Parish Discernment Wave Three

Your Parish: The Body
of Christ Alive in Our Midst

Parish Discernment Process

The publication of Archbishop Joseph Kurtz’s pastoral letter, “Your Parish: The Body of Christ Alive in Our Midst” on the Feast of the Holy Family, December 30, 2016, launched a parish discernment process within the parishes of the Archdiocese of Louisville. Eighty parishes participated in a pilot phase in the spring of 2017 and in the three waves that took place in the fall of 2017 and in the winter and spring of 2018.
Some parishes in the second wave were still working on their final reports at the time of the publication of the second wave report in May and elected to delay publication of their reports until this publication. Some parishes in the third wave conducted their process on a different schedule or used a different process, and so their reports are not included in this summary.
Included below are summaries of responses from parishes as they discerned how they are being called to grow and how they will facilitate this growth in the three priority areas established by Archbishop Kurtz: Family Life, Education and Lifelong Formation and Service and Outreach.

 

Saint Albert the Great

Louisville

Family Life
• Connect more children, youth and families to the liturgical and spiritual vitality of the parish. This can be accomplished through special invitations to young families through the school, parish religious education classes, athletic and scouting programs and by enhancing the music ministry to appeal to a broad spectrum of ages and traditions.
• Increase family Mass participation at the parish by increasing childcare opportunities through an expansion of the nursery and pre-K facilities and staff and by creating a parking ministry at Mass as part of hospitality before entering the Church.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Build programs that inspire people to develop their personal discipleship. This can be accomplished through retreats and service opportunities that encourage a personal encounter with Jesus; formation efforts involving short burst, adult small group ministries such as Alpha, Walking with Purpose, Living Flame Program and Contemplative Outreach; expanding and integrating spirituality into the athletic ministry; and providing personal discipleship opportunities for children and youth while they are already on campus.

Service and Outreach
• Revitalize the parish in living out its mission to become a Christ-centered community of disciples dedicated to inspiring people to love, serve and know God and one another. This can be accomplished by taking advantage of outreach opportunities for those who are inactive to come to the parish (e.g. weddings, funerals, fish fries, sporting events); increasing focus on service projects in the local area surrounding the parish; and centralizing parish communication with a top-notch communications committee with an emphasis on technology and social media.

 

Basilica of Saint Joseph
Proto-Cathedral

Bardstown

Family Life
• Provide a support group for families and extended families impacted by divorce by reorganizing the “Journey of Hope” group to expand and include extended families.
• Encourage family prayer at home by bringing to the forefront for families the prayerful needs of the parish.
• Inform parishioners of all the encompassing parish ministries available at Saint Joseph by printing and updating “The Ministries of The Basilica of Saint Joseph Proto-Cathedral” and making it available to each family.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Provide education based on our Catholic faith by offering adult education opportunities during the day, evenings or weekends.
• Seek to deepen our relationship with Christ as a parish through retreats and by developing a faith group.

Service and Outreach
• Reach out to inactive Catholics by forming a “Calling Committee” to contact inactive Catholics.
• Strengthen ministries already in place by examining each ministry and its mission and determining if there is room for expansion in terms of numbers served and volunteers.

 

Saint Bernadette

Louisville

Family Life
• Address the needs of young adults and families with children by establishing a task force of families that would seek ways of implementing the needs of young adults and families within the parish community in the areas of worship/liturgy and fellowship. This effort has the goal of attracting and keeping more young adults and families with young children engaged in the life of the parish and school.
• Continue developing the established marriage enrichment retreat by developing new schedules of opportunities for married couples to attend the retreat and from this effort, developing ongoing marriage enrichment events/programs.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Encourage and market grassroots efforts from women in the parish to establish education, formation and fellowship opportunities for women in the parish.
• Raise the awareness of the many education and formation programs that Saint Bernadette offers by creating a menu of the education, formation and service opportunities offered at the parish.
• Place a kiosk in the narthex to serve as a Welcome Center and a Parish Resource Center and invite a group of parishioners to oversee placing and maintaining this kiosk.

Service and Outreach
• Raise awareness and provide hands-on experiences and ongoing support of the mission of all the social justice, service and outreach ministries by creating a menu that provides awareness and opportunities about these ministries.
• Create a resource pamphlet that would direct people to agencies that deal with issues of addiction by seeking out community agencies that deal with this issue.
• Assess the feasibility of providing assistance to people who are elderly and people with disabilities while attending Mass and church functions by creating a task force of parishioners who would define and implement the scope of assistance.

 

Saint Bernard

Clementsville

Family Life
• Utilize free resources for parish use, such as Dynamic Catholic.
• Reach out to the Hispanic community by including them in parish life and special feast days, such as Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Feast of the Three Kings/Día de los Reyes.
• Host quarterly family social events.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Utilize the parish website and Facebook account to reach out, teach Catholic life and provide resources to the community.
• Hold listening sessions for young families and young adults to identify ways that the parish can meet their needs and concerns.
• Include the CCD/RCIA coordinator’s name, phone and email in the bulletin for informational purposes.

