Listening Sessions

Listening Sessions were held!

• Sunday, September 8, 2019, 12:30 p.m. at Prince of Peace - Saint Peter Church
• Sunday, September 15, 2019, 1:00 p.m. at Saint Mary of the Mount Church 

These Listening Sessions were another part of our efforts to promote unity, health, sustainability and a growing mission parish.  The goal for these Listening Sessions was to give our parishioners another opportunity for participating in the life and sustenance of our parish families, by sharing thoughts and concerns, suggestions and solutions, to help us grow together On Mission for The Church Alive!
 

Summary of the Listening Sessions

You have spoken and we have listened! The Parish Leadership Team, Pastoral and Finance Councils and staff have heard your voices and we have been called to prayer and action. This first message is meant to share with the entire parish grouping those themes which surfaced during our two listening sessions. In a future letter we will outline the action items that are a result of your input.

To summarize for those who could not be present physically, our facilitator, Lois Campbell of Saint James in Wilkinsburg, gave us an outline of several questions to address first in small groups, followed either by verbal or in written comments that were submitted at the end. Those of us taking notes pooled our results and found recurring themes among us between both sessions.

Above all, it is evident that the grief and pain and sometimes anger over what many of you have experienced in your lifetime in the Church due to closings is palpable; there has been loss of identity and stability; trust is an issue. You want to remember and share the stories of the past. Even after 27 years, divisions at Prince of Peace Parish still remain – a real merger never happened. You want long term planning and solutions.

Despite all of these feelings, there is great hope because of the new energy at Masses. The new clergy and leaders are spiritual, more women are involved in leadership and there are younger people in each community who want to participate in leadership. The merger presents opportunities to meet new people. “Small and alive is better than big and dead!”

There are concerns that the elderly and the deaf are being underserved. Some of your suggestions encouraged increasing fellowship and community-building opportunities, praying more together, appealing to the younger and next generations as well as LGBTQ community. You ask for the use of technology, a needs assessment of the communities, and ways to overcome the geographical divisions we face. More communication, with transparency, is desired. You want the Church to be invigorated with young people. The new Children’s Liturgy is a good beginning. A Sunday evening Mass geared to students in the South Side was another recommendation.

Perhaps one of the most vital concepts expressed was that what matters most in the merging process is one’s faith and one’s personal relationship with Jesus, including an understanding that ALL are called to lead and to serve. WE are the CHURCH and must make “IT” happen! The Church is more than a building. Continuing education in the elements of faith, such as scripture study will help us to understand and facilitate this.

We are eminently grateful for your thoughtful and respectful input into these listening sessions. Our parish leadership already has begun discussions about how to turn your suggestions into actions. This will be a process that can take some time, but we pledge our commitment to healing and moving forward with the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide us. We ask your continued prayers and support.

The Parish Leadership Team, Pastoral Council, Finance Council and Staff
  
Let’s work together to make our parish community alive and vibrant!
Come, Holy Spirit!