Home Parish News & Events Vision 2012 Sacraments & Worship Outreach Ministries Faith Formation School Volunteer Opportunities Administration Cemetery Contact Us Catholic Links Search Site Map		Overview   Vision 2012: Inspiring our Faith St. Mary of the Lake's Five Year Plan to Continue Our Journey   You Spoke - We Listened   Vision 2005 was about to expire and it was time to develop a new strategic plan for 2006 and beyond. The parish could have continued the path previously followed developing the plan with input from staff and committee volunteers. Instead, we came to you – the parishioners of St. Mary of the Lake. Through listening sessions we asked: what do you think, what are your needs and dreams, what makes a high quality ministry, and how do we assure access for all? The result is a five year plan that sets forth a vision for our future – one created from all of us. Vision 2012: Inspiring Our Faith isn’t a document that will sit on a shelf, but a pathway that will guide us as we continue the journey of building this Catholic faith community inspiring us to deepen our faith, share our faith and serve.   Inspiring our Worship Worship is at the center of our faith whether attending worship or participating in sacramental preparation. Your feedback identified key themes to make worship at St. Mary’s better. As a community we are often complimented as having a welcoming environment – our plan challenges us to be welcoming way beyond warm and provide more opportunities to foster and build relationships that make people want to come back. During Mass, homilies and music were two key areas that had significant impact on satisfaction. Our goal is to provide relevant, inspiring and challenging homilies and we’ll ask for your feedback on whether we’re getting it right. You told us how important music is in your worship and we will strive to provide engaging music that inspires, nourishes and uplifts. We are planning a new music supplement, will provide training to music ministers and prioritize a music director. Finally, we recognize the importance of ministers and how they can impact our worship – our focus will be on providing the proper foundation to serve and help them see their role in inspiring our worship.   Growing our Faith Growth, education, formation – how do we prevent ourselves from standing still in our faith? Do we ever get too old for faith formation? Whether we are three or much older, formation and education are important factors in fulfilling spiritual growth. Traditionally faith formation and education at St. Mary’s are linked to the youth of the parish. Our five year plan challenges us to meet the needs of all age groups or communities in our parish and make St. Mary’s the preferred place for education and formation. We will ask for feedback and build satisfaction in all programs we offer (youth and adult) and increase participation by all ages. Through education and formation we strive to strengthen the unity of our parish community and grow our faith together.   Living our Faith As Catholics we are called to works of charity, justice and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ. The breadth and depth of ministries offered by St. Mary’s is remarkable, yet most parishioners are unaware of all the programs and services we offer and the good works provided to the community (both in our parish and out). Our goal is to have you recognize our pastoral ministries and know that they are available during times of need and transition. We recognize the importance of clear, consistent and constant communication on the programs we offer and their impact. Ultimately, we strive to integrate our ministries into the parish life so those who are moved to answer their baptismal call and live their faith may do so through our pastoral ministries.   Supporting our Foundation Can we meet the goals of our parish – inspiring worship, education and ministries -- without anchoring the foundation on which it is built? Strong administration and discipleship are necessary to secure the foundation of our parish. Our goals are many -- from growing your understanding, knowledge and pride in what St. Mary’s has to offer -- to achieving financial security. We recognize the importance of communication that inspires you to get involved, the importance of technology and information to support decisionmaking, and the importance of reducing our debt and balancing our budget. We strive to cultivate your ownership in our parish in a way that calls you to support our foundation through prayer, participation and giving.   Are we on the right path? Are we meeting your faith needs? What do you think? These are questions we’ll be asking you over the next five years through survey and other feedback tools. Please take the time to respond – this vision will only be successful if we make this journey together. Would you like to see the entire planning document? Send an e-mail to contactus@st.marys-wbl.org or call the Parish Life Center at (651) 429-7771.