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Renew My
Church
Archdiocese of Chicago
August, 7, 2022
Time to talk
about our Unification
We will
be having several information meetings
to explain and discuss the unification
process for Ascension and St. Edmund
parish. While the new combined parish
offers exciting possibilities, it is
also difficult to let go of the parishes
that we have held dear for generations.
The meetings will give parishioners an
opportunity to share their concerns,
their hopes, and their dreams for the
future. There are endless possibilities
for what we can become as we move
forward to strengthen our church for
future generations. We are making
history. Several meetings are planned in
September:
Ministries Meeting, September 7 at 7pm in the Pine Room on the
Ascension campus.
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This
first meeting is intended for the
leaders of the parish who are active
in our various ministries and
commissions. We will provide an
overview of the process of
unification, review the current
status of ministries and
commissions, and open discussions
for future possibilities so that we
can continue to meet the needs of
our evolving parish.
All Parishioner Meetings Thursday, September 15 at 7pm in the church
at St. Edmund campus
and Sunday,
September 18 at 1:00pm in the Pine Room
at the Ascension campus.
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These
meetings are being scheduled both
during the week and on a Sunday to
accommodate as many parishioners’
schedules as possible. The intent of
these meetings will be to provide an
overview of the process of
unification to date, identify
immediate needs, and discuss the
anticipated process going forward.
These meetings will include brief
presentations followed by small
group discussions. Questions,
concerns, and hopes of parishioners
will be shared.
June 26,
2022
May 8, 2022
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February, 2022
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Renew My Church—What’s Next?
Join us Virtually or In Person on
Tuesday, March 8th to Find Out
Dear
Community Members,
You are invited to a special meeting
on March the 8th at 7 PM in Saint Giles McDonough
Hall or to participate in the meeting on line via a
Zoom
link. The purpose of this gathering
is to share information and help understand our
continuing Renew My Church Process. We will learn
more about how this journey is both Spiritual –
reencountering Jesus Christ as disciples and parish
communities – as well as Structural – ensuring our
parishes have adequate resources for vitality. We
will learn more about this current phase,
Organization Transition, which will move us into the
third phase: Building Our New Reality. There will be
one meeting for all four parishes as we are unified
into two new parish realities. Please plan now to
join us for this informative meeting, Tuesday, March
8th at 7 PM. Please note Please note that the
Zoom
link will be available in an upcoming
bulletin.
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January 28, 2022
Important Renew My Church
Information for Parishioners
Dear Parishioners,
We are pleased that Bishop Kevin Birmingham, our
regional bishop and Cardinal Cupich’s representative
to our region of the archdiocese, will be with us on
Friday, January 28, at 8:00pm, to join us in prayer
and share an important update on the future of our
parishes. This will be held online. Please go to
www.renewmychurch.org/announcements
for details about how to access the meeting from
your computer or smartphone.
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December 5,
2021
November 21,
2020
September 22, 2021
Dear St. Edmund Members,
We invite you to lend your voices and
efforts to the possible ways in which our communities are being called
to the Renew My Church process (RMC). Renewal requires
envisioning, planning and creating new ways to bring Jesus Christ to
others. To the end, below are some offered scenarios showing potential
models of how our parishes could be configured in the near future. These
scenarios are being shared with you for your review and were discussed
at meetings scheduled for each parish community October 3rd or
October 4th Please consult your parish website or bulletin for the time
and location of your parish community’s meeting. Please know NO
DECISIONS HAVE BEEN MADE. Also, these scenarios do not affect parish
schools.
We hope you take the time to read
through the scenarios, consider them and what might be the best
structure that enables us to breathe renewed life into our efforts to
make disciples, to build our communities and to inspire witness to who
we are as followers of Jesus Christ. Please send you comments and
recommendations to
stedmundrmc@gmail.com
Fr. John McGivern
Pastor, St. Edmund Church
Administrator, St Catherine/St. Lucy
Parish
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July 18, 2021
Renew My Church Update
The Renew My
Church parish grouping process has begun. An important initial step is a
discovery process as members of each of the 4 Oak Park parishes
(Ascension, St. Catherine/St. Lucy, St. Edmund, and St. Giles) make
formal visits to the other parishes to learn more about each worshipping
community. St. Edmund will be hosting two visits – one after the 11am
mass on Sunday, July 25 and another on the evening of July 27.
Parishioners
are invited to prayerfully consider what our particular parish strengths
are in order that we may share them with the grouping “teams” from the
other parishes during these meetings. Feel free to discuss your thoughts
with any member of the parish grouping team (Don Giannetti, Thomas
Mackey, John Martin, Denise Walsh, and Tom Wheeler). You may also share
any suggestions with John Martin via email at
jmartin@sfgh.com
Thank you.
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June 10, 2021
Parish Renew My Church Grouping Begins to Meet
Dear St. Edmund
Parishioners,
The heart of our
Renew My Church effort is the parish grouping process—the goal of which is to
ensure that all parishes across the archdiocese have the vision, leadership,
resources, and operational foundation necessary to create an effective culture
of evangelization that makes disciples, builds communities, and inspires
witness.
