COMMUNITY
Areas of improvement included: the need for outreach to inactive members, the need to support families and/or individuals who have experienced the loss of a loved one, marital problems such as separation or divorce, widows/widowers, those with disabilities and those suffering from addictions, their families and loved ones.
Goal I: Build a welcoming parish community that engages parishioners in worship services and other parish activities.
- Reach out to inactive members via letter, religious literature, parish brochure and calendar. The letter could be drafted by the Pastor or the parish council before the end of 2016. Our goal is to have this in place by the end of 2017.
- Send “miss you” notes to those not seen at Mass for longer than two weeks. The card ministry will be developed to include them along with regular “get well” mailings. This change can be implemented immediately.
- Greet new neighbors with church literature and goodies when welcoming them into the community and continue welcoming new members of our parish with Welcome Baskets during a small get-together after Mass. This can be accomplished by members of the parish and Hospitality committee by January 2017.
- Create an annual calendar of events and monthly section of “Pastoral Notes” in the bulletin to make parishioners and the public aware of church activities. We plan to have this in place by December 2016 with the help of our parish secretary.
Goal II: Develop a community service program that addresses the needs
of all parishioners.
- Encourage our youth to perform tasks for needy elderly and handicapped members of our society. Our Youth Group leaders will coordinate these activities by announcing them in the bulletin. We plan to implement this by Spring 2017.
- Implement a bereavement committee to reach out monthly, for a minimum of one year, to those who have lost loved ones. Our parish secretary will notify this group when he is contacted by the family of the deceased starting in January 2017.
- Determine the needs of parishioners who lack transportation to liturgical celebrations and establish a list of transportation assistants to drive those with disabilities or medical problems to locations as needed. This can be accomplished by announcements in the weekly bulletin. Our parish secretary will help with this starting in November 2016.
Goal III: Strengthen the ties between both worship sites.
