08/10/2026
Enjoy this wonderful article about Prayer & Action- Salina Diocese featuring our very own, Paul Chopp!
Prayer, action, sleep – repeat
By Diane Gasper-O’Brien
The benefits of Prayer and Action are many – for many – a ripple effect, if you will.
College-age students get the chance to organize work weeks and lead high school teenagers and parent volunteers for two months of service across the Salina Diocese.
The 2026 version of the popular summer program for the diocese will conclude next week in Ellsworth.
It will be a summer to remember for team leader Adam Bates and his crew.
“As a team director, there are a lot of decisions to be made, a lot to keep track of,” said Adam, a second-year seminarian in the diocese. “It can get hectic at times, but it’s been a great experience.”
Some residents never forget the love shown them during those weeks, either.
One of those was Paul Chopp, a member of St. George Parish in the tiny town of Munden in north central Kansas.
When Chopp learned that Belleville was one of the P&A locations for students to work this summer, he inquired about having them paint his house in Munden, about 11 miles from Belleville.
He was surprised when one of the work crews showed up one day not only to paint but also to keep him company on the first anniversary of his daughter’s passing.
“They prayed with me, and we had a meal together in my backyard,” Chopp said, adding how that became a habit during P&A’s last week in the area. “I’ve lived here since 1970, and that’s the only time I can ever remember having 20 people together in my back yard.”
Shannon Birkhead, a member of St. Thomas More Parish in Manhattan, attended P&A for the first time because her two high school-age children, Ethan and Emma, wanted to participate this year.
“It was nice to see the love they have for Christ,” Shannon said. “I saw that fire in all the kids, the Holy Spirit working in them.”
Like many in the St. Thomas More group, Shannon was most moved by their interactions with Mr. Chopp.
When they learned his daughter in her late 40s had died a year ago, on June 24, while waiting for a liver transplant, they decided to just be there for him.
Paul, 83, lives alone since his wife, Marcia, passed in 2017. He was impressed with the compassion of the students and also with their work ethic.
“They worked together so well and were so conscientious,” Chopp said. “They wanted to do a good job. They were painting my house as if it was their own house.”
“I felt Christ in all that we did,” Shannon said in agreement. “I felt so close to God, and He was definitely there with us that week.”
Youth groups from all around the diocese sign up for P&A at different weeks throughout the eight-week program.
Following a week break after a month in Belleville, the team headed to Ellsworth, where it greeted new groups of volunteers all throughout the month of July.
Salina resident Sara Lee decided to participate as an adult sponsor this year after her oldest daughter, Addie, told her mom that P&A was “a top-tier experience.”
Sara now agrees with her daughter, who will be a senior at Sacred Heart High School in Salina this fall. They both were joined for the week by Addie’s younger sister, Emmie, a sophomore-to-be at Sacred Heart. They are already making plans for next year when youngest sister Laney can join them.
“All the people coming with that same purpose, it’s hard to explain the feeling you get,” Sara said. “You meet so many people and feel like you have known them a long time. There’s a connection. And we’re all there for the same idea of what we are doing and why we are doing it.”
Karrigan Thompson, who will be a senior at Sacred Heart High this fall, agreed.
“I like the fact that I get to meet so many new people that have the same faith as me,” she said. “We make new connections and get to do it all while helping the community. We’re loving our God and loving our neighbor at the same time.”
