We are blessed with people who care deeply about our parish and want to see us grow ever stronger as a community of faith.  How we do this within the context of the challenges of the social realities of the early twenty first century was most on the minds of those assembled. The perennial question of how to encourage greater involvement in parish life by younger people was discussed at length.  This should come as no surprise because just about all organizations are noticing their absence, and like them we didn’t identify a practical way of attracting the younger generation (especially the teen age through 35 demographic).

            We discussed as well the spiritual and social mission of the parish and how one supports the other.  In this regard we shared suggestions on what sort of activities might be planned to bring parishioners together.  Each weekend we have five Masses celebrated in two different churches.  Because people create patterns for their lives, parishioners tend to go to one particular Mass at one particular location most of the time, if not exclusively.  Therefore many members of Holy Apostles Parish never have the opportunity to get to know those who form our household of faith.  It was recommended that planning events such as an “appreciation dinner” for volunteers, social hours following Masses, or other get-togethers would be beneficial to enhancing the social mission of the parish.

                With regard to the spiritual mission, we looked at ways to strengthen the faith of our parishioners through encouraging greater involvement in the liturgical ministries (we are much in need of more Lectors and Eucharistic Ministers), the scheduling of retreats and parish missions, and providing various forums for adult faith formation (e.g. studies of Scripture of the Catechism).

            The consensus at the conclusion of our discussion was that we should have further visioning sessions to discern how to bring to reality the good ideas that were shared.  We will do so on Wednesday, February 25, at St. John Church hall following Stations of the Cross.  In the mean time, I will be noting in the bulletin some of the areas of concern that we might consider at that meeting. Please be praying for our Lord’s guidance as we vision our future.