Letter to Parishioners - Goals

Dear Parishioners,

On April 9 & 10, the Pastoral Council presented to you a Parish Vision statement – “We envision a community where all witness the Real Presence of Christ in every ‘little way’.” – and a summary of its foundation in the Seven Essential Elements of Parish Life – Community, Liturgy, Faith Formation, Stewardship, Leadership, Pastoral / Social Ministry, and Spirituality. At that time, we also asked you to complete a questionnaire to help the parish understand its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This information was to be used to develop Goal areas for the parish, prior to developing specific Objectives.

The answers you provided via the questionnaires provided a broad spectrum of information. There were some that felt St. Therese was the most welcoming parish they had ever been in, while others felt St. Therese was very cold. Some felt that our spiritual leadership and faith formation was our strength, while others felt it was woefully inadequate. While it became challenging to reconcile some of these opinions, four particular themes became quite evident. These themes have become the basis for four goal statements that will guide our parish in the years ahead.

Goal A – To form Catholic faith filled witnesses of Christ. Parishioners overwhelmingly feel that a primary function of the Catholic Church is to educate and form parishioners of all ages in our Catholic faith journey. This goal not only requires us to strengthen and maintain our parish school and School of Religion, it requires us to develop a lifelong habit of continual learning and development of our spirituality, our faith, and as ministers of social outreach.

Goal B – To create a more caring and personal parish community. While some people have felt extremely welcome at St. Therese, there is no doubt that our parish size has become a big barrier in many ways. Because of our size, it is easy to feel anonymous, to feel that “someone else” will volunteer their time or their talents. Because of our size, it is harder for each person to be known by name. Because of our size it is challenging to know that someone who is hurting needs your care. When people feel disconnected from one another within the parish, it becomes challenging to meet the needs of our parish family, especially those needs described in other Goals.

Goal C – To explore and channel our giftedness. St. Therese’s size is often a weakness, but if it can be channeled it can become its greatest strength. With so many people within the parish, there are many skills, talents, and time available to minister in numerous ways. With our resources, we are able to minister to people within our community and still look outward to minister to those parishes or communities that are less fortunate than ours. In addition, parishioners are eager to find ways to explore and share their spirituality. As a large and vibrant Catholic community, there are many ways we can discover, discern, and share our spiritual gifts with one another.

Goal D – To enhance and develop leadership structures to support the parish Vision. As St. Therese parish continues to grow there is a need to assure that parishioners are aware of the ministries and services that are available, and that these ministries are organized to operate effectively. It is also important that ministries and services are coordinated to minimize schedule conflicts, overlapping responsibilities, and duplication. This goal drives our parish to align its ministries and its organization to support the parish Vision, and also to support the above goals.
Goal statements by themselves without action are useless. While these goal statements provide a sense of direction, it is imperative that our parish now focus on developing specific objectives we can achieve in the next 12 months in order to bring us closer to our Goals.

On Wednesday, August 31, two separate Pastoral Planning meetings will be held – one at 8 AM, and a second at 7 PM. Each meeting will last approximately 2 hours. In each meeting, we will spend some time in prayer and then invite all who have attended to spend time in groups generating ideas that can help us achieve our goals.

The Pastoral Council will be contacting those who have previously indicated a desire to participate further in this process. In addition, we invite all parishioners who are interested to attend one of the two sessions. So that we may plan adequate space and refreshments, we ask that you sign up for the Pastoral Planning meeting in the Gathering Space.

The Pastoral Council wishes to thank you for your patience and enthusiasm in this Pastoral Planning process. We look forward to your participation as we move to the final stages of the planning process.

With love and peace,

Fr. Mike Roach