Service and Outreach
• Utilize multimedia messages for communication to the parish such as the web, Facebook, One Call, Sunday bulletin and handouts.
• Define the structure of the parish by asking help from the Parish Leadership Development office to coordinate the parish committees.
• Hold follow-up sessions to discover the variety of talents and skills in the parish coordinating committees.

 

Saint Boniface

Louisville (Wave 2)

Family Life
• Create a system for welcoming visitors and new members.
• Develop and implement communication strategies among staff, parish council and parishioners.
• Display pictures of Parish Council members in church.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Survey parishioners to determine needs and interests as related to new formation opportunities and community building.
• Evaluate and install a new sound system so that people can hear and participate at liturgies.
Service and Outreach
• Develop a committee system based on parishioner input that helps to meet the needs of the parish and the local community.
• Connect with the St. Joseph Guild of the Catholic Medical Association and students from the University of Louisville Medical and Dental Schools to create an outreach event that promotes awareness and service.

 

Saint Christopher

Radcliff

Family Life
• Foster unity as a family in the Body of Christ by holding recurring “Meet and Greet” dinners to welcome new families and say good bye to old friends.
• Develop a welcoming hospitality by creating “Welcome Packets” for new families containing parish and community information and by forming a group of “Parish Ambassadors” who are available to go beyond the usher’s handshake at the door to welcome a new family to the parish and answer questions they may have.
• Improve communication among parishioners, parish and community by establishing a Family Life Committee, reporting to the Parish Council, to coordinate these programs and develop future initiatives.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Foster purposeful activities by increasing involvement in CCD, coordinating vocational retreats and appointing a full time youth minister to support Saint Christopher and Saint Martin of Tours. This youth minister will coordinate social, religious and service activities for youth.
• Provide formation for all ages including young parent formation/support and young adult group to support the 18-25 age group.
• Provide local/archdiocesan training for parish ministries including ushers, lectors, CCD instructors, communion ministers, altar servers and other ministries.

Service and Outreach
• Increase parish presence and activity in city, county and state (e.g. Veterans’ Fairs, Adopt a School, Mom’s Day Out) while continuing parish mission of “bearing Christ to the community” by holding community service projects and outreach events and by reinvigorating traditional parish groups (altar society, prayer warriors, etc.).
• Provide mentoring and reverse mentoring programs for older members to pass on the faith and for young members to train those who are digitally challenged.

 

Saint Frances of Rome

Louisville (Wave 2)

Family Life
• Make an intentional effort to include all ages in the liturgical life of the church.
• Create a ministry for teens and young adults that includes formation, social and outreach opportunities.
• Strive to be an inclusive parish by holding multigenerational gatherings for parishioners and guests from all walks of life, offering opportunities for formation, prayer, socializing and outreach.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Develop more structured classes for all ages (from children to adults) using church documents, Scripture and other texts.
• Continue a strong staff-led religious education program for children in pre-kindergarten through Confirmation at Saint Frances of Rome.

Service and Outreach
• Develop an effective communication plan for all parish outreach and ministries using a variety of media (newsletter, pulpit, social media, email, text, website and personal invitations). The Parish Council recommended the formation of a marketing committee.
• Create a robust social concerns committee to examine current outreach efforts (such as support of United Crescent Hill Ministries) and develop and implement additional outreach.

 

Saint Gabriel

the Archangel

Louisville

Family Life
• Create a “Companion Family” program to pair new or less active families with more engaged ones by adopting the Companion Couple Marriage program to more effectively blend school families into parish life. Ask engaged families to accompany selected families who may not be as involved as they might like.
• Adopt a family-based Marian devotion program by investigating one of the many local Marian devotional programs, such as the traveling Mary statue, as a means of strengthening family prayer engagement.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Create a system for better identifying the “giftings” of parish members to better utilize the abundance of faith formation human resources that are available. Develop an “input form” to collect skills, talents and interests of parishioners to create a “giftings” database through which the parish can more effectively identify, invite and match parishioners to faith formation needs based upon parishioners’ gifts.
• Create a “ride share” program to get more folks – especially children and young people – to Mass and other formation events by utilizing a central process owner model, such as the one used by the Homebound Ministry, to match needs with available volunteers and to provide an easy communication conduit.

Service and Outreach
• Create a “Service Committee” as an “umbrella group” to coordinate, promote and assist in resourcing all service-related ministries the parish offers now or would like to offer in the future. The committee would meet on a quarterly basis with the many existing service ministries that would send representatives to the meetings to keep everyone informed. The committee would be empowered to promote events and bring service groups together to assist in large events and make use of the bulletin and current technology channels to give reports to the parish at large.

 

Good Shepherd

Columbia

Holy Redeemer

Greensburg

Holy Spirit

Jamestown (Wave 2)

Family Life
• Support families in need through all the outreach efforts identified in this discernment plan and by recruiting more people to serve as Eucharistic ministers for taking Communion to homebound and nursing homes and hosting a training for these new Eucharistic Ministers in the fall of 2018.
• Increase hospitality at parishes by recruiting additional meeters and greeters.
• Increase information in the bulletin regarding Catholic faith and family life by inviting parishioners to submit articles of interest for the monthly bulletin.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Increase the offering of adult education and formation opportunities within the parishes by establishing a Bible study after researching options available for study guides and programs; reaching out to the Office of Faith Formation to host a formation workshop for the parishes; and offering the Rosary prior to Mass at Holy Redeemer Parish.
• Evaluate the needs of youth in all three parishes and determine their formation needs.

