Posting 12/30/08
Full
Report from the Team.
Appendix A --
Financial Report
Appendix B --
Facilities Report
Posting 12/13/08
Report to the Parish Council:
Jerry Szelong, the chair of the parish Transition Team provided
the parish council with a brief report on their activities. 450
parishioners participated in the recently concluded information
gathering activity. The transition team took this information,
analyzed it, and provided the parish council with their summary
analysis. This data will be included in the report that is planned to
be submitted to the diocese before the end of the year. Jerry
described the major sections that would be in this report, and these
include:
a. Uniqueness of St. Francis of Assisi
b. Responses to the 6 Questions
c. Facilities and Grounds
d. Finance
The report is currently being written, and will be submitted to the
diocese before the end of the year. The information contained in the
report is intended to aid both the candidate pastors and the diocesan
selection board.
Posting: 10/11/08
Transition Team News Concerning our Next Leader
On Tuesday, September 30, Fr. Willie Manrique, Vicar for Clergy,
informed parishioners about the role of the Clergy Personnel Board and
the Bishop in the transition process. Bishop McGrath is committed to
assigning the best central leader to SFOA. Two options exist for a new
leader. The first is the traditional Priest/Pastor with which we are
all familiar and currently have with Fr. John. The second option is a
Minister of Parish Life, MPL, who is a highly qualified lay person,
male or female, who would be the spiritual and administrative leader
of a parish. The MPL would be assisted by two priests who would
provide for the sacramental life of the parish including Mass on
Sunday, daily Mass and the sacraments. The MPL is a recent option in
our Diocese, and at this time no MPL is serving in a parish in the
Diocese. The Bishop has said that if there are two equally qualified
candidates, one a priest and the other a lay person, the priest will
be assigned as pastor.
Presently five parishes will be seeking a new leader, with SFOA as the
largest of the five. Our Transition Team will send our information
about the major themes from our 23 information gathering
sessions, Financial and Facilities reports and an overview of the
unique aspects of SFOA to the Diocese by December. This information
will also be shared with our next leader. Because of the Diocese's
complexity and challenge of dealing with five transitions, we may not
learn about our new leader until late spring. Fr. Willie assured
us that whomever is selected will be someone who chooses to be part of
the SFOA parish community. The Transition Team will continue to keep
you informed. If you have any questions or concerns please contact any
member of the Transition Team.
