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Century II Project
- Our Needs -
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Adult Enrichment programs need meeting, library space
By Carol Jensen
Interparish Adult Enrichment
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April 2004
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I have scheduled Adult and Young Adult activities for St. Mary and St. Joseph Parishes for seven years. From the beginning, scheduling was a struggle. Many groups wanted to use the same room at the same time. At St. Mary’s, the Community Room is always in demand because it is handicapped accessible and the other meeting rooms in the Parish Center are not. Although the Community Room has good acoustics, it is limited to less than 100 people. Often you will find people walking through the room in the middle of a talk because it is the only direct link between the parish center and church.
The Parish Library in the Cana Corner is one of our best kept secrets. Its location usually makes it unavailable for browsing on weekends. Many folks are not aware that we have books, videos, DVDs and tapes to offer.
A variety of meeting rooms, meeting spaces able to handle larger groups, handicapped accessibility for all rooms and easy access to our parish library will enable St. Mary to offer a broader selection of adult and young adult enrichment programs. It also will assure that everyone can take part.
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Meeting, work space top needs for Human Concerns
By Sue Rogers
on behalf of the Human Concerns Committee
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April 2004
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The Human Concerns Committee – with nearly 20 members – organizes projects such as BAG Weekend, the Needs Tree at Christmas, Christmas cards to shut-ins, the Easter basket project with the 7th & 8th grade IPRF students and Easter cards to parishioners who have lost a loved one since November.
With an average of 15 people at our meetings, and projects that require work space, we often have trouble getting a meeting room that can accommodate all of us and our supplies. We also spend considerable time and energy moving things. The Needs Tree at Christmas is a perfect example. With the help of parishioners, we collect more than 600 gifts. All the gifts are moved to the Boy Scout Room in the church basement for sorting. Once sorted and bagged, volunteers carry them back upstairs to be delivered. Because the Church and Community Room are typically being used for the Advent Reconciliation service, families pick up their gifts in the garage during a two-hour period.
Storage is important because we must store our Christmas trees and because we collect project items throughout the year. Some of these are quite bulky.
What would be ideal for the Human Concerns Committee is more storage and a room near the storage area large enough to accommodate our meetings and our projects, particularly our sorting and distributing of gifts.
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Larger hall unites St. Mary parish family
By Terry Grosek
On behalf of the Ladies of St. Mary's
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April 2004
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For the Ladies of St. Mary’s, the most significant change with a new parish center would be that we would be able to accommodate a typical parish gathering -- more than 200 people seated at tables -- at the same time, in the same room. All of our future Holy Thursday Parish Potlucks could be in one room, allowing us to join as one parish family.
A larger room would allow space enough to host some events that we have postponed; for example, a rummage sale, which is requested every year. We would be able to host more funeral dinners and wakes which is less stressful and more hospitable for parish families.
There would be no more whispering, so as not to disturb those attending Mass in the Cana Corner or a meeting in the Fireside Room because the fellowship hall would no longer be a "hallway" to other places. And there will be no need to clear a safe path for someone carrying a warming pan with hot food upstairs from the St. Ann Room through a crowded community room to the kitchen.
With a new facility, we will benefit from a well-equipped and efficiently planned kitchen with commercial appliances - including a dishwasher - that will allow us to accommodate larger groups more easily. It will also be a more secure feeling, knowing we can plug in all the necessary coffeemakers, Nescoe roasters, and electric frying pans we use for an event and not worry about blowing a fuse or two. Plenty of counter area, a center work station and as much storage as possible, in or near the kitchen, is another dream of ours. Even if some supplies or equipment must be stored in the basement, an elevator will make the job of setting up and putting away, a lot quicker, easier and safer.
This project will be a big change - a change for the better.
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Parish survey says:
Upgrade our facilities
By Liz Lonergan
President
Parish Pastoral Council
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April 2004
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Last fall the St. Mary Parish Council undertook a survey to ensure that our parishioners’ needs were being met.
