June 12, 2021

Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary It is a great honor to announce the formation of our new pastoral council. While IHM has had a pastoral council in the past we hope that with a renewed understanding and engagement we can grow from past experience and bring a greater and renewed sense of community and relationship within the parish in our relationship with Jesus Christ. The council will be able to assist our pastoral ministry by advising our pastor on needs of our parishioners and helping to give vision and strategy to our community of faith in light of those needs. Thank you to our Engaging Disciples Team and Parish Pastoral Council Implementation team for their time and commitment to this process. We have discovered a new sense of commitment and devotion to our parish community through this process and it is our hope that it will continue to grow through the efforts of our Parish Pastoral Council. Over the summer the members of the council will participate in several training sessions to build community and relationship within the council and to gain a clear and unified understanding of the ministry and expectations of a pastoral council and how that will function in the context of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish. In September they will be installed properly and begin their ministry proper.

It is my pleasure to introduce you to the newly re-formed Immaculate Heart of Mary Pastoral Council:

Courtney Agnello
Rick Aiere
Stephanie DeBiase
Dave Diken
Mary Jane Bergen
Geraldine Keogh
Diane McGuinness
Kathy Mitchell
Charlie Mulrooney
Jean Naugle
Christina Peeney
Steve Prato

Please keep them, their new endeavor and our parish community of Immaculate Heart of Mary in your prayers, and that, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, their ministry may bear much fruit.
Peace, Fr. Mike

April 17, 2021

A few years ago we embarked on the Engaging Disciples Initiative at Immaculate Heart of Mary. The goal of the initiative is to develop a greater sense of welcome and discipleship within our community of faith and beyond through discussions, brainstorming and ministry and event planning. In many little ways and big ways, directly and indirectly we have moved forward with this initiative. From welcoming each other before mass on Sundays to different opportunities for learning and reflection and continued development of our Faith Formation programs and ministry throughout the parish many have grown into a deeper faith and stronger relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

One of the desired outcomes of this initiative was to reestablish a pastoral council for the parish community. The ministry of a pastoral council is to assist the pastor in forming a pastoral vision for the parish community and forming a strategic plan to implement that vision. Over the past 2 years many of us have attended workshops and webinars to bring this about, and during the last 6 months we have been meeting diligently with some of the members of our Engaging Disciples team. This group has become the Parish Pastoral Council Implementation Team (PPCI).

The goal of this team, which represents a good cross section of our parish, is to recommend potential Pastoral Council members to me based upon our discussions of the needs and demographics of our parish community, to bring us to a starting point for a pastoral council to begin its ministry within our parish community.

While all of the details regarding function and process are still being developed I am happy to inform you that we are almost there. After participating in a Lenten small group discussion process and continued discussion and reflection the PPCI is now developing their list of potential candidates for our Pastoral Council. It is my hope to have this part of the process completed by the end of April and to introduce our Pastoral Council to the parish on Pentecost Sunday. They will then embark on some formation and training exercises over the summer and then begin their ministry in the Fall.

I want to thank the Engaging Disciples team and the Parish Pastoral Council Implementation team for all of their wisdom and lending their time and talent to this process. We ask all of you to continue to pray for the process that will help us continue to grow our wonderful parish community.

Peace,
Fr. Mike