Mike Felipe and Cynthia Felipe have been named recipients of the Gartland Award for 2015.

The Felipes, members of St. Boniface Church in Springfield, were honored for their service to the Diocese of Savannah.

The Felipes have been active members of the church since 2006. In their time with the church they have been active in youth group as leaders, coordinating children’s church, active as Eucharistic ministers, lectors, ushers, leaders of Baptism classes, chair of parish life, coordinators of the yearly parish picnic and various other activities within St. Boniface.

“It is with great honor that I nominate Mike and Cindy Felipe as our Gartland award nominees,” said Father Martino Nguyen. “Their dedication and service to St. Boniface is truly the meaning of discipleship.” 

Named for Francis X. Gartland, the first bishop of Savannah, the award is given for distinguished service to the Catholic Church in South Georgia. The award was instituted in 2000 to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Diocese of Savannah.

Bishop Gartland, born in Dublin, Ireland in 1805, was named bishop of the newly-erected Diocese of Savannah in July 1850. A true missionary bishop, he traveled the expanse of the diocese, which at that time included all of Georgia and part of northern Florida.

When a yellow fever epidemic struck the city of Savannah, he visited the sick tirelessly, administering the sacraments, until he, himself, contracted the fever and died in 1854.

The Bishop Gartland Service Award is an honor bestowed by the Diocese of Savannah on people who have given distinguished service to the church in the tradition of its first bishop.

The gold and blue award pin combines elements of Bishop Gartland’s episcopal coat of arms with elements from the shield of the Diocese of Savannah. His motto, Vincit Veritas,” or “Truth conquers,” is inscribed on the pin.

The Catholic Diocese of Savannah includes 79 parishes and missions in 90 counties of South Georgia.