On one weekend in September, we asked you to describe two or three things that you like/appreciate about St. Mary. Two weekends later we asked you to describe two or three things that could be improved at St. Mary. The answers were compiled and the results were published in a report that was made available in November.
Once again you demonstrated your deep concern for St. Mary Parish by the large number of responses submitted. There were 579 positive comment cards and 450 suggested improvement cards. While the responses were as diverse as our parish population, one thing stood out: To meet the present and future needs of our parish, we must expand our facilities.
Some of the suggested improvements with the largest number of responses included: more parking (including handicap parking), better handicap accessibility, a larger community room, more worship space, an elevator, improved overflow/cry room worship space.
There were a few who said that there was no need for an expansion project - seven to be precise. A few more expressed concern about incurring debt, and your Parish and Finance Councils are in full agreement with you. Still we cannot ignore the fact that the single largest area of concern brought up in the survey focused on the need to improve our facilities.
A few people have asked: "Can we really afford to do this?" I have always maintained that there is truly something "special" about our parish. While some parishes have one or two donors that cover the cost of a large portion of the project, we have a Parish Family that is committed and willing to make sacrifices for the future of St. Mary.
After hearing from you in the Fall 2003 Parish Council Survey, I can only say that we cannot afford not to move ahead with this project.
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St. Mary Parish and Parish Center go hand-in-hand
By Sister Joanne Goessl, OSF
Pastoral Associate
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March 2004
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I had an insight! It came as a woman leaving our Town Hall meeting in January stopped to talk to me. She had concerns about building a Parish Center at St. Mary when the issue of a priest shortage is already upon us. Suddenly it came clear to me: being Catholic happens both in our church building and our Parish Center. The Parish Center is integral to our being a Catholic Community. The Church and the Parish Center cannot exist without one another. If, in the future we experience a priest shortage, we will always be a Catholic Community needing to nurture our faith, do outreach and pray together.
I shared with her that before a baby is baptized in our Church, we work with the parents through the details of the Baptism and the actual Baptism preparation class. This all happens in the Parish Center. As the child grows, the parish takes its responsibility in sharing the faith. Teacher training and classes take place in the Parish Center. Meetings are held there for parents and students of our day and night school students in preparation for the Sacraments of Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation. Our adults meet there for many opportunities to grow in faith through Adult Formation programs offered during the year.
Before a wedding happens in church, couples are involved in preparation. Much of this happens in the Parish Center. Our Adult Education programs convene there all year. Our Adult Confirmation classes need space as they prepare for the Sacrament. Prior to the RCIA rituals we see in church throughout the year, a group of approximately 20 people have used the Parish Center each Sunday for eight months.
When we gather for a funeral liturgy in church, we typically have cared for the person and their family prior to the funeral. Our Parish Health Ministers may know the individual because of monthly blood pressure and medicine checks or have had contact with the family in their home, perhaps providing respite care. Family members may have participated in one of the health-related programs scheduled throughout the year in the Parish Center. Before we can celebrate the funeral liturgy, family members have come to the Parish Center to share in the planning.
St. Mary is known for our welcoming community spirit initially felt when people join us for weekend Masses. They soon learn that what feeds into this spirit is being known, belonging, and contributing to a common goal. Much of this happens likewise in our Parish Center. Human Concerns rallies us to support projects for the needy. Early on children think of coffee and donuts as an extension of Mass. How important it is for us to have chili suppers, bake sales, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament and many other socials to build us into a community that comes together to celebrate in Liturgy and Sacraments in our beautiful church.
Clearly, our being a Catholic faith Community is strengthened over and over again in the activities that happen in a Parish Center. Years ago the old Columbia Hall was that gathering place. Again we are heading for a new Parish Center because we have grown in size, outreach, faith development opportunities and social events. How true it is that our church and Parish Center cannot exist without one another - whatever the future holds for us.
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