Pastor's Reflection - April 13, 2025

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In January I shared with you information about the Pastoral Family Advisory Council and our next steps in moving forward with the Partners in the Gospel program.

We had our first meeting last Thursday (April 3, 2025) at Sacred Heart parish and it was led by our Parish Family Liason, Tom East. We gathered for a simple meal and had an orientation as to our future together.

The Pastoral Family Advisory Council is the pastor’s go-to group to consult about Partners in the Gospel, including changes that impact the parish family, shared events, collaboration across parishes, and more. Comprised of parishioners from each parish in the parish family, this council focuses on the health of the entire parish family, looking beyond the needs of each individual community. They will be the key consultative body for the creation of the strategic pastoral plan called the One Parish Plan that will be submitted to the archbishop prior to becoming one canonical parish. They will also help ensure the necessary discernment processes are in place for the completion of the strategic pastoral plan.

I wanted to introduce the members of the PFAC to you so that you can go to them with your concerns and feedback as we move forward.

St. Barbara Parish

Emily Simburger

Matt Covelo

Roberto Salas

Sacred Heart Parish

Dave Weston

Neomi Luna

Zbig Kasprzyk

St. Aloysius Parish

Teresa Cover

Tom Marino

Please keep these members and all of our parish leadership in your prayers and feel free to share your concerns with them as they will be the “eyes and ears” for our parish communities in the future.

in Christ,

Fr. James Northrop, Pastor