Dear Parish Family,
With the “Witness to Hope” Campaign beginning in January, we will be having a follow-up Town Hall Meeting on Tuesday, December 20. Once again, it will be a 6:30 p.m. social gathering with the meeting itself beginning at 7:00 p.m.
There has been a lot of parishioner input through this feasibility study process. Through all the one-to-one interviews and the hundreds of in-pew surveys we received, as well as the great turnout of about 100 people at the first Town Hall Meeting this past November 15, we look forward to the summation and recommendations Greater Mission will offer our parish as to how best to approach this unprecedented campaign at St. John and our diocese. I expect to receive that report later this week.
At this follow-up Town Hall Meeting on Dec. 20, we will be: 1) reviewing the feasibility study report, 2) going over design developments for Heritage Hall based on parishioner feedback and the Diocesan Building Commission, and 3) parishioner feedback on priorities of the various parish projects up for consideration.
“Called By Name” Conference Presentations Online!
You may have heard Fr. Brian and I speaking about how wonderful the Diocesan Assembly “Called By Name” was that about fifty St. John parishioners attended in October. Though you may not have been able to attend, you can listen and watch recordings of the dynamic presentations online. They were both very inspiring and informative in how to practically go about fulfilling Jesus’ call, both as his individual disciples and as a parish, to reach out to our loved ones, family and friends, and invite them to know God’s love and salvation. You can access the workshops by going to www.dioceseoflansing.org/2016-assembly-videos. Enjoy!
The St. John participants at the Assembly will be meeting this Sunday, Dec. 4, after the 12:00 p.m. Mass at the parish center for a reunion and to discuss ideas about how to implement as a parish all that we learned. If you are interested in joining the effort, please feel free to join us.
Finally, one of the two biggest adoration nights we have annually at the parish, “O Come, Let Us Adore Him,” will be held on Friday, December 16. Enveloped in inspiring worship music, the church will be dark except for the lights and candles directed at Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Come and join us for this powerful night of Advent adoration, and feel free to bring a friend who may have never encountered the Lord in a life-transforming way!
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Chas