Service and Outreach
• Increase awareness of the Catholic community by including the Mass times in local papers and other publications and making sure that local phone books list each parish.
• Increase outreach to local charities by investigating involvement of parishes in local ministerial associations to increase awareness of the good work of the Catholic Church; publicizing the thrift store and impact it makes on the community; and supporting local food pantries, school supply drives and nursing homes.

 

Saint Gregory

Cox’s Creek

Family Life
• Provide more resources and activities for single and divorced parishioners.
• Improve communication and networking by making better use of the gathering space, surveys, group email/mailing list for parishioners and better electronic communication to reach all generations (email, Facebook, Twitter).
• Look outside the church and self by expanding the Hospitality Committee to add a Welcoming Committee. It would include parking lot greeters, dedicated “welcomers” to greet people as they enter Church and seat-finders to help people find seats in the pews, especially at baptismal celebrations where newcomers may be present.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Share resources with other parishes.
• Increase knowledge of the Catholic faith by offering resources to foster the growth of small group activities and increasing and improving communication.
• Foster adult/family catechesis and growth in faith by offering more frequent parish missions and single-night speakers on topics such as raising teens in today’s world, technology, porn, empty nest, death/loss and drug and alcohol addiction.

Service and Outreach
• Continue, reinforce and expand compassionate outreach to others, especially outside the church/self through testimonies and spotlighting of parishioners already involved and the service they provide and by increasing and improving communication.
• Grow older youth (8th grade and up), young adult and new adult engagement in service and outreach through surveys, input from these age groups and, perhaps, putting some ideas to a vote.

 

Holy Name

Louisville

Family Life
• Develop an infrastructure to support increased ministry development for the parish by re-establishing a Parish Council and Finance Council to serve as consultative bodies for the pastor and to assist with addressing the mission, needs, ministries and resources of the parish.
• Develop a schedule for pastoral support to families by identifying clergy and staff to be available and establishing regular times for members of this pastoral team to be available to Holy Name parishioners on parish property.
• Revamp and implement the Los Posadas annual program to focus on the true spiritual meaning of Christmas for families.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Continue the development of youth ministry by engaging Holy Name youth and developing a plan for youth ministry, education, formation and outreach.
• Develop an adult education program by Identifying a leader for the adult education program and assessing parish needs. This effort can begin small and grow as new needs are identified.

Service and Outreach
• Provide outreach to the Churchill Downs “Backside” to provide a spiritual home for employees and families by partnering with the Churchill Downs Backside Activities Director to develop a plan.
• Develop outreach to the homeless in the parish neighborhood to provide a spiritual home and access to community resources. Meet with local organizations that serve the homeless and develop a plan for Holy Name to support the homeless in the parish neighborhood.
• Partner with Holy Trinity’s St. Vincent de Paul chapter to evaluate how the two parishes can work together to support Holy Name’s outreach efforts.
• Provide support for families with immigration needs by identifying needs, establishing dialogue with immigrant families, evaluating a partnership with Catholic Charities for legal support and establishing partnerships with Catholic Charities and other agencies who support immigrants in Louisville.

 

Holy Trinity

Louisville

Family Life
• Identify families in need of support by utilizing existing committees, especially Olive Branch, to organize and communicate the needs of specific families as needed.
• Develop closer connections among families in the parish, parish school and GIFT program by promoting continued opportunities to connect families in the GIFT Program with parish school families and by matching parish members and school/GIFT families to pray for one another throughout the school year.
• Form a Family Welcome Wagon to reach out to new families/individuals joining the parish. Identify a chairperson and locate the activity within an appropriate parish committee with a Holy Trinity staff advisor to plan and execute strategies to help make new members feel welcome.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Study how to engage more members of the Holy Trinity parish so that parishioners grow in holiness by respecting the dignity of each person, praying together and having fun together. Explore opportunities, possibly through regional collaboration, for new social, athletic and gift discernment programs.
• Improve communication in order to help parishioners grow in holiness by forming a task force with expertise, under the direction of the pastor, to study the communication patterns of the parish, assess the needs of the parish, and determine best practices, especially utilizing personal invitation.
• Develop new programs and tools that will continue to enhance education among the members of our parish by utilizing Formed.org and by exploring the Alpha program, now being piloted by the Formation Committee.

Service and Outreach
• Support the vision of the Holy Trinity Clifton Campus by inviting Holy Trinity members to support the Holy Trinity Clifton Campus with their time, talent, and treasure.
• Strengthen the partnership between Holy Trinity and Holy Name by planning a quarterly event or potluck including Mass and/or prayer opportunities with Holy Name Parish.
• Continue to engage more parishioners in existing Holy Trinity outreach programs and service opportunities by exchanging ideas for engagement and social outreach programming with other parishes and by inviting the Christ Renews His Parish Continuation Committee to enhance its efforts to help promote service opportunities among those who have participated in CRHP retreats. In addition, request that all committees develop specific strategies to increase participation in different programs that the parish offers.

