Saint Ignatius Baltimore Parish 2012-­‐2013 Strategic Plan Summary Executive Summary Outgoing Chair: Eugene Caruso As outgoing Chair of the Pastoral Council I would like to give you a brief summary of the work of the Council during the past year. Essentially, our major accomplishment has been to complete the development of the St. Ignatius Strategic Plan, a project that began over three years ago when I first joined the Council. Last year we had reached the point where it was necessary to decide on a format to make the Plan easily accessible and understandable to members of the parish and also to develop a method to evaluate whether progress was being made toward the goals set forth in the Plan. The Strategic Plan is a very important document for St. Ignatius because it sets forth under five major headings and a variety of goals the things that we want to take place to assure that our parish continues to achieve the high standards for which we are known as we continue to develop and grow. It is also a "living document" that must be kept up to date and revised as priorities, resource s and other conditions change. The substance of the plan, as you know, results from a collaborative process in which the parish played a major role in town meetings, the completion of questionnaires and in other ways, as well. Another matter in which the Council played an important role last year was in keeping informed of proposals that were being developed by the five center city Catholic churches that make up the CCCC cluster to which we belong. We had to consider how various proposals would impact St Ignatius, if they were to be carried out. This initiative resulted from a request by former Archbishop O'Brien that all churches in the archdiocese plan for the time when there would be many fewer priests and it would be necessary to either combine some parishes or administrative functions currently being carried out by individual parishes. We planned and participated in listening sessions that informed parishioners of the Archbishop's letter and later met to hear the parish's reaction to a proposal by our cluster to combine some masses and organize so that functions could be combined within the cluster as the number of priests in the cluster declined. Our parish's decision to combine the family Mass and the 10:30 choir Mass resulted, in part, from the cluster initiative and the Council played a role in planning for the merger and assuring that interested and affected parishioners were included in the planning process. A Welcoming Committee was formed this year to meet and greet new parishioners after Mass and tell them about our parish. The idea for such a committee came about as a result of discussions with parishioners at the time that goals for the Strategic Plan were being developed. The Council was involved in all of the policy discussions that led to the establishment of the Committee and laying the ground work for the manner in which it 1
would operate. Members to carry out the work of the committee were sought through announcements in the bulletin. The intention of the Council is that the new membership will eventually be able to take over the leadership and running of the Welcoming Committee. Last year was an interesting and eventful year for the Pastoral Council during which we had many significant achievements. The newly elected leadership is well informed and positioned to take over this year and continue to serve St. Ignatius. Pillar 1: Liturgical and Personal Development Father William Watters, S.J. and Deacon Paul Weber Vision: St. Ignatius Church will continue to offer a variety of liturgical celebrations that met the needs of a diverse Jesuit parish. We foster opportunities for prayer and spiritual development as individuals and as a faith community. The Spirituality Committee meets monthly to review items that relate to Pillar #1. Activities being monitored by the committee are: • The Year of Faith/Year of Prayer activities including -­‐-­‐ Directed retreats for Lent and Advent at the St. Francis Xavier House -­‐-­‐ Monthly Saturday mornings of reflection in Ignatian Hall • Parish retreat planning for the Spring retreat at Loyola Retreat Center in Faulkner • Women in the New Testament Study Group • “The Light is on For You” on Wednesdays during Lent, opportunities for the sacrament of reconciliation • Distributing meditation booklets for Advent and Lent • Preparing programs for the six Friday evenings in Lent • Monthly Holy Hour for Young Adult group • Prayer Shawl Ministry Staff: • Recruiting and training of Sanctuary Ministers, Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Communion Pillar 2: Faith Development (Adult, Youth and Family) Sherri Currie, Anne Haddad, Christopher Kuczynski and Scott Muhlbaier Vision: In the spirit of Ignatian spirituality, we lead our parish (adults and youth) in faith development by encouraging a life of prayer that stimulates the mind through education in our Catholic heritage, provides a sense of God’s continuing presence in our lives, touches our spirituality through shared worship, develops a more complete understanding of the meaning 2
and traditions of our Catholic faith, and experiences our call to mission as a pilgrim church through service. Goals: nurture and promote personal spirituality within parish community and formulate and support programs that offer parishioners opportunities to gain greater knowledge and insight into their faith. Summary: St. Ignatius programs for adults and youth are thriving, which led to the creation of a new staff position -­‐-­‐ coordinator of ministries – in the summer of 2011. Participation is stable or growing in Advent and Lenten programs, weeklong directed retreats, educational programs and lectures, a book club and fellowship programs for young adults. New initiatives include a prayer shawl group, monthly Adoration of the Eucharist, and outreach to lesbian and gay members of the St. Ignatius community to discuss their spiritual needs. RCIA enrolls adults who wish to join the Catholic Church and Pre-­‐Cana programs prepare couples for marriage. For youth, enrollment in PREP has remained stable with about 60 students per year. A Confirmation class of about 18 students every two years draws teens from other churches. Efforts to nurture a youth group beyond Confirmation have drawn a small number of teens, but this remains an opportunity for growth. The parish also hopes to meet the needs of families with infants and small children, such as with the renovation of a room behind the choir loft, with Mass piped in through video for when children are restless. Cost for these programs has been medium to high in dollars, staff time and volunteer time. However, the success of the programs and high rate of participation justify the resources we have allocated. Pillar 3: Community Building: Hospitality of Inclusivity and Diversity Candra Healy and Amanda Malone Klink Vision: To grow as a welcoming community that meets the needs of our own parishioners and the larger city in which we live through word, sacrament and service. Goal: To enhance communication within the parish and local community; and to increase the sense of community and inclusivity within the parish, on the website, and in the local community. Progress: The Parish Office has established a communications committee which is led by Duarte Aguilar. The committee’s work is dedicated to increase online communications and to explore new opportunities to enable the parish to integrate social media communications on our website, in addition to our current use of Facebook and YouTube. The committee has developed a proposal to redesign the existing Parish website and is now in the process of identifying an external partner who can help launch the redesign project. 3
