Diocesan Synod
Behold for the Kingdom of God is among you Lk 17:25
During 2018-2019 Bishop Coyne convened a Diocesan Synod with the purpose to establish a pastoral plan for the immediate future of the Catholic Church in Vermont.
The Essex Catholic Community's Action Plan for theHoly Family/St. Lawrence and St. Pius X parishes focus on Evangelization, Building a Vibrant Parish and Communications (between Diocese and parishes, across parishes and among parishioners). A description of our priorities and ongoing activities follows.
Evangelization
What does it really mean to be a disciple of Christ today? According to Bishop Barron in To Light a Fire on Earth (2017), it is about drawing others into a friendship - relationship. Once you have truly found your loving relationship with Christ, you want so much for others to have that same kind of relationship with Christ. We only convince others when we understand our relationship to God and what it means to our own lives.
Evangelization is successful when we actually can bring someone back to the Eucharist, to the Mass.
Learning more about our faith is the first step in spreading the Good News of the Gospel. Our evangelization priority includes a strong focus on adult faith formation and more engagement of our youth in parish activities and liturgy.
Building a Vibrant Parish
What makes a Vibrant Parish?
Parishioners identified spiritual, social, outreach and administration issues that create a vibrant parish.
Spiritual: Praying for God’s guidance in making the right decisions at the right time; learning about successful programs parishes have introduced; contemporary music at Mass; homilies relating to our daily lives; and more roles for the laity in the Mass.
Administrative: Activate Parish Council committees; authorize laity to have leadership roles; be guided by an annual plan.
Socialization: Address all groups in the parish: single, divorced, homebound, Moms, Widows/Widowers, single parents; more community action activities like Serve our Neighbor, Essex Eats Out; more small groups sessions.
Outreach: Mentor couples (marriage) and new parents (Baptism); formal and repetitive active welcome (with Welcome Kit) to new parishioners (or visitors to Mass) as we do in our neighborhoods; seek partnerships with other faith communities in community service.
Communications
How do we improve our communications within and beyond our Parish?
Our primary message is to spread the gospel, the love God has for us and our need o share that love with our neighbors.
Other messages will include two-way communications about the liturgy, social events and religious education programs (youth and adults), volunteer opportunities, parish issues, outreach to new and returning parishioners.
Our audience is one another, the parish community and all segments of the parish: youth, parents, seniors, homebound, etc. We must seek to reach those Catholics who might be waiting for a welcome back to the Church. A special audience is those in our community who need our prayers and support.