 

Immaculate Conception

La Grange

Family Life
• Mingle parish cultures to bring people together and bring the parishioners of different Masses closer together. Work with the Hispanic Ministry Committee to address cultural issues, increase Hispanic representation on the Parish Council and other committees and educate parishioners about Hispanic cultural traditions.
• Improve overall parish communication through social media programs and expansion of email and phone lists. Investigate the use of church social media to post and announce events.
• Provide support to caregivers (all ages and conditions) and provide information on the availability of services and support throughout the community. Create in the narthex a display of take-home information on addiction and other support groups available in the area, which should also include information on caregiver relief services available in the area. Create a system to receive information from the Ombudsman for the elderly and publish in the bulletin and on the website.
• Expand and enhance outreach to newcomers in the parish by creating a “Welcoming Committee” to focus on the creation and execution of communications and activities to grow in this area. This could include greeters, ushers, parish ambassadors and a staffed visitor table in the narthex with information and a gift for newcomers. Host new parishioner dinner quarterly with parish staff and members of major parish committees.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Provide education for the elderly and their families regarding available services and resources as described above under Family Life.
• Involve more people in all parish activities through adult retreats, mission trips, increasing family involvement in the liturgy, continuing to provide opportunities for parents to be more active in children’s religious education and developing a lifelong and continuous program of faith formation for all ages and generations.
• Expand scripture study to include apologetics, science and theology in the Catholic view and a scripture study focused on teens.

Service and Outreach
• Broaden communication techniques so that all parishioners receive messages and news from the parish, including messaging about events and ministries. Invite parish committees to speak at Masses and host a table in the narthex.
• Bridge the gap between communicating about events and services and encouraging/enticing people to participate.
• Continue the good work of the parish counselor. Explore diocesan, civic programs, hospitals and Catholic Charities for resource personnel who could provide educational assistance on finances, relationships, including assistance for troubled marriages, parenting classes and conflict resolution.
• Continue present support of the Agape Shop and funding to other charities in the area.

 

Saint John the Apostle

Brandenburg

Family Life
• Develop a family mentoring program for both existing and new families to provide a supportive environment to parents in raising their children. Offer family-friendly opportunities to gather for education/catechesis for parents that consists of fellowship and discussion, using programs such “The Bible Timeline Series,” “The Great Adventure Series” or similar programs. Provide child care for those parents with children to increase their ability to participate.
• Make the church building and the Holy Eucharist more accessible for personal prayer and devotion in order to promote and invite families to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Keep one door of the church building open during normal business hours to provide parishioners the opportunity to enter for visits with our Lord in the Eucharistic presence.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Update the faith formation program for children in the parish to one that is centered around the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” (CCC) and that provides an inclusive and educational environment to support parents in their role as the primary educators of their children. Upgrade and enhance the elementary religious education program developed by Sophia Institute.
• Develop/provide an education and formation program for young adults (18+ years of age) to support them in their faith journey and increase parish outreach to them as they transition through college/work experience and into independent living. Research and provide a similar program for high school religious education and young adult continuing formation. Some suggestions include Dynamic Catholic, Formed.org (a website available to parishes), Ignatius Press.

Service and Outreach
• Enhance and improve the existing parish ministries (jail ministry, nursing home visits, bereavement committee, prayer quilts, Love in Action program) by adding structure and increasing communication as needed. Enhance the structure and function of existing ministries and provide training as needed for those who currently serve in these ministries as well as for those who may be interested in pursuing involvement. This could be accomplished by using archdiocesan resources/trainings such as the Befriender Program offered through the Office of Family Ministries.
• Develop a hospitality ministry within the parish to increase the fellowship and involvement of families in the life of the parish and to welcome new families to the parish family.

 

Saint Martin of Tours

Flaherty

Family Life
• Promote a family-oriented atmosphere with monthly family gatherings, such as movie/game nights, potluck meals or outdoor Masses by appointing a family life coordinator to organize programs and work with committee chairs to organize monthly family gatherings.
• Form a more welcoming environment for new parishioners and visitors by setting up a program for existing parish families to sponsor both new families and RCIA candidates and catechumens following their reception of the sacraments.
• Assess the possibility of social programs for older parishioners by looking into the needs of seniors and inviting families to interact or adopt older parishioners with opportunities such as gatherings, adopt-a-grandparent program and delivering meals as a family.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Strengthen the youth ministry and young adult programs by hiring a youth minister as a central figure to develop and oversee the spiritual, service and social opportunities of the youth and young adults in the parish.
• Increase faith learning opportunities for all parishioners by opening up religious education to anyone who wants to learn about the Catholic Church; creating a “Did you Know?” section on the parish web and Facebook to teach facts about our faith; providing an adult teaching page in the bulletin; offering more devotions such as Divine Mercy to strengthen adult participation; and offering more opportunities for education and formation among parishioners and religious education students.
• Focus on belief in the presence of Christ through religious education and formation opportunities and by encouraging prayer and adoration after Masses.
• Reach out to the community with programs geared toward inviting others into the faith.

