Pastor’s Corner — January 9th, 2022
Leadership Summit for Parish Leaders
On Thursday (as a reschedule from last September), the parish is proud to host our second Ministry Leadership Summit in which we invite the leaders of various ministries in our parish to come together for an evening of encouragement, inspiration and fellowship. At this wine and appetizers event, the entire pastoral staff of the parish will thank and honor all parishioners who volunteer their time leading others in various ministries and apostolates.
This year we will have Fr. John Riccardo and his Acts XXIX team to serve as speakers to encourage us in Christian service. Last time we did this we had about one hundred key volunteer leaders come. If you were invited to this year’s summit, remember to please RSVP ASAP. If you weren’t invited by name but you lead a ministry here, you’re invited too. Just simply RSVP by email to Patricia Ellison at ellisonpat4@gmail.com.
Welcome Desk in the Gathering Space
Below is a note from parishioner Eileen Denhard who runs our Welcome Desk Ministry in the gathering space.
My name is Eileen Denhard and I lead the Welcome Desk Ministry. We are a new ministry and we’re looking for warm, friendly parishioners who have an outgoing nature to welcome all who attend Mass. If you are interested in joining our team please contact me. It only takes a few minutes of your time before and after Mass so it’s a very easy commitment and unbelievably rewarding. We hope to build the team to a place where each person would welcome just once or twice each month. Please contact me at (810) 355-6775 if you would like to help us in further growing our church into a warm, inviting and loving environment.
Renovation Update: We’re Not Painting of the Organ Case
While around 75% of parishioners who took the survey chose to paint or stain the organ case to match the new interior paint, I have decided that we will not paint the organ case at this time. Painting the organ case was never a key part of the project, but was strongly suggested to be added because the resultant mix of different wood colors in the Church would make the organ look odd and out of place. However, the diocesan committee as well as our music director Steve Royal strongly discouraged us from painting the wood of the organ because the organ was not designed to be painted and because it stands alone as a work of art that doesn’t need to match the rest of the Church. Also, recently more parishioners brought up their concerns that painting the wood of the organ could cause warping of the wood, which is debatable. Nevertheless, because of its legacy and the beauty of the organ as is, we will not be painting the organ as a part of our renovation.
We’ll update the parish on more progress of this project as we continue to fine-tune the design with the diocesan commission and receive more generous donations from parishioners eager to be a part of this exciting project.
Your servant in the Lord,
Fr. Mathias