WINGS: THE IMPORTANCE OF BIBLE STUDY

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

LIFT MINISTRIES AT HOLY FAMILY

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Staff News

Members of the one staff serving both Holy Family and Star of the Sea Parishes traveled to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Center in Braintree, MA, on Wednesday, January 7, and Thursday, January 8, to participate in Evangelization Training. On Wednesday, they heard presentations, had conversations about and participated in activities on many topics including:

• The structure, method, content and audience of the New Evangelization.
• Staff’s role in the New Evangelization.
• How to propose the Gospel.
• The universal call to holiness and ongoing conversion for each of us 
•  The phases of intentional discipleship.
•  How to witness (share personal testimony).

Thursday's presentations, discussions and activities were centered on:

• Living the great commission (Matthew 28:16-20) by forming disciples.
• How parishes can become centers for the new evangelization.
• Using "gateway moments" (Funeral, Baptism, Marriage, RCIA, First Eucharist, Confirmation, etc.) as opportunities for evangelization

There also were times for prayer at the beginning and end of the day as well as celebration of the Eucharist (Mass) in the middle of the day.

The staff will participate in leadership training on February 24, 25 and 26.

PAISH INPUT NEEDED

The Collaborative needs your input as we prepare to begin work on the local pastoral plan for our parishes. We are asking as many members of our parishes as possible to participate in a survey, the Disciple Maker Index, between February 17 and March 10. This survey has been created by the Catholic Leadership Institute and is being made available to us at no cost.

The Disciple Maker Index will include 26 perception questions covering the general themes of spiritual growth, relationships, personal beliefs, conversations about faith, activities, and ministries, and 8 demographic questions about age, gender, income level, charitable giving, and parish membership.

There will be three ways to take the survey:

1. The survey link will be emailed to email addresses we have on file in the parishes. (Preferred or if you prefer that we not use your email address, please contact the parishes' offices by February 1, 2015.)

2. A link to the survey will be available on the parish website.

3. A paper version of the survey will be available in our churches.

NEXT STEPS FOR HOLY FAMILY AND STAR OF THE SEA PARISHES

The next steps for our collaborative will include more training. Members of the Pastoral Council and Finance Councils will finish up their training on January 31. Staff members serving the parishes have 5 days of training: January 7 & 8, and February 24, 25 & 26. We will soon establish the Writing Team for our local pastoral plan. They will have training in the spring.

To assist in the writing of our local pastoral plan, we will be asking all members of both HFP and SoS to take part in a survey called the Disciple Maker Index. The survey, which will be open from February 17 through March 10, was created by and will be administered by the Catholic Leadership Institute at no cost to the collaborative. 

The Disciple Maker Index includes 26 perception questions covering the general themes of spiritual growth, relationships, personal beliefs, conversations about faith, activities, and ministries, and 8 demographic questions about age, gender, income level, charitable giving, and parish membership.