Over the last month, you’ve been hearing a little about this “Journey in Faith” Initiative.  In my July 6 Bulletin Column, I spoke a bit about what this initiative entails.  But there are now next steps to more fully inform you about this AND to seek your feedback.

1) September Meetings (Information Sessions).  First, in September Archdiocese will be putting on regional “Information Session” Meetings to more fully inform you, the Parishioner, about what is entailed in this process.  There are various options around the Archdiocese, but these are the ones in our “area”

Thurs. Sept. 25 – Mason City (Holy Family) – 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Sat. Sept. 27 – Mason City (Holy Family) –  9:00am – 12:00pm

Mon. Sept. 29 – Iowa Falls (St. Mark’s) – 6:00pm – 9:00pm

The meetings that will be in SPANISH are

Wed. Sept. 17 – Waterloo (Blessed Sacrament) – 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Sun. Sept. 21 – Marshalltown (St. Henry) – 1:00pm – 4:00pm

All parishioners are encouraged to attend one of these meetings.

Why should I attend?

Attending these meetings will give you background about the challenges we face and the opportunities we have to be honest, courageous, faithful, and hopeful. Your ideas about how we can have vibrant and sustainable parishes focused on evangelization for the next 25+ years is very important as future plans are developed. While these September meetings are information focused, they set the stage for parishioners to provide thoughtful verbal feedback at local parish input sessions in October and November and written feedback via the Journey in Faith website.

What will be the focus of these informational sessions?

Participants will learn more about:

• Rationale, process, and timeline for Journey in Faith
• Importance of prayer and synodal listening in this process
• Proposed pastorate models as possible new groupings of parishes for the future
• Ways to listen, learn, ask questions and provide insights throughout the process including engaging in your parish’s October and November local meetings and providing written feedback via the Journey in Faith website

2) October & November – Once in October and once in November, each parish (St. Mary’s and St. Patrick’s), will have their own local meeting to discuss more about this process as a parish.  These meetings will be facilitated by our “Journey in Faith Parish Team.”  Who is our Journey in Faith Parish Team?

Our Journey of Faith Parish Team for St. Mary’s in Ackley is:

Jeff Frazier, Janet Deberg, Doug Lindaman, and Scott O’Brien.

Our Journey of Faith Parish Team for St. Patrick’s in Hampton is:

Jim Davies, Leon Kuehner, Denielle Conlon, Brenda Diosdado and Soiree Lara. 

They will help facilitate discussions at the local parish level in October and November.  You will hear more specifics about October and November dates when we are closer to them!

Please keep watching the bulletin for more information to come on this!

Peace,

-Fr. Kevin