Dear St. Philomena Parish Family,<\/p>\n
Blessings and peace to you all this day! I am very joyful this weekend to be sharing my Pastor\u2019s Annual Update\u2014once again we have had a great year of growth and service for God\u2019s people! I am incredibly thankful for all your help to make our parish such a wonderful place for hearts to encounter Christ and a great setting for young people to grow. I am especially thankful to our parish staff and leaders\u2014both for our church and for our school. We truly would not be in as strong a position without so many dedicated people who give of themselves to serve our parish family.<\/p>\n
In the update, we once again have many graphics and tables of numbers that show strength, stability, growth, and future vision. Our parish family continues to grow\u2014joyfully, over the past couple of years we have added a little more than one new household per week! That growth has been reflected in all aspects of our parish life\u2014it is a true gift to serve a growing family! With more than double the number of baptisms over deaths, our parish is vibrant with young families. Over the summer, there were some out of state people visiting who asked me, \u201cHow often do you have this Children\u2019s Mass?\u201d With a big smile I said, \u201cEvery Mass.\u201d The people then asked, \u201cEvery Mass this weekend?\u201d I smiled again, \u201cEvery Mass every weekend.\u201d That is a joy that has stayed with me!<\/p>\n
Our School continues to be a life-filled place where students and families are encountering Christ, and being invited to grow with Him. I am particularly thankful for our students who decided to embrace our Faith and become Catholic last year, as well as several school parents who have participated in OCIA. I also want to give a special shout out to Mr. Dippold, our principal, our school staff, and all our wonderful teachers. They clearly love our school and our young people! Their dedication and commitment to having a safe and excellent environment for our students has been evident in the way we are recommended to others looking for a good school. This past year we had three teachers and multiple families move out of our area\/school, involving a significant number of students. I was so edified as I saw the inquiries coming in, so often naming recommendations from our current school families. While we couldn\u2019t accommodate them all depending on grade level, I am happy to say that our overall enrollment is nearly the same as the year before. That kind of steadiness is a great sign for the long-term outlook of our school.<\/p>\n
One thing you have probably heard me mention over the past year is a more concentrated effort to strengthen the relationship between our parish and PND High School. One of the advantages of having served in so many assignments around the Diocese is that I have worked with many different schools. I have been so impressed with what I have seen from the PND leadership! PND has a clear and unified vision from the heart of what we do\u2014helping form disciples of Christ. As shared in the Update, St. Philomena students comprise a significant portion of the student body, and with St. Philomena parishioners involved in the leadership staff and Consultative Board (and of course a great Chaplain! =) ), we are invested and doing our part to help PND continue growing.<\/p>\n
Financially, our parish has been steady and generous! If you are a numbers person, you can dive into the 3-year comparison that shows growth in many areas. Our first year of the tuition assistance campaign has been incredibly successful\u2014I have been so thankful for your generosity and investment in our future. Our Finance Council has discussed several times over the past few months how much long-term stability is coming to our parish because of the growth of our endowments. With Endowment A, which is dedicated to tuition assistance, continuing to grow through this campaign, we are ensuring a full school that can continue serving our students in learning and living our Faith for decades to come.\u00a0 Our strong financial position has also enabled us to undertake several campus improvement projects to keep our grounds and buildings in wonderful shape. I happy to share we now have all of the school flat roof sections replaced\u2014we now have a 20+ year window where those roofs should be reliable. I am also especially thankful for the new teachers\u2019 lounge, which was supported by our School Auction fund-a-need. The room is truly a beautiful and spacious place for our teachers to rest, take a lunch break, and enjoy fellowship together. Our lounge is so well-deserved by our good teachers\u2014thanks to all who helped to make that project possible! If you would like to see some pictures of the lounge, I invite you to come to this year\u2019s School Auction\u2014we plan to share the fruits of last year\u2019s generosity!<\/p>\n
All of these wonderful strengths have put our parish in a rare position\u2014one where we can truly have the freedom to plan for our long-term future. This year, we established a Long-term Planning Committee that has begun work for a Campus Master Plan. This group has spent the last year doing space and safety analysis for all our buildings, as well as laying out long-term needs and desires. Part of this good work has involved acquiring two adjoining properties that border our school gym and our PK-4 building (the former convent). For the short-term, these properties are serving as additional space for Jr High elective classes and after school activities. As our committee continues this important work, please pray for good wisdom and fruitfulness in planning for our future.<\/p>\n
As I come to the end of this column, I feel like I have only begun to highlight the great gifts of this past year. I love serving as pastor here, and I am thankful to Fr. Daniel and Fr. Blake for being such good co-workers with me in this vineyard. I truly enjoy working with our church staff and see how much they love our parish family. I am regularly inspired by the good faithfulness of our people and am excited to see the fruits of this year ahead. Please always continue to pray for me and ask the Lord to help me be a good pastor for our Parish. Know of my prayers for you all and that I send each of you my blessing from the altar at St. Philomena!<\/p>\n
In Christ,
\nFather Luke<\/p>\n
P.S.\u00a0 Please also pray for me this week while I am away for some time with my family. I plan to return the evening of Oct 9. Please feel free to reach out to our parish staff for any needs while I am away.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"