CAPTION: The Living Lenten Cross focused on Saint Elizabeth’s six core values.
This is the conclusion of a three-part series of articles to help parishioners become more familiar with the 2017-2021 Pastoral Plan and how it is being put into practice. In this article, Diane Shoemaker, a member of the Pastoral Plan Implementation Committee, explains how the Living Lenten Cross focused on the six core values articulated in the pastoral plan.
What guides the direction of Saint Elizabeth Parish? Instrumental are six core values delineated in the Pastoral Plan together with its articulation of the parish’s Vision and Mission. This past Lent, the Living Lenten Cross project was conducted to encourage parishioners to give practical expression to our core values during the course of their Lenten sacrifices.
During Lent, two large wooden crosses were displayed in the narthex, each holding hundreds of paper cross tags in six different colors. Each color represented a particular parish value and underscored a specific action (Lenten sacrifice) or prayer intention as marked on the paper cross. Parishioners had the opportunity to choose from 75 unique Lenten commitments or prayer intentions from the 800 cross tags available in the narthex.
The Pastoral Plan Implementation Committee, in partnership with the Adult Faith Formation Committee and Family Life Ministry Team, led the effort.
The Saint Elizabeth Parish Values are:
1.Nourishing a welcoming and inviting parish
2.Knowing and practicing our Catholic faith and traditions
3.Calling others to Christian discipleship
4.Building a community of grateful stewards
5.Offering compassionate pastoral care
6.Growing in a Christ-centered life through the sacraments
Carolyn Lese from the Welcoming New Parishioners Committee reported receiving two new volunteers to help with phone calls to greet new parishioners from the Living Lenten Cross project. The Bereavement Ministry Team, which posted tags requesting greeters for funerals during Lent, added to their team as well. Other ministries that benefitted from the project included the Family Life Ministry Team, the Liturgical Music Ministry and the Legion of Mary. A total of 20 ministries were involved in the project.
Parishioners of all ages selected tags from the wooden crosses and committed to their given task – similar to the tags parishioners take from the Advent Giving Tree to benefit the needy at Christmas. “What a terrific way to perform good works and lift up so many deserving people in prayer,” commented Father Stokely.
To learn more about the Parish Values or Parish Vision and Mission, check the parish website at stelizabethparish.org. Most importantly, thank you to the hundreds of parishioners who participated in the Living Lenten Cross project this year.
~ Diane Shoemaker