2024 Beacons of Light Annual Report

A major accomplishment in the past two and a half years has been the positioning of parish leaders and skilled, highly-trained staff members to help bring our 1,300+ parishioners together to become members of one vibrant parish. The Family Pastoral Council meets monthly and is composed of two representatives from each parish, as well as the pastor or temporary administrator, clergy members, and the Beacons Pathway Lead. Meeting minutes are published on the OLODP website. The Family Leadership Team, led by the pastor or temporary administrator, is composed of clergy, the Directors, and the Beacons Pathway Lead. The Leadership Team has the greatest potential to effectively assist the pastor in implementing the mission of the parish, and they function in a collaborative role. The team reviews suggestions from and consults with the Family Pastoral Council.

Parish staff members are loyal, supportive, cooperative, and collegial. Though a main, centralized office is not yet a reality, staff members are perhaps the greatest asset of this Family in terms of keeping things running smoothly. Competent, skilled Directors manage programs and operational systems in all five parishes. Director of Liturgy & Worship (Fr. Henry Hoffmann), Director of Administration & Finance (Kathy Rothschild), Director of Evangelization, Youth, & Young Adult Ministries (Randi Hom), and Director of Love In Action (Sr. Margie Niemer, OSF) are evaluating staff and volunteer needs going forward. A new Family Organizational Chart is in development to better align staff by work area and outline clear communication lines and responsibilities. Applying business principles and systems in a faith community requires some special considerations, of which leadership are aware.

Fr. Andrew Umberg, early on in his pastorate with our Family, accepted the offer by the Archdiocese to engage a liaison, paid for by the Archdiocese. These liaisons are Catholic retired men and women—former business executives in large organizations—who offer their expertise to leaders of Families of Parishes. Fr. Haft is in close communication with our liaison as various situations require counsel and guidance. Additionally, Fr. Umberg hired a Beacons Pathway Lead, a staff member who functions in a consultative role to guide the Beacons process and keep things moving with the various leadership groups. Fr. Haft maintains Anne Ketzer in this position.

Additional successes in the past two years include creating a Family website. Family worship, programs, and events are bringing the parishioners of our five parishes together. Communication among parishes has increased with bulletins and email newsletters incorporating Family news. There is a plan to move to one combined Family bulletin in Fall 2025; combined with the unified website and social media, a combined bulletin will increase Family communication.

Through the challenges and uncertainty of Beacons of Light, declining resources, necessary building repairs, and financial constraints, our ministries have continued to serve our parishes. Clergy, volunteers, and staff in each parish minister to our parishioners and communities in the ways they are accustomed. There is anticipation that ministries will begin to join together in the next year under the guidance of our new pastor. Sr. Margie Niemer, OSF, Director of Love in Action, has already begun coordination of the various outreach services in our five parishes. Fr. Henry Hoffmann, Director of Liturgy & Worship, is planning staff and liturgical minister trainings.

Our Family has a parish school, St. Vivian Catholic School, for which a new principal was hired in 2024. Mr. Bob Buchheim is fully engaged with the children and their successes and coaches one of the school basketball teams. There have been many questions about how schools will be affected or how their existence will affect decision-making regarding the final selection of a worship site(s). Currently, this Family of Parishes has one parish school. However, a consolidated school, John Paul II Catholic School, is located on the grounds of St. Bartholomew parish where children from St. Clare, St. Bartholomew, and additional parishes outside of our Family attend. Additionally, the children of Assumption parish attend Our Lady of Grace school, located at St. Ann’s in Groesbeck, outside of our Family’s lines. Beacons of Light has convened a Schools Committee that will provide pastors across the Archdiocese future direction for our Catholic Schools that educate and evangelize our children and families.

Across the street from the Assumption campus is St. Mary’s cemetery, a cemetery that is the responsibility of this Family of Parishes. There are many grave sites available and until the Assumption Pastoral Council weighs in and the parishioners there are informed otherwise, the graves are limited to purchase by Assumption parishioners. The cost of these graves is quite lower than those in area cemeteries, and many people would like to purchase graves there. The restriction to Assumption parishioners seems rather unfitting at this time and there is some consideration of opening access to members of any parish in this Family. It may seem odd to mention this as a success or highlight, but it is certainly an asset to have a Catholic Cemetery in our Family of Parishes.