Service and Outreach
• Strengthen community connections, outreach to include local schools and community clothes closets by establishing a contact person for outreach in the parish; celebrating a Blue Mass annually for those in public service in the community; and including bulletin notices, Facebook postings and parish web information to raise awareness of outreach opportunities and the need for volunteers.
• Provide ongoing support for families following hardships, such as illness, loss of a loved one or transitions in life.
• Merge counseling opportunities between the clustered parishes, Saint Martin of Tours and Saint Christopher.

 

Saint Mary Magdalen

of Pazzi

Payneville

Family Life
• Personalize the parish liturgy by bringing in more upbeat Catholic music, including blessings for families, recognizing anniversaries and possibly having services in the cemetery for special events and holidays, such as All Soul’s Day, Memorial Day, etc.
• Showcase the parish talents by hosting breakfasts for the parish on fifth Sunday when it falls in a month. At the breakfasts, the parish will display parishioners’ artwork and invite parishioners to sing and share their talents.
• Host occasional family life activities, such as organizing a day trip to Christmas concerts and Masses at other parishes as well as outdoor movie nights with popcorn.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Broaden the religious education program to include adult formation by holding Bible study for adults during the current religious education hours and scheduling a trivia night to end the religious education season.
• Revitalize the youth group by working with the parish youth minister to organize and orchestrate activities for youth.

Service and Outreach
• Increase availability to the community through volunteer work by parishioners and partnering with the local Habitat for Humanity.
• Revitalize the current service outreach programs by contacting the leaders of the outreach groups and assisting them in revamping the programs.

 

Mary Queen of Peace

Louisville

Family Life
• Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the new parish, Mary Queen of Peace, by developing a parish directory, which would update members’ identities and assist in allowing parishioners to know the members of the parish family.
• Establish a Welcome Program utilizing a system whereby the parish give new members “Welcome Baskets” with information on the parish and items that familiarize them with parish life. Study other approaches to welcome new members such as quarterly gatherings for new parishioners; a mentoring program among new members and existing parishioners’ and study of the book “Rebuilt” with implementation of recommended practices from the “Rebuilt Field Guide.”

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Reimagine and re-form the Mary Queen of Peace Youth Group to encourage more young parishioners to get involved in parish life. Look to DiCaFF (Dixie Catholic Faith Formation) program for possibility of combining smaller youth groups of parishes in the region to form one large group with a youth minister or possibly partner with other nearby parishes also looking to expand their youth ministry programs.
• Develop a more robust online presence for Mary Queen of Peace through a new parish website and other social media platforms and explore a possible partnership with “Formed.org” or “Word on Fire” to establish online faith formation resources. Explore having youth volunteers assist with social media for the parish.

Service and Outreach
• Strengthen the already existing St. Vincent de Paul chapter by working to more effectively educate parishioners as to St. Vincent de Paul’s role and presence in the parish, attracting new volunteers and discussing possible improvements of the St. Vincent de Paul facility on the parish property.

 

Saint Michael

Louisville

Family Life
• Expand St. Michael’s new parishioner ministry in response to the overwhelming growth of the parish by reviewing how new members are welcomed, exploring an ambassador/mentor program to foster the connection of new members, listing new members in the bulletin and involving new members in upcoming new member meetings as a way of reconnecting.
• Create a social committee to offer non-fundraising opportunities that would promote intergenerational connections through events such as ice cream socials, anniversary dinners, spaghetti dinners or music festivals.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Continue to build and strengthen an Adult Formation Committee by surveying the parish to determine needs and learning styles, determining how best to disseminate information, exploring how to plug into groups that are already active and exploring a subscription to “Formed.org” as a way of providing faith formation and videos.
• Empower parents to teach their faith at home by exploring how parents can incorporate rituals at home, leveraging liturgical celebrations to open dialogue in the home, continuing to utilize articles in the weekly bulletin and pulpit announcements.

Service and Outreach
• Identify collections and activities that can be done jointly between school and parish by having the Stewardship Committee and Parent Teacher Organization work together to identify two projects over the next year that the parish and school can do together.
• Develop better communication between organizations and parishioners about all of the service activities and collections that take place at the parish through consideration of a stewardship fair and through a “Did you Know?” section in the bulletin that celebrates accomplishments, stresses needs and promotes upcoming events. The same activity or group highlighted in the bulletin can speak at all the Masses and be available in the donut room after Mass to share more information.

 

Saint Monica

Bardstown

Family Life
• Provide opportunity for youth.
• Recognize family milestones, i.e. birthdays, anniversaries and graduations.
• Encourage families to participate in the ministries of the Mass and invite families back.
• Create a social media committee.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Create more opportunities for Bible studies, retreats, adult education and formation and missions at Saint Monica’s facilities.

Service and Outreach
• Explore expanding service opportunities such as Room in the Inn, jail ministry, AA ministry.
• Minister to the sick and shut-ins through home visits.
• Hold a tent revival and invite the community around the parish.

 

Most Blessed Sacrament

Louisville

Family Life
• Formalize a process for recognizing birthdays, anniversaries and other life events for the parish community as well as recognizing other life events such as births or anniversaries before Masses.
• Create a formal system to better identify the needs and allocate available resources in ministering to homebound parishioners. This effort will include identifying homebound; offering training to ministers to provide pastoral care to the homebound in addition to the Eucharist; and delivery of parish bulletins and other items that will keep those who are homebound connected to the parish.
• Create a new “Welcome Packet” for new parishioners and families.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Recruit and revitalize the religious education program to better address the growing needs by identifying and inviting catechists who would gradually take larger responsibilities in the religious education program.
• Schedule annual parish mission events by utilizing invitations from the pastor and expanding marketing both within the parish and within the community through “The Record.” Lent is an ideal time, and Operation Rice Bowl can be incorporated into the parish mission.

