical research for Case Western Reserve University. dnethery@stnoel.org	Deacon
Director of Music Ministry	Agnieszka (Aga) Duda-Bieniek became the Director of the Music Ministry at St. Noel in 2009.  She came to the United States in 2003 and in 2004 became the Music Director and music teacher at Gilmour Academy, Our Lady Chapel, Gates Mills, Ohio.  A native of Poland, she received her education in Poland at the Fr. Chapin Conservatory with a double Master’s Degree in the Art of Music Education and in Choir Conducting with honors.  She also received a Bachelor Degree in Piano Performing with honors.  Agnieszka has experience working for over 20 years as a professional musician in education and in liturgical music.  For five years she was Conductor and Artistic Director of the Youth Cathedral Choir in Bialystok.  With this singing group she prepared music for the entire church year.  She traveled and gave concerts throughout Europe and received awards for herself and for the choir in International Choir Competition in Belarus. abieniek@stnoel.org
	Erica Witmer is a graduate of Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio. She has been employed as the Cluster Coordinator of Youth Ministry for St. Noel and Divine Word since July of 2010. Erica is responsible for the middle school youth in PEACE (Peers Each Accepting Christ Everywhere) as well as the high school students in Prime Time. ewitmer@stnoel.org	Cluster Coordinator for Youth Ministry for St. Noel and Divine Word
Coordinator, Faith Formation	Michele Baetzold serves St. Noel Church as Coordinator of Faith Formation. She is currently working on her Masters in Ministry at Ursuline College. Over the years she has coordinated various faith formation programs at St. Noel, including PSR, GIFT, Middle School Youth Group and CALLL. As a volunteer, she has enjoyed being a PSR catechist, Children’s Liturgy of the Word leader and Vacation Bible School teacher. Before coming to St. Noel, Michele ministered as a day school teacher at St. Wenceslas (Maple Hts.), St. Therese (Garfield Hts.), St. Michael (Independence) and St. Martin of Tours (Maple Hts.) where she also served as Coordinator of Religious Education. She and her husband Mike, along with children Annie, Michael, and Mary Jo, have been parishioners at St. Noel since 1996. mbaetzold@stnoel.org
	Father Thomas Dragga has served as President-Rector of Borromeo College since 1996. He is also a faculty member of St. Mary Seminary and Graduate School of Theology. He ministers at St. Noel by presiding at two of our three weekend Liturgies.	Weekend Presider
Office Manager	Carole Lester, our Office manager, assisted by Kathleen Barr, manage to keep tabs on everything going on in the parish, along with keeping up-to-date records of all families, Sacramental and financial records, the bulletin and regular day-to-day office management. clester@stnoel.org kbarr@stnoel.org	Office Assistant

St. Noel Parish Staff 2012