St. John Neumann
Catholic Church

When I was a boy, “summer” seemed to go on forever. Before I was old enough to look for summer employment (as a teenager), the summer months were all about the outdoors: playing baseball every day; hiking through a near-by stand of woods every week; riding our bicycles everywhere; “playing” … just inventing things to do (it was all about the imagination).  When we had a little money, my brother and I would walk to the movie house (about 4 miles away) and attend a double-feature. The dark, air-conditioned movie house was an oasis for those of us that had no “A/C” at home.

Strange as it sounds to us oldsters, “summer” is almost over this year. Today’s schools seem to be starting earlier and earlier. Though I know that the children and teens are pulled by all sorts of things (good and not so good), I am hopeful that they had a chance to just “play” this summer. Something seems to be lost in the joys of childhood today, as our children are “organized” every hour of their day and night (by peer-group pressure and by parents and by schools and by parishes). Please God, we find a way to re-discover the joy of simple play, just hanging together and entertaining ourselves in conversation and laughter.  That’s my two-cents on the joys of summer.

As we all near the end of the summer period and gear-up for “the fall” (whatever “the fall” means in the south), here are a few bits of parish news for this first weekend of August:

(1) The results of our parish survey have been compiled by The Brandware Group, the company that offered us this service (without cost). With the assistance of our parish staff, I will publicize these results in the next several weeks. Once all of us hear of the results of the survey, we’ll then move toward a period of discernment… of thinking through all the issues at hand. Though in the end, a pastor is called on to make this decision, only a block-head pastor would make such an important decision on his own (in a vacuum). I will want to enlist the various leadership groups of the parish in this important discernment.

To that end, (2) I am looking forward to the re-establishment of a Pastoral Council for SJN. I am studying several models of “pastoral council” and will discuss this with you in a few weeks. I do know this: the soon-to-be-established pastoral council will offer me the advice and counsel of a great cross-section of the parish (e.g. ministry leaders, school families, staff, social groups, clergy).

(3) The new Receptionist Ministry has taken off and is running smoothly. I am grateful to those that give the parish a morning or an afternoon of their time, in serving as receptionist and parish ambassador (to anyone walking in for information).  I am hopeful of attracting a few more of our seniors to the ministry of the Altar Guild, in caring for the Altar and the sacred vessels used at Mass. These wonderful “worker bees” come together on Friday mornings, to make all things new! In the same way, I’ll look for a few more of you to help me and us with keeping our Sacristy tidy, as part of the Sacristan team. Please contact me about any of these ways of serving the Lord and this parish family…all for the greater glory of God (AMDG)… all for love.     

Msgr. David

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