August 2 and August 3

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time

From Deacon Dick~

“Remade For Mission”

        You may be familiar with recent communications and news articles relating to the Diocesan initiative of refocusing and reimagining the ways in which parishes fulfill the mission of Jesus. Simply stated, “the goal of Remade for Mission is not just survival, but a renewed unified Church that brings Christ’s love to the world and supports its members and  neighbors alike.”  (www.rcda.org/remadeformission)

This past week (after this bulletin was submitted for printing), the leadership teams of both parishes (Trustees,      Pastoral Councils, Finance Committees) jointly attended a Diocesan ZOOM presentation that outlined the process     going forward… more on that in coming weeks. For now, I share with you some steps we are taking to begin this      process:

~ Faith Formation Ministry: Given the reality of fewer young people, it makes sense to consolidate this Ministry   primarily at the Christ Our Light location under the leadership of Kari Kurtz. Confirmation classes have already been consolidated successfully. Catechists from both parishes have been invited to continue their faithful     service.

~ Staff: Over time, our primary source of income (offertory) is diminishing while expenses continue to rise.  Through retirements and attrition we have reconfigured our staffing levels to more accurately reflect the needs of both parishes while at the same time sharing certain staff members. With fewer staff members, we must call upon the laity to assist in animating parish life. At St. Clare’s the negative environmental effects of persistent water problems in the basement of the current office building are forcing us to move the parish offices to the church/school building. This will take place on August 8.

May we be mindful that “the only task worthy of our efforts is to construct the future.”  ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