Changing church
attendance patterns over many decades has left many parishes heavily burdened by
operational and financial concerns that limit their ability to have expansive
ministry programs around evangelization and discipleship formation. A decreasing
number of priests available to serve at parishes creates a need to rethink our
leadership model to include a stronger lay leadership core team with proper
governance structures for accountability. There is a need to ensure that we have
a common understanding of proven evangelization programs and processes that are
rooted in Catholic teaching.
All 344 parishes in
the diocese have been joined into 98 groupings. Within these groupings, parishes
will determine opportunities for collaboration and unity following a structured
process for discernment, transition, and building a future together.
Many of today’s
challenges require looking and working beyond our individual parish. The only
way to make sustainable change in our communities is to work together in new and
bold ways. Groupings are called to greater collaboration to take on these
challenges with bold vision.
Our grouping
consists of the 4 Oak Park parishes. Grouping parishes together allows for
local-level ownership and planning to take place and ensures that local feedback
is present within the process of renewal. Grouping allows for assessment of new
parish models. Additionally, parish groupings help strengthen relationships
between parishes, provide a better evaluation of the current realities within
their community, make for a clearer discernment of what configuration would be
best for their community, and more effectively identify what they each have to
share and what the spiritual renewal in their community will look like.
A set of parishes is
considered a good grouping if they: are reasonably close geographically. serve
the same broader community (e.g. the parishes serve the same public-school
district). have obvious commonalities and affinities (e.g. parishioners
occasionally attend mass at more than one parish in the grouping).
Here at St. Edmund
Parish, after much consultation and consideration, the 5 members of our parish
grouping are: Don Giannetti, Thomas Mackey, John Martin, Denise Walsh and Tom
Wheeler. Don Giannetti is the parish Pastoral Staff Member on the group and all
5 of the individuals have demonstrated leadership and wisdom in a variety of
ways in the parish.
The first meeting
took place on Tuesday, June 8th. There will be several gatherings throughout the
course of the next several months. Our goal is to create a few scenarios for
what the new Catholic footprint will be in the Oak Park area. Once submitted,
Cardinal Cupich will make the final determination as to what changes will
actually be made.
I will continue to
update you with information when it is made available. Please pray for the
success of these proceedings and that they will indeed serve to make a more
vibrant, healthy and sustainable Catholic community for everyone who currently
worships at the 4 Oak Park parishes.
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May 23, 2021
An Update on Renew My Church
A Letter from
the Priests of the Oak Park Parishes to the People We Serve in all 4 Parishes
Dear
Parishioners and Friends,
Beginning in June, the 4 Oak Park parishes, which
make up 1 grouping, will begin the process of discerning the future of
the Catholic Church in Oak Park. Change is challenging and difficult,
but when it comes to the vitality and the future of the Church we love,
we must remain open to what that future may hold.
All of the parishes are in the process of
developing a team of 5 parishioners (not including the pastor or
administrator) who will regularly gather throughout the next several
months, all with the goal of developing possible scenarios which will
help in the revitalization of the local worshiping communities. There is
a trained facilitator who will lead the groups in their discernment.
It would be inaccurate simply to understand this
process as a means by which parishes may merge, consolidate or even
close. The ultimate goal is to develop worshipping communities that are
sustainable in every way. Yes, that certainly includes financially, as
well as taking an honestlook at the health and safety of our buildings.
Even more than that, however, we must be sure that all of our
resources—be that priest personnel, parish staffs, and our lay
leadership are all being utilized in the most effective and efficient
ways, that will create even greater life-giving and vital worship
communities for all of you.
This process requires that everyone let go of a too
narrow, parochial perspective of what it means to be Church and to
embrace what a new, revitalized, Catholic footprint would look like.
This is not an easy task for anyone to accept, including us, your
priests. After much prayer and reflection, however, we have come to
believe that it is the right and necessary task. The current model of
parish life in Oak Park is not sustainable for much longer, and a new
vision is especially needed. We welcome this opportunity for us to grow,
to evolve and to change together, and we invite you to join us on this
new and important journey. We need you to accompany us on this journey
and we can not imagine embarking upon it without you.
This can be an exciting and life-giving
opportunity, but it requires that everyone set aside the “this is how it
has always been” mentality and embrace what may come. Yes, there will be
challenges and changes, and yes, the future is frightening and
uncertain, but what awaits us will be revitalizing, exciting and
sustainable for Catholics today and the new generation of Catholics who
are soon to follow.
It seems appropriate that on this occasion of
Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit filled the first disciples with hope and
strength, and set them afire to share their faith in the Lord Jesus,
that we reach out to you today. Symbolic of our desire to walk together
into a renewed, sustainable and Spirit filled Church in Oak Park,
beginning this weekend, all 4 of our parishes will begin to pray the
following petition at mass every weekend, reminding us that we are all
one faith community and that we must all grow together.
For all the Catholic parishes of Oak Park, and the
people they serve, that as we enter the Renew My
Church process, we may be open to developing new
opportunities for unity and the deepening of our
shared lives of faith, we pray…
Please
know that we pray for each of you every day. Let us always remember to
pray for one another, and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we now
embark on this holy task of renewal and revitalization of the faith
communities and people we so love.
Sincerely,
Fr. Carl Morello, Pastor, St. Giles
Parish; Administrator, Ascension Parish
Fr. Rex Pillai, Associate Pastor,
Ascension Parish
Fr. John McGivern, Pastor, St. Edmund
Parish; Administrator, St. Catherine/St. Lucy Parish
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