Service and Outreach
• Create a local multi-church community-oriented event with other local denominations in the area, such as a health fair or choir event with youth involvement as a norm.
• Expand the “Monthly Donation Sundays” to include gift cards that can be used to help the needy who come to the parish for help. The expanded monthly donation would be scheduled and promoted in advance, and special local charities would be featured in the monthly rotation.

 

Our Lady of Fatima

Phillipsburg

Family Life
• Enhance and add an additional focus on the Rosary that is held the 13th of each month by adding a Rosary.
• Re-establish the “Family Homecoming” to bring families back to the community with a potluck meal in coordination with the parish office staff.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Enhance the parish adult formation by creating a guest speaker series with the theme of “Mary.”
• Provide resources and opportunities for parishioners to learn more about the Catholic faith by providing handouts, bulletin articles and resources about the Catholic faith and by scheduling a question and answer session with the pastor or a special speaker.

Service and Outreach
• Schedule parish members to volunteer at the St. Vincent de Paul Mission Store one day a week for half a day. Develop a list of volunteers available to provide this volunteer service and coordinate with the C&S Mission Store to finalize volunteer arrangements.
• Enhance the outreach to sick and homebound from the parish and community by expanding the current visitations to the sick for Communion to include regular visitations to other homebound individuals in the hospital, nursing homes and in the community.

 

Our Lady of Mercy

Hodgenville

Family Life
• Provide more opportunities to increase youth fellowship and involvement in the parish and pursue a closer relationship with Saint Ann Parish by offering involvement in joint activities, especially youth activities.
• Increase opportunities for more parish family celebrations (such as potlucks, prayer breakfasts, etc.) by reinstituting monthly potluck dinners and other fellowship gatherings to strengthen unity within the parish family.
• Implement an enhanced and multi-faceted communication strategy/plan to bring the parish family closer together and establish a parish Hospitality Committee to reach out to new parishioners, visitors, the sick, elderly and homebound.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Provide more educational and spiritual opportunities for all parishioners, from youth to elderly, by establishing a parish Education and Formation Committee to provide leadership, focus and energy for new initiatives and by planning, organizing and conducting a spiritual mission to energize parish commitment and growth.
• Re-establish the parish Vacation Bible Study (VBS) program to strengthen the parish internally and enhance community relationships with other local churches.
• Establish a consistent schedule for prayer and spiritual opportunities such as devotions, Adoration, the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, etc.

Service and Outreach
• Provide increased service and outreach opportunities, both internal and external to the parish, by establishing a Service and Outreach Committee to identify opportunities to assist parishioners and members of the community in need, as well as internal parish needs such as building and grounds.
• Increase responsiveness to parishioner needs by establishing a program for better outreach to sick members of the parish and those parishioners in need.
• Upgrade the parish communication process and equipment to ensure requests for assistance are addressed in a timely and effective manner.
• Review and update the parish mission statement to reflect commitment to focus areas derived from the discernment process.

 

Our Lady of

Perpetual Help

Campbellsville

Family Life
• Build a community that is facilitated and enhanced by the Church and extended into the home for a solid foundation of the family. This can be accomplished through cooperation between the Service/Social Concerns Committee and the Worship Committee to form a subcommittee to discuss ideas and plan events that will bring parish families together to celebrate special days in the Catholic faith, e.g. feast days, etc.
• Draw parish families closer together in ways that will minister to specific focus groups with activities and/or liturgies that are faith-related and fellowship-oriented. Special groups will be formed to allow for improvement of ministries offered to youth, young adults, women and men’s prayer group.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Establish and plan specific faith-based educational programs and events for parishioners based on Catholic teachings or topics of current interest related to a deeper understandings of the Catholic faith in everyday life situations.
• Enrich understanding of the history, tradition and doctrine of the Catholic Church by planning a pilgrimage to a holy site at least once a year.

Service and Outreach
• Involve parishioners in service and outreach opportunities allowing for active volunteerism in community ministries. Volunteer opportunities in the community will be clearly communicated to parishioners by improving communication methods with better tools such as social media, newsletters, bulletin handouts and other sources.

 

Our Lady of the Hills

Finley

Family Life
• Strengthen family and youth participation and involvement in the parish and community by enhancing the established Bible study potluck night, focusing more on families and youth.
• Build up our parish families and youth with social family nights, including potlucks scheduled at least twice per year in conjunction with spiritual activities.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Enrich children and adults about the teachings of the Catholic faith by strengthening the religious education program and incorporating more structured textbooks and materials.
• Increase the knowledge and interest of parish members about the teachings of the Catholic faith by reintroducing “Formed.org” for use by teachers, parents and parishioners and by developing parish and family retreats, including question and answer evenings with the pastor or a special speaker twice per year.
• Offer sessions to those interested in learning more about the Catholic faith through RCIA by promoting classes for RCIA during the upcoming term and arranging for a trained leader for the classes.