A Welcoming Committee proposal prepared by Candra Healy, Rodrigo Martinez Monedero and Amanda Malone Klink was approved by the Pastoral Council. Following an announcement for volunteers to staff the Welcoming Committee that appeared in the bulletin for several weeks, the new ministry began in late October with a small, dedicated core of parishioners who attended an orientation session led by Father Watters. The Welcoming Committee staffs a table in Ignatian Hall most weeks following the 9:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Masses. Its members provide a welcoming experience to guests and parishioners following Mass, sign up new parishioners, provide general information about the parish and our various ministries and answer questions about special programs such as Faith Direct. Another significant achievement of the Pillar was the Parish Ministry Fair, which took place on October 21. The event, held every few years, was managed by the Parish Staff. It offered parishioners an opportunity to meet personally with representatives of our ministries after each Mass, to ask and receive answers to questions and to receive additional information from a newly prepared Ministries brochure. The Fair offered our ministries a unique occasion to recruit new members. The preparation of the revised brochure also gave us the opportunity to revise mission statements and to make other changes, including the names and contact points for ministry leaders. We visited and toured the Esperanza Center, a ministry of Catholic Charities that provides English as a Second Language outreach and other services to immigrant communities in Baltimore City. Duarte Aguilar and the Young Adults group have expressed a desire to provide some services to the Center and there is discussion to host a movie night with the group at the parish. We have discussed the tasks of developing a community album/bulletin board (photo book), and think that with the number of projects currently underway, some of these projects might best be set aside until additional volunteers can be found. In the meantime, we encourage the taking of pictures at all major parish events. Pillar 4: Outreach to the Poor and Disadvantaged Hew Baldwin, Dan D’Orazio and Yara Cheikh Vision: To ensure that those who are most in need have a special claim on our time and resources. Goal: To provide opportunities for our parishioners to engage in social ministry within the parish and throughout the City of Baltimore and to empower parishioners to advocate on behalf of the poor and disadvantaged on issues which speak to our catholic conscience. 4
Loaves and Fishes Ministry – Meals continue to be prepared on our campus and delivered to individuals throughout the city. This program has a well-­‐established winter program and is currently being studied to perhaps expand into the summer months. Jesse Tree and Angel Tree Ministries – These programs are functioning at full involvement. Jesse Tree and Angel Tree had new high contributions and distributions during the Christmas season. These ministries are still exploring expansion opportunities. We are also still working on building a relationship with Franciscan Center to assist the ministry that is served. Pastoral Council Member Dan D’Orazio spearheads this effort. Peace and Justice Committee – This committee is headed by Mark Smith and Nhat Nguyen. The committee is supporting a 5K St. Ignatius Run this April that will help raise awareness of the several Jesuit institutions providing social ministry in the Baltimore Area. Also, the committee is looking for ways to support John Luangwa in his work with African refugees in Baltimore City and develop closer ties to the Esperanza Center, a center for legal, medical and educational opportunities for recent immigrant population. In addition to the social ministry it supports, the committee is committed to advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable in our society. The committee will be looking at the issues of gun control, immigration and marking the 25th anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priest in El Salvador this year. The committee is committed to commemorating the lives of those martyrs who lost their life in pursuit of a more peace and just world. Also, the committee continues its education endeavors with movie nights and is hoping to begin a series of lectures on important labor issues affecting our nation. In addition, Pillar 4 would is committed to maintaining our close relationship with Viva House, creating stronger relationships with our local Catholic schools to provide support for tutoring and mentoring and to providing and serving lunches at My Sister’s Place twice a month for homeless women and children. Pillar 5: Fiscal Soundness and Stewardship of our Facilities Amanda Malone Klink and Hew Baldwin Vision: Manage parish fiscal operations in a manner consistent with the values of our faith, with a focus on maintaining soundness within the parish and promoting effective stewardship of parish financial resources. Goal #1: The first goal is to provide annual or semi annual financial reports to the parish. Goal #2: The second goal is to support both the Archdiocesan and parish capital campaigns. 5
Goal #3: The third goal of pillar five is to initiate a periodic physical plant assessment and inventory of assets every three years. We will review this objective with the finance committee during their first meeting of 2013 on 1/28/13. Goal #4: The fourth goal is to continue to inform parishioners about how parish resources are utilized. We have provided such information in the weekly bulletin and in our summaries of Pastoral Council meeting that also appear in the bulletin and are on the St. Ignatius website. Fr. Watters, in addition, issues a financial report to the parish annually. Goal #5: The fifth goal of the finance committee is to light the facade of the church. We accomplished lighting the parish’s hanging poster board in 2012. We will be undertaking a more extensive lighting of the whole façade of the church as we move forward this year. 6