As the final parish mergers in Bishop Zubik’s On Mission For the Church Alive! are occurring, the bishop is focusing on strengthening our parishes into becoming more welcoming and vibrant communities better able to learn, love and live Jesus.  Bishop Zubik’s call to action is for each parish in the diocese to evaluate themselves and establish a path forward for the next several years.

You will recall that our parish began this process in the Fall of 2021, by asking parishioners to engage in the parish survey from which we received 525 responses.  We continued to gather information in the Spring of 2022, when 83 people participated in the parish synod sessions.  Your synod feedback was combined with feedback from all parishes throughout the world and forwarded to the Vatican.

Our results focused on three key areas:  forming a Youth Ministry and Young Adult program; forming a Parish that fosters a culture of welcoming and hospitality; and, focus on vibrant liturgies with active participation.  We listened to your recommendations and have actively been involved in rebuilding the parish following our closure under the pandemic.  We have established a new high school youth ministry program containing faith formation and service components.  We are trying to rebuild our music program and ministries at Mass to enhance our liturgies.  We are seeing greater participation by the people in the pews.  We have enhanced our hospitality ministry with greeters present at every Mass, and we have added parish events which foster a sense of hospitality and welcoming within our parish community.  Although we have a long way to go, we are moving in the right direction.

At the beginning of Lent in 2023, all parishes in the Diocese will participate in the Disciple Maker Index Survey Tool (DMI) designed to help parishioners reflect upon their individual opportunities for spiritual growth and engagement within their parish.  The information gathered from the DMI will help us continue to strengthen our own parish, help you to deepen your relationship with Jesus and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others. After the New Year, we will communicate further next steps in the bulletin.