St. John the Baptist
110 North Hill Street Harrison, Ohio 45030
Parish Office:(513) 367-9086
St. John the Baptist
110 North Hill Street Harrison, Ohio 45030
Parish Office:(513) 367-9086
The purpose of the Future Mission initiative is to create and implement a strategic plan, led by the Holy Spirit and guided by our Catholic Faith, to address our parish challenges and to set and achieve our parish goals.Updates from the Implementation Teams
Bulletin Update - Multi Vote Results from Convocation 2010 Bulletin Update - October 2010 - Top Ten Challenges From the Pastor: Convocation Thank You. 10/6/10 What are we trying to accomplish at the Parish Convocation? Parish Planning Team Surfaces Challenges, Seeks Solutions WHAT DOES OUR FUTURE MISSION LOOK LIKE?While I am known for being a procrastinator, there are times when I have enough good sense to listen to the Holy Spirit and plan ahead, and looking at the life of our parish is one of those times.Our parish has been a vibrant and growing parish for over 150 years. For us to continue in this way, St. John’s Parish leaders realize the importance of a clear vision and plan for the future in all key areas of the parish. We must now begin the process of developing a Long Range Plan that will allow us a clear vision and plan for the future. We are laying the foundation for the next 3-5 years that will affect the next 25-50 years of our parish life. With the endorsement of St. John’s Pastoral Council, we have engaged Mr. David Kissell, a member of the Catholic consulting company, the Institute of School & Parish Development (ISPD) to help our parish articulate that vision and plan. ISPD comes highly recommended by other parishes, bringing years of expertise and an objective viewpoint to help the parish work through this very important planning process. We view this planning process as a development effort – we define development as, "The meaningful involvement of people in our mission and vision for the future." This planning process calls on the entire parish community to give of their time, talent, wisdom, expertise, and prayers to develop our vision for the future. This planning effort is designed to invite and involve hundreds of parishioners to help shape the future vision of our faith community. It is our sincere hope that you will all be open to the invitation to participate and willing to share your best ideas and thoughts for the future of our parish. All parishioners will have the opportunity to participate. The planning process has already begun – a Core Team has been formed to work closely with our ISPD Associate and lead the planning process and initial one-on-one interviews are being arranged with randomly selected members of the parish staff, ministries, and parish members. We will continue the theme of this involvement through a number of vehicles throughout this process: Firstly, we will have numerous communication pieces to be published inviting parish members to stay up-to-date on the many activities that will take place with this development effort. You should have already received an invitation in the mail from Fr. Jeff inviting you to be part of this significant endeavor. Secondly, we will invite hundreds of parishioners to participate in an Input Session to give their thoughts and ideas about the parish, our ministries, and our future direction; Thirdly, there will be a formation of a Parish Planning Team (PPT) of 60-80 people who will meet over a five month period to develop the draft of our long-range parish plan; Lastly, there will be an invitation to all parishioners to attend the Parish Convocation to give input into this plan. This is an exciting time at St. John’s Parish and we invite everyone to participate. We welcome your input and ideas and look forward to creating a plan for the future of our Parish community. Using ISPD to facilitate this ten-month planning process, involves a cost for the parish . However, we believe that we are at a point in our parish history where we need a planning process such as the one we are about to begin. The value of the process and importance of using an outside professional to facilitate this effort far outweighs the costs involved. The cost will be $24,500 which equates to $30 per family or $3 per month from our active families. We will be asking monthly for your financial support. There are envelopes in the pews for your donation or you may contribute online through PledgeConnect. The Future Mission Committee will be meeting monthly and will keep everyone informed via talks such as these, through the St. John Website, and through different information meetings. I am asking everyone to become involved in developing St. John’s FUTURE MISSION. Thank you and please include our FUTURE MISSION Long Range Planning endeavor in your prayers. Fr. Jeff Kemper Pastor |