August 3: Status Updates
Dear Fellow Parishioners in Our Lady of Divine Providence Family,
As you read this, all the priests of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati will begin to gather for the triennial convocation, during which we take time to be together and renew our priestly mission within the Archdiocese as a priestly brotherhood. Please pray for all the priests. During this week, daily Masses will be reduced across the Archdiocese as all the priests gather to pray. In particular, pray to St. John Vianney, who is the patron saint of priests, and one of my favorites. His feast day is Monday, August 4th. Be sure to offer up a sacrifice of some sort for the holiness of your priests! Pray that we pray! Because a priest who prays can accomplish his mission.
I want to make you aware of some important status updates in our family of parishes, always with confident hope in the maternal care of Our Lady of Divine Providence. The feast days of St. Clare, the Assumption of our Blessed Mother, and St. Bernard of Clairvaux are this month; please keep these churches in our family in your prayers as we celebrate the feasts of their heavenly patrons.
Recently, I met with all the parish and finance councils to review the financial health of the parishes. Three of our five parishes are financially languishing. This is not new information; we saw it in the Annual Report this spring, but we need to make sure that we don’t forget it, so I am bringing it to everyone’s attention again. Once the finance councils deliberate this month, we will be publishing the results of their discernment and communicating our goals vigorously to everyone. Please feel free to approach members of finance councils with your questions and concerns, and they can communicate them to our administrative staff and myself. Finances are an important part of parish life, because they are a necessary support for the critical mission of the parish, which is to worship God and to convert hearts. This leads to transformed lives, and missionary disciples. I know that if we are united to Christ, Who is the vine, then we will flourish and bear much fruit.
Our office collocation and consolidation is well underway. I have invested in an experienced project manager and parish consultant to help guide us and make sure that it is completed with excellence.
Our evangelization team is redesigning and refining our religious education, sacramental prep, and adult faith formation. Look for more details, including Randi Hom’s letter on “Radiant Hope.” I would particularly invite everyone to participate in the lay pastoral ministry class which we are hosting at St. Clare’s campus this fall.
The Mass schedule remains under review. It will be the third step in our plan of renewal, under this year’s theme of “Radiant Hope.” We will be working with, or restarting, the worship commissions of all the parishes to implement the change smoothly and effectively.
Finally, I would like to introduce some new folks. First, Scot Buzza will move from his role of music director at Assumption parish to a new role as family music coordinator. He will focus on Assumption and Clare churches initially but will be working to help all our music programs. He is literally a world-class musician, who plays and teaches internationally. Before ministering at Assumption parish, he served as music director at Bellarmine Chapel. He is proficient at many instruments, from organ to Gospel style piano music.
Next, Katelyn Cottingham will be joining the evangelization team to take over youth ministry, Confirmation Prep, and VBS. She has experience working with the Covington Diocese and Our Lady of Light Family of Parishes, so she comes very highly qualified. As some background, Donna Booker is no longer with our family, and the duties that were previously assigned to her will be shared between Katelyn and Randi.
Last, we will be utilizing the services and expertise of a temporary project manager to complete the office combination. A parishioner of St. Vivian, Mike Geiger, has a lot of experience both in the church world and the corporate world overseeing the kind of project we are completing. He is very generously helping us at minimal cost to the parishes. The savings from decreased travel and increased efficiency in our staff will be great.
In all, these new hires represent an investment in the future. The cost will be shared fairly within the family of parishes and will not be a burden on any one church. Like any good investment, the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term costs, and we are making good progress towards creating the structure of missionary discipleship evangelization that will transform our parishes and communities into vibrant witnesses to the Gospel and the real presence of the Living God.
Under our Lady’s Mantle,
Fr. Henry
