“The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad indeed.” – Psalm 126: 3
As the ten week parish evaluation phase of Faith in Our Future draws to a close, the psalm appointed for the coming Sunday is spot on. We can see that the Lord has done great things for us in the Diocese of Trenton!
We can see how God has poured out his blessings upon us in the form of active parishioners, and dedicated clergy, religious and parish staff. We can see that the Lord has inspired hundreds of hours of ministry and millions of dollars of charitable assistance. Many lives have been touched. All of these, and so much more, speak to us of God’s goodness, and we are glad indeed.
Our assessments also remind us that there are areas in which we fall short. Change is upon us; and the need to speak the Good News of God’s love in Christ to a broken world is even more urgent. Do not be anxious or fearful about what the future brings. Instead, we must take this moment to rejoice and be glad, O Church, for we know that we are not alone in these efforts. The Lord will guide us; He will renew our strength
Thank you for all your hard work during the parish evaluation phase of Faith in Our Future. All Core Teams are expected to complete their parish evaluation process by March 14th and finalize four report forms. The first three forms can be found on “Faith in our Future” online manual at the diocesan website:
At the training session for your Cohort, core team secretaries should bring printed copies of the Parish Summary Report and the Data Verification Form for all members in your cohort (e.g. if there are 4 parishes in your cohort you should have 20 copies of the these reports that evening to share with all members of your cohort).
Parish core team secretaries should plan to send their Parish Evaluation Reports electronically to their fellow cohort core team members, and the “Faith in Our Future” office at the diocese, one or two days after the training meeting.
At the training sessions March 15-16, cohort core teams will be provided contact information for everyone in their cohort to make communication easier.
As one last reminder, the cohort training sessions will be held at the following sites:
Wednesday Evening, March 16, 2016 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Saint Isaac Jogues Parish Center, Evesham, NJ
Tuesday Evening, March 15, 2016 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Saint David the King—The Great Hall, West Windsor, NJ
Tuesday Evening, March 15, 2016 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Saint Mary’s Parish Center, Colts Neck, NJ
Wednesday Evening, March 16, 2016 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at Saint Mary’s Parish Center, Colts Neck, NJ
Tuesday Evening, March 15, 2016 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. at St. Luke’s Parish Center, Toms River, NJ
Please remember to bring your “Faith in Our Future” Planning Guide to the Cohort Session.
The purposes of the cohort training sessions on March 15th & 16th are as follows:
You are asked to sit with the other members of your cohort next week.
Who are the members of the Diocesan Planning Commission?
The twenty members of the newly established Diocesan Planning Commission are priests, deacons, women religious, lay men and women from all four counties of the diocese who have been identified because of their experience in the parish, school and ministry setting, as well as their professional expertise. Each was specifically invited to serve by Bishop O’Connell in order that the Diocese might assemble a group with a wide variety of church, education, and business perspectives. The group will meet several times for formation before they begin their work.
What is the role of the Diocesan Planning Commission?
They will review the suggestions that come from the cohorts in June in light of the goals of the Faith in the Future process, and return preliminary recommendations to the cohorts with a rationale. After the cohorts have taken a few weeks for further study and comment, the Diocesan Planning Commission will meet again in October to review the cohort responses and bring together a set of final recommendations for the Bishop to consider.
Msgr. Leonard Troiano, [email protected]
1-609-403-7159
Sherrie Sporek, [email protected]
1-609-403-7193
FAX: 1-609-406-7413
MAILING ADDRESS:
Faith in Our Future,
Diocese of Trenton
701 Lawrenceville Road
Trenton, NJ 08648
Tom Reid, [email protected], 1-206-947-2990
Monmouth County Consultant
John Reid, [email protected], 1-206-947-1055
Mercer County & Bi-Lingual Consultants
Karen Castellon, [email protected], 1-908-240-9941
Cleo Molina, [email protected], 1-206-383-2536