Service and Outreach
• Broaden outreach to the sick, homebound and needy and be more visible to the community with visits at least twice per year, including asking parishioners to donate items and inviting children in religious education program to make gifts and cards. Children and adults will cooperate in visits and the delivery of items, both to homebound parishioners and those in the broader community.
• Help parishioners discover the many needs and ways they can share love, kindness and talents with the parish and community by making regular announcements in the bulletin and from the altar about the needs of the parish and the community.

 

Saint Raphael

the Archangel

Louisville

Family Life
• Welcome and engage all new parishioners by expanding and strengthening the Welcome Committee for new parishioners and families to include new parishioner gatherings, a welcome to new members in the bulletin and through mentor family relationships.
• Create cohesiveness across all generations to further grow and develop the Catholic faith by offering worship, formation and service opportunities.
• Communicate the many social, formation and worship opportunities in the parish community by developing a parish communications plan that will outline all methods of communication used in the parish and school in order to serve members of all generations.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Develop opportunities to recognize those celebrating sacraments in the community by establishing opportunities to recognize and publicly highlight those who have celebrated sacraments.
• Share the homilies and the catechesis of the homilies with the greater community by recording and posting weekend homilies.
• Create an adult formation team incorporating adults of all ages to offer faith formation opportunities and to provide direction within the parish.

Service and Outreach
• Create and nurture ways within the parish community to serve fellow suffering and marginalized parishioners through a ministry that will connect sick and shut-in parishioners that are unable to be present in the parish community.
• Serve the greater Louisville community by exploring the development of an onsite outreach center to offer food, clothing, food items, etc. and by collaborating with established and local advocacy groups that promote justice, mercy and compassion.

 

Sacred Heart

Liberty

Family Life
• Provide communication to encourage support, assistance, prayers and Mass intentions when needed for parishioners and their families during times of stressful situations, illness, tragedy or the loss of loved ones.
• Enhance and promote visibility, communication and the mission of Sacred Heart Church in the community, increase efforts and hospitality to welcome new members, reach out to those no longer connected to the parish and provide Communion to parishioners who are homebound or in nursing home care.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Continue to encourage and invite participation in Bible study, Holy Readers and religious education programs, as well as parish stewardship.
• Continue to offer and schedule faith and spiritual enrichment programs or events for the parish and community fellowship, participation, unity, fellowship and socialization.

Service and Outreach
• Expand and coordinate efforts in projects or events with participation in the Community Ecumenical Council of Churches that benefit those in need in the community.
• Identify and discuss participation in a service project that addresses needs in another country, i.e. adopt a parish in Uganda.
• Increase social media exposure, especially on the parish Facebook page.
• Hold Ladies Guild food collections and donate to the annual Christmas auction to benefit children in the community.

 

Saints Simon and Jude

Louisville

Family Life
• Create a formal system to better identify the needs and allocate available resources in ministering to homebound parishioners. This effort will include identifying homebound; offering training to ministers to provide pastoral care to the homebound in addition to the Eucharist; and delivery of parish bulletins and other items that will keep those who are homebound connected to the parish.
• Establish and maintain a youth group to cover all ages by promoting and creating existing parish events with the youth in mind, e.g. donut Sundays or service programs with Hazelwood hospital.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Revitalize religious education program to better address the growing need in conjunction with the efforts of clustered partner Most Blessed Sacrament by gradually recruiting more catechists to teach in the religious education program.
• Create a faith-sharing event series of watching and studying various “Word on Fire” DVDs from Bishop Robert Barron.

Service and Outreach
• Host a new/newly revamped parish event around Halloween as a “Chili-Cook-Off,” which would be advertised and promoted throughout the local community and would include concessions, crafts and participation by the Cloverleaf Fire Department as judges. Fees for the chili competition would benefit the parish.

 

Saint Stephen Martyr

Louisville (Wave 2)

Family Life
• Hold a Parish Life Showcase by coordinating a team and person responsible to help gather those who are responsible for ministries in the parish at a showcase. Will consider having this after the 10:30 a.m. Mass so that more parishioners attend.
• Identify a Parish Life Coordinator who will assist with managing ground and usable space available for activities and events. Create a job description and consider utilizing an intern in combination with a coordinator.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Identify and hire a part-time to eventually full-time youth minister.
• Pursue the certification of spiritual development leaders at the parish.
• Survey parishioners and work with current parish ministers to create opportunities for spiritual development.

Service and Outreach
• Host a Farmer’s Market at the parish after reaching out to parishioners to lead this effort and possibly sharing with surrounding neighborhood churches.
• Create a communication coordinator/team to oversee the parish website, including both the church and school websites.

 

Saint Teresa of Calcutta

Louisville (Wave 2)

Family Life
• Establish “Befriender Teams” to look in on isolated parish members.
• Coordinate rides to church for those who are less able to drive.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Schedule monthly talks by the pastor on a theological topic.
• Improve communications by using Facebook for bulletins, schedules, notices and recorded homilies.
• Continue annual “Training Mass” and Maronite Rite Mass.

