Thank You and Goodbye...

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Happy New Year! It has been some time since I have written a letter and there is much to tell.

It occurred to me, as I sat down to write this letter, that we now have a decade of ministry under our belts!

I can hardly believe that it has been 10 years since I heard the voice of God telling me to start this ministry. I started Sound Mission Ministries in 2002 after a powerful experience I had at World Youth Day in Canada. Since that time we have traveled thousands of miles around the United States serving Jesus Christ in every opportunity He presented to us.

We have had our ups and downs, but through it all God has clearly lit a beautiful path for us to travel. We have visited hundreds of parishes, schools and youth groups. We’ve conducted retreats, missions and prayer services. We have prayed with thousands of people, and God has worked through our “yes” to Him.

Over the past ten years there have been a number of different folks who have come on board our team to serve in the mission field. Denise Erickson, who spent 7 years in the ministry, has since gone on to start her own apostolate called Mercy Reigns. Tim Cook, Yvonne Pastore, Dave Rehab, Bryan Kuban, John Leech, Simona Olson, Bob Perron, Pat and Rochelle Patrick Impiccini, Jeremy Vasellina, Mary Moore, Mark Reymundo, Deacon Mitch Rennix and my own children, MaryAnne and Thomas, are some of the amazing people with whom I have had the privilege of serving! We have had tremendous board members including Joe Gentile, Tom Dobrino, Gil Montanez, Lani Kuban, Fr. Don Kline, Kevin Beaudrea, to name a few. We have had dedicated talent in our office including Chrstylee Watson and Marnie Maza. All of these people have inspired me in many ways and I will forever be grateful for their dedication and for joining me in serving Christ through Sound Mission Ministries.

I have been praying for some time now about what Sound Mission Ministries will look like in the future. I have had a sense that things would change, and I also had a sense that my role would change. The older my family gets, the harder it is becoming for me to spend time on the road away from them. When we started in 2002, I had 3 small children and my oldest was only 5 years old. Ten years later, I have 5 amazing children and managing the lives of teenagers and young children is far different than managing toddlers!

During the time of my discernment, I met an incredible person by the name of Chris Zajdzinki. I met Chris after a Men’s conference in Phoenix, Arizona, and we hit it off right away. Since we met last year, Chris has brought a great deal of energy and zeal into our ministry. In addition to joining our parish mission team, Chris has been teaching classes and is developing resources devoted to helping people live a virtuous life. The concept of living a virtuous life is a message that our culture is in dire need of hearing. Chris describes virtue as doing the right thing at the right time for the right reason in the right way. To me, this concept sums up everything we have been trying to teach over the past ten years, but we didn’t call it virtue. In fact, I felt like the concept of teaching virtue was such a good fit that I proposed to Chris and our board of directors that Virtuous Life Ministries may actually be a better name for our ministry than Sound Mission Ministries. The board agreed and we made a formal decision to change the name. The final paperwork has been completed and we are now officially Virtuous Life Ministries.

I have decided that due to Chris’ passion and desire to grow and expand the ministry that this would be the perfect time for me to hand over the keys and let Chris take the wheel. I have formally submitted my resignation to the board of directors effective December 2011. I will continue to stay involved on an as needed basis, but I fully trust that Chris will bring the ministry to new heights. Virtuous Life Ministries will need our help moving forward and I hope you will join me in your continued support of this ministry.

In closing, I would like to express my heart-felt thank you to all of you who have been part of this journey and have supported this ministry for the past ten years! I would also like to express my gratitude to my family, especially my wife Sheila, who has made tremendous sacrifices and has allowed me to serve the church through Sound Mission Ministries over the past ten years!

In Christ,

Chris Muglia