Parish
RENEWAL
A Parish United
St. Joseph's Leaders Collaborate For Renewal
How often do we hear ourselves say, “I’m too busy,” when invited to something outside our routine?
​No doubt that with full calendars and countless responsibilities, carving out 5 hours on a Saturday for our Parish Renewal Planning Day would feel like just another obligation. Yet, despite their reservations, St. Joseph's Parish ministry leaders showed up. Not just that, but they also brought with them the same kindness, dedication, and willingness to serve, which made their ministries thrive...
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Ministry Planning Day
Thank you to all our ministry leaders who attended our March 8th Planning Day. We are blessed with such enthusiastic and active Ministries at St. Joseph. Human nature often means we are busy "Martha-ing;" busy with all our Ministry duties and work. A great thing! But, sometimes we need to take a step back and just listen.
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The Planning Day gave all our Ministries a day to be a "Mary." To sit at the feet of the Lord, in prayer and reflection and see if we are fulfilling the mission of our Ministries (spoiler: yes we are!), and brainstorm with one another to see if there is anything we could do differently to become more fruitful with our efforts.
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It was amazing to hear the different ideas that came up during our small group discussions. The creativity, passion, and dedication of all our Ministry Leaders was clearly evident.
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Fruit from the meeting?
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Our Ministries are taking some time to reflect on what was discussed during the Planning Day and will be presenting the Renewal Team with their draft Ministry Area goals by March 28th. Once received, this completes Step 2 in the Renewal Planning Process.
From there we will move into the drafting phase with "Step 3: Workshop 1". Where we will compare the Ministry Goals, all the survey feedback we received from our amazing parishioners, as well as Father's priorities; and try to weave together a cohesive plan for St. Joseph's.
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Once a draft plan has been formulated we'll be sharing that in April for further feedback and revision.
St. Joseph's Survey Results
Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out our Parish level survey released February 1. We had a small sample size so results should be taken with a grain of salt, but the information it gave us for planning is invaluable.
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A few repeating themes you shared with us:
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What you told us you like:
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Mass & Mass times
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Music Ministry
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Salvatorian Priests
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What you told us you'd like to see changed:
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More youth programs
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Educational opportunities
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Projector communications
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Quieter environment before and after Mass
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What would help your faith development:
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Bible study
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Prayer groups
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Social and communal events
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Adoration
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While not a repeating theme across submissions, there were nonetheless some excellent comments that Parish Council is already reviewing, and that the Renewal Team will take into consideration in planning. Some of those comments include: accessibility suggestions, meeting room availability, baptism preparation course, opportunities to engage students at post secondary schools nearby, and assisting with non-addiction related low income supports.
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Further helping us plan, here's what you told us you were most likely to participate in for your faith development:
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For full multiple choice results please click here
Ministry Save The Date!
With the roll out of the Diocese expectations for the renewal plan, our Renewal Team is ready to get underway compiling a plan for St. Joseph's. All ministry leaders will be invited to participate in a planning session for their ministry and liaise with the Renewal Team in setting their own ministry goals.
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The planning session has been scheduled for March 8th and invites will be going out shortly. Please stay tuned for more information coming out of this brainstorming session!
In the meantime the Renewal Team will be doing some preparation for the upcoming ministry session and reviewing your survey feedback.
St. Joseph Survey
Before the Renewal Team begins creating a parish plan to submit to the Diocese, we'd like to solicit additional feedback from you. We hope your answers give us guidance to questions raised as we reviewed your responses to the Diocese survey.
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The survey consists of seven questions. Three long form and four multiple choice questions, and should only take you a few minutes to fill out.
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Thank you to everyone who participated in the survey, we'll share some of the key takeaways soon!
Next Steps
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Where does renewal go from here?
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Save the Date!
Advent Mission Feedback
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Thank you to everyone who participated in the Advent Mission small group sessions. Below are the repeating themes for what you'd like to see the parish look at for future renewal efforts.
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Alpha
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Youth Program
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Group Prayer (Rosary / Novena / Prayer)
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Living our Catholic faith by example
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Social Activities
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Sacramentals
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Adoration
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New parishioner follow up ministry
What's the role of the Renewal Team?
The Renewal Team serves as a consultative leadership team responsible for envisioning, directing, developing, and implementing the 5-Year Parish Pastoral Renewal Plan, along with its priorities and actions.
What is renewal?
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