Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Patrick Catholic Church,
These are intriguing times for our Church, as we address shifting demographics and resources that impact our faith community. Healthy organizations see uncertainty and challenges not as “problems” but rather as “opportunities” and Saint Patrick Parish, and our Pierce Deanery are wisely taking the time and effort to deliberately stop, think, discern and plan for our future. We have all benefitted from the wise planning and stewardship of countless Catholics who came before us and built our current church; now its our time to plan for future generations of Pierce County Catholics.
At the Parish level, our Long Range Planning team of Jim Rooks, Deacon Bill Eckert, Joan Christnacht, Kim Ward, Sandra Kuharic, Chuck Woods, Bryce Comfort and Chris Gavin, under the expert guidance of Barbara Eckert, Senior Leadership Consultant from The Catholic Leadership Institute recently formulated our Purpose Statement, and our Team Values. Next in the planning process is determining the most effective means to obtain feedback and input from parishioners.
As the Parish Long Range Planning team is discerning/discovering the “mission that has us” we are simultaneously being asked by the Archdiocese and Pierce Deanery to address the challenge of asking existing parishes to begin re-thinking what it means to be a “church community,” looking beyond our traditional parish boundary models, to see if there are ways current parish communities can collaborate and partner with one another to better serve the collective needs of Catholics in Pierce County such as combined Vacation Bible School, youth groups, and RCIA programs, shared bookkeepers or custodial services. The Deanery is also asking parish leaders to dialogue with parishioners to obtain their thoughts regarding the benefits and challenges associated with alternative parish leadership models.
On Jan 14, 2016, 150 Catholic leaders from Pierce Deanery attended a Deanery gathering. Representatives from Saint Patrick Catholic Church included Kim Ward, Deacon Bill Eckert, Bob Bruback, Charles Christnacht, Lisa Schomogyi, Nina Monghan, Chris Gavin, Kevin Lovejoy and Father Jerry Graham, S.J.. A follow-up convocation is scheduled for April 14, 2016. Prior to the April convocation, all parishes are asked to meet with their parishioners at the grass roots level to hear from the bottom up their thoughts of how parishes could collaborate with nearby communities, and what they think about potential new models of parish leadership.
So the bottom line is this, simultaneous planning is taking place, one is a plan to discern and discover the mission/future for Saint Patrick Catholic Church; the other is to plan and discern and discover how that mission/future relates to the greater Catholic Community of Pierce County. We look forward to your participation in the process.
As always, please let us know what you’re thinking by contacting me directly or through the Parish Center.
Yours in Christ,
Kevin Lovejoy
Pastoral Coordinator