Service and Outreach
• Continue softball league blessings and open gym nights and add a game night for youth.
• Hold two mini-retreats for women with high tea in October and Lent.
• Continue All Souls Day, Mardi Gras and May crowning events and invite young adults for Ash Wednesday Mass with soup and bread event following the Mass.

 

Saint Theresa of Avila

Rhodelia

Family Life
• Invite participation of younger generation to become involved in Mass parts that allow them to participate without being confirmed, such as an altar server, usher or music minister in order to sustain participation and attendance in the parish on a long-term scale.
• Send a survey out to parishioners about switching the Tuesday morning Mass to an evening Mass to generate more participation in the weekday Masses.
• Revamp the card ministry, which focuses on sending sick and homebound parishioners cards during times of sickness or loss of loved ones. Broaden this program to send cards to new parishioners/families to help welcome them into the parish and community.
• Implement a parish-wide group MeApp and create a parish Facebook page to address communication needs in all of these areas and to send out reminders about current events and other information in order to increase participation.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Focus on building a strong foundation for the youth ministry program by helping the Director of Religious Education re-establish the youth ministry program and by recruiting a core team of adults to assist with youth ministry.
• Continue efforts to spread God’s word through education of the rich Catholic faith.

Service and Outreach
• Focus on ministry to elderly parishioners by offering a bi-monthly social to benefit all parishioners but more specifically the elderly population, since opportunities for elderly parishioners to come together in this rural community are few. The hope is that this effort will energize and bring hope to a very important part of the parish.
• Focus on parish’s shut-in ministry by visiting the homebound three to four times a year and offer not only company but also assistance with tasks around their homes. The hope is to incorporate a core group of adults and youth ministry participants to bring hope, love and a ray of light in an often-forgotten population in the parish.
• Focus on married couples, with or without children, and young families in order to establish a strong foundation for the future of the parish.

 

Saint Thomas

Bardstown

Family Life
• Bring excitement and fervor to parish family ministry and seek to get more people involved. This can be accomplished by creating a Family Life Coordinator/Committee to plan and organize family support events throughout the year; designating “Welcome Wagon Ambassadors” to reach out to new parishioners and coordinating “meet and greet” sessions to connect them with current parishioners; and holding more family fellowship activities (ball games, ice cream socials, potlucks) to build community among parishioners.
• Reach out to young adults and engage them more fully in parish activities.
• Create counseling opportunities to address challenges during various stages of life, such as grieving the loss of a loved one, dealing with marriage issues and facing addiction by creating support groups to assist with life’s challenges that engage trained or outsourced counselors to support and guide.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Enhance knowledge of Catholic traditions and rituals, seeking to learn “why we do what we do,” by developing a resource base to explain Roman Catholic rituals and traditions and integrating “teaching moments” into the regular Sunday experience, i.e. a post-Mass “Did you know? – Fast 15 Nugget of the Week.”
• Expand our programming in adult faith formation and make programs convenient so more parishioners will participate by selecting highly rated video bible studies and brainstorming ways to engage parishioners and offer the studies at the most convenient times, while providing childcare to eliminate barriers to participation.
• Seek ways to teach kids with energy and enthusiasm, resulting in more excitement regarding the faith by training catechists on latest technology and techniques to make classes both entertaining and interactive.
• Develop one to two annual parish missions/themed learning sessions by surveying parishioners to determine interest and coordinating with Saint Monica to promote and increase participation.

Service and Outreach
• Celebrate existing service and outreach ministries to encourage more parishioner participation by holding an annual ministry fair to showcase efforts and recruit volunteers and by developing a process for social ministries to feature highlights and photos of good work and celebrate and promote this information in the parish and on social media.
• Ensure there are service opportunities to allow families, youth and young adults to put their faith into action by creating a volunteer committee/volunteer coordinator to build a calendar of social outreach events and making sure that there are efforts that appeal to all pages. Add new service opportunities as necessary and publicize this calendar.
• Meet with Saint Monica Parish to coordinate efforts and explore working together on various ministries.

 

Saint William

Louisville

Family Life
• Conduct a colloquium entitled “Parenting Children Faithfully,” for parents with children of all ages in the parish where wisdom, best practices and challenges will be shared about how to parent children faithfully in this age and time in the Church.
• Plan and develop a series of family-centered potlucks to build and deepen community.

Education and Lifelong Formation
• Host a “Faithful Discipleship” weekend with Father Anthony Gittins, CSSp on the challenges and courage required to live out the faith. Includes an evening of dialogue, one-day parish retreat, professional development with staff and preaching at Sunday liturgy.
• Conduct “Exploring Migration,” an 8-week JustFaith Ministry module on the Church’s response to the immigration challenges.

Service and Outreach
• Work with Operation Brightside to engage in a quarterly neighborhood clean-up from Ninth to 15th streets on the Oak Street corridor.
• Hold Diersen Monthly Birthday Parties, which are monthly birthday celebrations for incarcerated women in a recovery program at the Diersen Center.
• Provide regular support, friendship and accompaniment to a single immigrant mother and her family as they make their way in this country.
• Conduct “The Last Straw,” an educational effort to encourage parishioners to eliminate single-use plastic straws by providing stainless steel straws to use and share.