Last week I painted a pretty bleak picture of where we are headed if we simply continue as is. Many fondly remember our parish as active, vibrant, a welcoming community, with lots of activity happening. It is taking us a while to recover from Covid, and much of the activity has fallen by the wayside.
I know we can once again become an engaged parish, a true community of faith. Remember the survey you filled out back at Easter? 179 people responded with most saying they felt a positive connection to the parish simply by attending Mass here. But to be an engaged parish, we need to be more than pew-potatoes. The three-fold purpose of our faith life is 1) our relationship with Jesus; 2) our affiliation with the Christian community; and 3) participation in the church’s mission.
The seeds are there in the pews. Twenty-four of you indicated a desire for a deeper connection. Each of us is at a different place on our faith journey. In fact, your responses to what kind of connections you are looking for were fairly evenly dispersed: 28 looking for social connections, 26 wanting to grow spiritually, 25 wanting more opportunities to serve others, and 21 looking for support by walking with others. I think it is safe to say that we all value experiences that make faith relevant, appreciate opportunities to put faith into action, and want to feel a sense of belonging in a community.
We need to get to know one another, to tell our stories, to hear the stories of others and to identify the things that bring us together as followers of Jesus Christ. To be effective as a community of faith, we need to be more concerned with mission than membership. This means we should be focused on preparing our members for going out to the world and making it the way God says it ought to be.
You will be receiving emails this week describing the Faith Formation Plan for this coming year. Who is Faith Formation for? It’s for ALL of us - all ages, not just children and youth. We all need to connect with others who are at the same stage of faith development and go deeper together.
One last note, thirty-four people surveyed identified that their involvement in ministry has helped them feel connected and grow in faith. To implement this Faith Formation Plan, we need help. Please prayerfully consider your role beyond being just a pew-potato. On a very positive note, I wish to thank the three members of our parish who have served on PPT, Jennie Marshall, served a 3-year at-large position and Riley Goyette and Aaron Buckley each served one-year terms. We welcome Gerry Crepeau for a three-year at-large term, Emma Gosselin and Ben Catalogna or a one-year term. Fr. Bill