March 20, 2021
Dear Parishioners at St Teresa of Calcutta Parish,
As you all know, I held a parish townhall meeting on March 2nd and invited all those interested in joining me on a journey to grow this parish and restore the vibrance that has been a driving force here for almost 125 years.
I am grateful to the more than fifty people who attended and offered their perspectives, concerns and dreams related to where we go next. This is a difficult time for the Church and this parish, given the challenges of scandals, bankruptcy, and the pandemic. In spite of all of that, I am edified by your faith and your desire to become an even more vibrant parish, and I look forward to seeing where the Holy Spirit leads us.
For those who did not attend, the group discussion revolved around three questions:
- What do you like about this parish?
- What are your concerns or the obstacles to moving forward?
- What ideas do you have?
The answers were categorized, and can be found below, and can also be found on the table at the break in church. Moving forward, Deacon John Hendricks and I will assemble a “Group of Advisors” shortly after Easter and begin deciding on our priorities.
I ask two things of you. First, please include St Teresa parish in your prayers, daily – if you haven’t yet, set that 9:05 (recalling St Teresa’s 9/5 feast day) alarm to remind yourself! Next, be open to working with us – either as part of the Group of Advisors, or on the working committees that will be established to address and resolve these issues and improvements, hopefully sometime in May.
Communication
I will use the bulletin and the website (and eventually our Facebook page) as my primary means of communicating the events related to this initiative. If you would like to receive email updates, please contact the parish office (683-2746) and ask to be placed on our email list.
In Christ’s Peace,
Fr. Dave Richards
Pastoral Administrator
St Teresa of Calcutta Parish, Depew
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
St Teresa of Calcutta Parish - Townhall Meeting: March 2, 2021 (1:00; 7:00) - Session Notes - Analysis
Categorization of Comments, across ALL groups
|
Comment
|
Category
|
Type
|
- We have a strong sense of community
- We work together to build the parish
- We help each other, like family
|
Commitment to Parish
|
Like
|
- We’re ready for this challenge
|
Commitment to Parish
|
Like
|
- Communicate better with each other
|
Communication
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Parish’s faith commitment is a strength
|
Faith Commitment
|
Like
|
- We need to share our Faith more openly
|
Faith Commitment
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Atmosphere is ‘homey’; people feel a part of the community
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
- Bingo Teams work well together; many compliments
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
|
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
- Love/concern/care for one another
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
- Loving concern: Easy to feel a part of the community
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
|
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
|
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
- Very welcoming, hospitable
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
- We like each other: get together often socially and to support fundraisers
|
Family atmosphere
|
Like
|
|
|
Financial Viability
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Need more spiritual development
|
Formation: Adult
|
Concern, Issue
|
- No Adult Faith Formation
- Scripture; understanding our Faith
- Need to push Formed
|
Formation: Adult
|
Concern, Issue
|
|
|
Formation: Adults
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Develop engaging activities for the 20-50 year-olds
|
Formation: Adults
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Hold a Soup ‘n Scripture program during Lent
|
Formation: Adults
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Hold evening programs for adults
|
Formation: Adults
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Spiritual Development; retreats
|
Formation: Adults
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Start the Seven Churches visits again
|
Formation: Adults
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Clergy crisis killed youth program
|
Formation: Youth
|
Concern, Issue
|
|
|
Formation: Youth
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
|
|
Formation: Youth
|
Like
|
|
|
Formation: Youth
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Review previous youth programs that worked
|
Formation: Youth
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Small number in Religious Ed
|
Formation: Youth
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Youth activities like ‘Praise Band’
|
Formation: Youth
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Need to provide Senior Services, homebound ministry
- E.g. buy a van to bring people to church
|
Inreach
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Merging St Augustine with St Teresa
- Went well
- We had a good feeling about this parish
|
Interparish Collaboration
|
Like
|
|
|
Leadership
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Homilies, Message: Stuck in the past
- Stagnant and disconnected from our lives
- Not engaging
|
Liturgy: Homilies
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Liturgies: Homilies are very good
|
Liturgy: Homilies
|
Like
|
- Grow the music program; post COVID-19
|
Liturgy: Music
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Liturgies: Music: great diversity
|
Liturgy: Music
|
Like
|
- Include young people in the Liturgy
|
Liturgy: Youth
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Easy for us to ‘pack the hall’ for events
|
Ministry Effectiveness
|
Like
|
- Great collaboration and cooperation across parishioners
|
Ministry Effectiveness
|
Like
|
- People work well together
|
Ministry Effectiveness
|
Like
|
|
|
Ministry Effectiveness
|
Like
|
- Do an outdoor Mass in the cemetery
|
Misc
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Gives Boy Scouts ability to get badges
|
Misc
|
Like
|
- Put up ‘side screens’, like in gym at OLP
|
Misc
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Expand Community Outreach
- Food pantry
- Ministry to Homebound
|
Outreach
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- More ecumenical activities
|
Outreach
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Outreach:
- Response to Love
- Food Pantry
- Involve the Rel Ed students
|
Outreach
|
Like
|
- COVID-19 has seriously impacted our Mass attendance and ministries
|
Pandemic
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Amazing History: some families date back to the 1800’s
- Sense of pressure, responsibility to keep this going
|
Parish History
|
Like
|
- History of the parish: since 1898
|
Parish History
|
Like
|
- Elderly parish
- How to attract younger people?
|
Parish Membership
|
Concern, Issue
|
- We acknowledge that we could be more attractive to people
|
Parish Membership
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Excellent resources:
- Large church
- School building in good shape
- Large plant
|
Parish Resources
|
Like
|
|
|
Parish Resources
|
Concern, Issue
|
|
|
Parish Resources
|
Concern, Issue
|
- How to tap into parishioners that are not involved, active in the parish
|
Stewardship: Time
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Lots of volunteers who work hard
|
Stewardship: Time
|
Like
|
- Need more workers; new blood
- Can’t be the same old people
|
Stewardship: Time
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Need to actively invite and engage more people to get them involved in what we do
|
Stewardship: Time
|
Concern, Issue
|
- Willing to help out; responds well to requests
|
Stewardship: Time
|
Like
|
- If there is a need, the parish responds really well
|
Stewardship: Treasure
|
Like
|
- Parish did a ‘Go Fund Me’ to send two young ladies to World Youth Day
|
Stewardship: Treasure
|
Like
|
- Some people are extremely generous
|
Stewardship: Treasure
|
Like
|
|
|
Technology
|
Ideas, Recommendations
|
- Technology needs to be updated
|
Technology
|
Concern, Issue
|