From the Pastor’s Desk 10/6/2024

Dear friends,                                   

In May and June of this year we conducted a Parish-wide Survey. As I prepared to become pastor, it was important to hear from you about our amazing parish, ensuring that you continue to shape the direction of our parish over the next few years. 

This letter serves to share some general key responses from the survey. It also allows me to share with you how your feedback will point the way towards the future. I am so grateful to Liz, our Director of Communications, for her amazing investment in this project. It simply would not have happened without her expertise and dedication!  The whole experience was very helpful to me in understanding how we can best dedicate our time, energy and resources moving forward.  

250 parishioners responded to the survey. Given this is the first time we have done this, I am very happy with the response and am so grateful to those of you who took the time to take the survey. I hope to gather feedback from you regularly, so there will be other opportunities for those who might have missed it this time. 

I read every comment and response and have enjoyed considering all the feedback. For example, a parishioner commented that some people drive too fast in the parking lot and that is a safety hazard. We will be taking steps to address this. Another parishioner requested that priests distribute Communion on both of the Communion lines which we have since implemented.   

Overall, folks feel positivity and revitalization about St. Peter’s. The vast majority describe St. Peter’s as “welcoming” and “family centered,” citing examples such as messaging from priests and staff as well as community gatherings after Mass. It was validating and exciting to see how many parishioners feel so positively about our parish and appreciate recent parish initiatives.  

We have grouped the comments into themes: 

1. Numerous long-time parishioners would like to see a return of certain activities/spiritual opportunities for adults which have ceased in recent years. Examples of these are the Parish Picnic and Cornerstone retreats. Many respondents also mentioned struggling with one or more of the following: anxiety, stress, grief or loneliness.  

2. A majority of parishioners cited time constraints as a big barrier to greater involvement in their faith. Examples of barriers include sports, employment, and family commitments.  

3. Lastly, it is not always clear for everyone how to join a ministry or what the ministry does.  

The box below summarizes the top three responses and what opportunities arise for us as a parish. 

Some initiatives to respond to the needs surfaced in the Survey: 

To meet the desire for more adult spirituality opportunities, we are creating an Adult Spirituality Committee who can assist the pastor and staff to plan Men’s and Women’s spiritual events throughout the year. Additionally, this year we will be hosting a Couples Spirituality Weekend, where couples can grow together in their faith. 

Recognizing how busy we all are, we are continuing to examine how best to accommodate people who are already quite busy in their lives. One concrete example is that starting in January, we will be expanding our Eucharistic Adoration hours to better accommodate those who work during the day. 

Finally, to address the concern of making it easier to connect to parish ministries and other opportunities, we've created the role of Director of Stewardship and Development. The Church tells us that a steward is a disciple of Jesus who "receives God's gifts gratefully, cultivates them responsibly, shares them lovingly with others and returns them with increase to the Lord."1 Marissa Dabakian, who has served St. Peter's as youth minister for the past two years, has agreed to take on this role to promote a culture of stewardship in our parish. Among other duties, she will be responsible for supporting ministry leaders and connecting parishioners with our many wonderful ministries. As a result, we will sustain the vibrancy of St. Peter's as a community of disciples dedicated to Jesus Christ and the proclamation of the Gospel. I am grateful to Marissa for her service to the youth of our parish as now Fr. Paul and Hannah Schmitz (our new Echo Intern) take over leadership of our amazing youth group.  

Thank you again to all of you for your support of St. Peter’s. I am grateful and overwhelmed by your support of me personally as your new pastor. The Installation Mass was a highlight of my life and I am grateful to God for placing me here among you! 

I ask the intercession of St. Peter upon us all as we take his words to heart: “let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…” 1 Peter 2:5 

United in prayer, 

Father AJ 

Watch the most recent homily clip from Fr. AJ here.

Rev. Andrew J. DeSilva