New Adult Formation Opportunities Coming September!

Do you want to deepen your understanding of the Faith? Do you want to learn more about the Bible? Do you want to meet new people and have opportunities to share your faith with others?

Go out into the deep this year and sign up for one of our adult formation opportunities!

There are two ways to sign up for a class: Contact Brian (see flyer) or sign up after Mass (at the adult formation table) on the weekends of August 17th and 24th.

Go Out Into the Deep: Growing as Disciples

Today we continue with a guest blog by one of the Parish Priority Planning team members. We hope her post will further inspire your to serve God and "Go Deep" for our faith and parish.

It probably took me a lot longer than most, but as I age, it has become more and more important to me to find ways to give back. Sharing the many gifts that God has blessed me with has become a primary path for my efforts to grow in the love of Christ. 

Serving on the Priority Planning Committee with Father Jack and the other good members over the past year has given me another opportunity to focus on giving back to my Saint Mary parish family. It has been an honor to participate in the process of assessing and prioritizing the needs of our parish over the next three years.  Gaining the input and opinions of all through the parish listening sessions was very meaningful and helpful. 

Now we have identified the three priorities that rose to the top with specific needs and improvements identified by parishioners. The priorities that the parish will focus on over the next three years are Facilities, Formation, and Service and Outreach.  Each of these priorities has two Smart Goals associated with it; specific tasks that will be accomplished by focused committees working toward completion of the goals.

I’m excited to have been asked to facilitate the overall Service and Outreach Priority and the accomplishment of its two Smart Goals. The first goal is to augment the parish Peace and Justice Ministry by expanding the service opportunities in the parish and in our neighborhood community over the coming year.  I’ll be working with and supporting the new committee leader Barbara Pontius. The second goal is convene a Senior (55+) Leadership committee to create and implement and action plan to better meet the varied needs of this large portion of our parish population. I’m looking forward to lending a hand to Bill and Dottie Tennant as they lead this new Encore seniors group.

Saint Mary is a Stewardship parish. We follow Christ as disciples and seek activities to share our time and talent and treasure with our fellow parishioners and with our broader community. My involvement in the Service and Outreach Priority gives me another opportunity to grow in discipleship and to grow my love for Christ by seeing Christ in each one of you. Join us by getting involved in your parish ministries and working with us to show Christ’s love in everything we do.

Dan Eshom, parishioner, member of the Priority Planning Team

Go Out Into the Deep: Challenging Yourself to 'Go Deep'

Today we continue with a guest blog by one of the Parish Priority Planning team members. We hope her post will further inspire your to serve God and "Go Deep" for our faith and parish.

In the Bible, Jesus said to Simon, "Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch." Simon answered and said, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets."

I have often thought: may I be as obedient to Jesus’ challenge as Simon was…and as trusting.

Well, I now have my chance to do so, as does every member of our Church of Saint Mary.

In a similar way as Simon, we have been issued a challenge by our church with the unifying message Go out into the Deep. And much like Jesus’ challenge must have sounded to Simon, it sounded kind of odd and a little unsettling to me (at first). What does this mean? What is the “Deep”? What will it require of me? Will I be uncomfortable? Will I be required to do something outside my comfort zone?

But the more I thought about it, I realized Christ is calling me and all of us at the Church of Saint Mary to accept His challenge and to trust him by stepping outside of our comfort zone; to Go Out Into To Deep, and to strengthen our church and to spread the Good News of His gospel thereby bringing others to Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord and Savior. 

And why? Because Jesus has not only given us a challenge, but like Simon, He has told us to do so; to Go Out Into the Deep, and to trust Him for a bountiful catch.

Alan Sylvester, parishioner, member of the Priority Planning Team

Go Out Into the Deep: Being a Good Steward

Today we continue with a guest blog by one of the Parish Priority Planning team members. We hope her post will further inspire your to serve God and "Go Deep" for our faith and parish.

St. Peter said to members of the early church: As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of Gods varied grace (1Peter 4:10).  My participation on the Priority Planning team has been heavily influenced by the fact that our parish is a stewardship parish and I am a member of the Stewardship Council.  So who is a Christian steward?  “…One who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with all, and returns them with increase to the Lord.” 

I think one of the best things we did as a Priority Planning team was to have listening sessions; those sessions gave us an opportunity to hear the needs, expectations and dreams of our parishioners. It is exciting to see our parish embrace the four pillars of stewardship – Hospitality, Prayer, Formation, and Service.  But even though we do these well, during the listening sessions I heard a longing to do more and a desire to reach out to more people who have needs. 

This led the Priority Planning team to develop goals that will better enable our parish and parishioners to serve each other and our community through the love of Christ. One of the three priorities identified is the need to look at our facilities and to see where we can better use both sacred, social, and educational space, or create more space to carry out our ministries. We need to be a hospitable parish that welcomes families and help form them throughout their spiritual life.  Educational and social spaces to have classes, activities, or gatherings--allowing the ministries of the parish to include all who want to participate. The sacred space allows each parishioner to mature in his or her faith life and draw closer to God.

Jesus called Peter to go out and put his nets into the deep after a fruitless night of fishing. Faith is what enabled Peter to do as Jesus asked and go beyond his comfort zone. We are each asked to do just that; to share our faith and be good stewards of the gifts God has given each of us. I hope that each of you will be excited about the goals we have chosen to develop over the next 18-24 months, take an active part, and encourage others to participate. 

--Diane Erbacher (fourth from left)

Go Out Into the Deep

This weekend Fr. Jack will introduce our Priority Planning initiatives and challenge us as a parish to Go Out Into the Deep. Throughout the next two months we will have members of the Parish Priority Planning team guest blog and inspire us to serve God and "Go Deep" for our faith and parish.


Go Out Into the Deep, by Kathy Craft

After months of meetings and planning discussions, our Priority Planning team has emerged with a unifying statement that is intriguing, challenging and in my mind inspiring: Go out into the Deep. The related scripture refers to the scene in which Jesus asks his apostles to go out into the deep and lower their nets all the while knowing that they had fished all night with nothing to show for it. But they listened, did as Jesus asked, and the results were overwhelming. Their choice to put their trust in Jesus is often what we are challenged to do in our daily lives.       

What are your first thoughts as you read the words “Go out in to the Deep”? To me, these words suggest an invitation to venture out of the shallow, more comfortable waters and move further out "into the deep" where I am challenged to go beyond my comfort zone. I want to be intentional about moving deeper in my faith, and with prayer and discernment, I am trying to take small steps toward that goal. The early Church was strengthened in their growth with their sense of community. Our community, our Church of St. Mary, offers many opportunities for growth as well. Wouldn't it be exciting for us to become a Church on Fire for Christ?

A personal example for me involves the practice of stewardship. As someone who strongly believes in the principles of stewardship, I must ask myself the question: do I practice that deeply or am I shallow in my practice? I must reflect on what Jesus asks me: Do you trust me?        

On a dramatic scale, Blessed Mother of Teresa certainly gave us an example of venturing into the deep. The results of her trust and openness are both staggering and inspiring. Her impact on our world cannot even be measured.

Kathy Craft, parishioner, member of the Priority Planning Team