Dear Parish Family,
Thanks to a grant from the generous Trinity Foundation, we have a FOCUS missionary coming to St. John for the next year of 2018! You may have heard of FOCUS since it has made big waves in campus ministry and because two of our young parishioners, Katie Prevost and Allie Slough, are currently serving as campus missionaries at University of Wisconsin in Madison and Michigan Tech in Marquette.
FOCUS is now expanding their evangelizing efforts at the parish level. There have been a small number of pilot parishes around the country, and we at St. John Parish would be among those initial parishes to integrate the FOCUS discipleship approach into parish life. Check out their website: www.focus.org.
In the Grubers, we have a family who is very experienced in FOCUS discipleship. Both Joseph and Crystal have been on-campus missionaries with FOCUS, the Fellowship of Catholic University Students, for eight and seven years, respectively. They have been married for a little more than five years and just welcomed their third child, Gilbert, this fall. Philip is four years old, and Gisela is two. Joseph grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and went to the University of Pittsburgh. Crystal grew up in Walled Lake, MI and went to Michigan Tech.
As a family, they enjoy checking out parks, reading books, and hosting people for meals and good conversation. Some of their favorite conversation topics are the Theology of the Body, Scripture, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, leisure, and community. Their family mission is: “To live authentically Catholic lives, and invite others into it. We dream big, encourage the following of dreams, and meet each occasion with a sense of humor and a spirit of adventure.” They look forward to living out Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations with the people of Jackson and the parish of St. John the Evangelist!
Should you be interested in one-to-one discipleship, which is essentially spiritual coaching or spiritual direction, with an eye towards discipling others in the parish in the future, please contact Coordinator of Parish Life, Shayne Slough, and we will see how much the Grubers can take on.
The Grubers arrive on December 20 and will be living temporarily at the St. Joseph Oratory rectory. Please welcome them when you see them at Mass! We look forward to their arrival!
Advent blessings to you!
Fr. Chas