August 11, 2019 

Festival thanks, BUT what is strategic planning

A huge thank you to all of our grace-filled volunteers who offered countless hours of service making our first Holy Spirit Parish Festival a wonderful success! All who attended would surely agree that it was one of the largest, “funnest” and most delicious festival celebrations in all of Lawrence County! Our amazing festival committee, chefs, and Mark Mijavec, who came to our rescue when we were in need of a head chef, should all be very proud of the amazing job they did! A report on the monies raised and the use of these funds will be forthcoming.

Speaking of reports, I would like to fill you in on the strategic planning meeting we had at the end of July with Tom Murray of Wexford Run Consulting. 70 people of our interim Finance and Pastoral Councils as well as parishioners who were interested in becoming members of those councils of Holy Spirit Parish were in attendance as well as some staff members. The point of this gathering at McGurk Hall was to do just what we said, to strategize!

What is strategic planning? Strategic planning is looking at our history. How did we get to where we are, where do we want to go and what do we want to be? Then, looking at all of our resources how do we achieve our ultimate goal? Strategic planning is not making decisions. It’s about the work that goes into preparing to make a wise decision. We looked at the trends in the Church and Catholic participation prior to World War II and following the war, and the impact the war had on the Church and our culture. We also examined Vatican II and what it means for us today. We then looked how did we end up with 13 parishes down to one parish of Holy Spirit. Next, we examined the biggest question which is now that we are one, what is our goal? Who do we want to be? What does it mean to be a Catholic parish today?

So, what is our ultimate goal as a parish? We want to be a vibrant Catholic parish that celebrates our faith with reverence and devotion. We want to be welcoming to all people. We want to be fully alive which means service oriented. Who do we want to serve? It’s only after we fully understand who we want to be that we can examine our resources and consider how do we achieve our goals with the resources we have.

But there is an urgency because our resources are dwindling. We live in the real world and it is a material world. We have many areas in our budget that need to stop bleeding. Like I have said on many occasions, we have to look at the facts and they will guide us toward wise decisions. Deacon John Carran, our business manager, is putting a column in the bulletin sharing with you financial information. Last week he explained that our parish does pay property tax! Many people do not believe that a church pays taxes, but we certainly do.  In 2018, we paid over $74,000 in state, local and county tax! This is just one of many of the facts that we have to consider and understand as we move forward in making any kind of decisions regarding our properties and our future solutions.

So as far as the strategic planning meeting went, we discussed a number of concerns and we plan on having more such strategic meetings until we get a better handle on all of the information. Once I have had an opportunity to review all of the facts with our leadership team, then I will present it to the parish at large. You will all have an opportunity to hear from me directly the realities in which we are dealing. Many in this community like to jump to conclusions and are fascinated by rumors. I would once again caution you from being duped by people who don’t know what they are talking about. You certainly are free to believe what you want to believe and who you want to believe, but in the end, you are going to waste a lot of energy and emotion over fantasy rather than fact.

Be patient, my friends, a baby takes 9 months to be born healthy. We have to go through the proper process and that is exactly what we are going to do. Short cuts just lead to disaster. Please join me in being patient, praying for God’s wisdom and guidance and being open and willing to work together. This is the work that we have before us and it will yield the greatest reward.

This coming Thursday, August 15th, is a holy day of obligation, the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Please notice in this bulletin the Mass times and places.
          God love you,
                           Fr. Mac