After introductions and an overview of the overall Parish Transformation Process and schedule, the group set down a list of norms and expectations it would hold itself to each week...

The Parish Transformation Committee continued working together this past week for their second meeting. The steering committee members gave a historical overview of the parish. St. Joseph (1846) and Immaculate Conception (1859) churches are two of the oldest parishes in Chicago. Historically, both parishes’ parishioners have been primarily of German and Irish decent. Both original churches were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire and reestablished in their respected places today. When Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph School was reopened in 2001, each parish reminded open to preserve their separate and historical identities, 

The Parish Transformation Committee started thinking about our parishes mission statement and purpose this past week. In designing our mission, we think about how we want to be portrayed as a parish to newcomers and what we stand for. What is important to us? We started off by thinking about the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ and how that relates to our own ministries and mission of our two parish locations....

This week during our Parish Transformation meeting, we focused on important topics of evangelization, catechesis, prayer and worship, and the idea of communio, or a community brought together in Christ. These are all important aspects of our parish’s community and members were focused on how our parish incorporates these aspects and discussed what we like, what we feel might need to change, and how we want to be perceived to people looking for a parish community to join....

We continued our conversations this week on communio, missionary spirit, our call to holiness, and spiritual stewardship. While talking about each of these topics, the committee looked at what we already do well as a parish community, what can be improved on, and possible ideas to consider moving forward. In each of these areas we already do many things well as a parish, but all agree more needs to be done to meet the needs in our spiritual community....

While the Parish Transformation committee only has a few remaining meetings left, committee members are hard at work bringing all of our building blocks and ideas together in order to create an action plan moving forward. Committee members are busy looking at meeting notes, survey results, and collaborating with one another to decide what will be best for our parish community....

The Transformation Committee spent this past week’s session working in our designated small groups, expressing ideas, using survey data, and previous notes, to develop an action plan for our parish moving forward. The three small groups that committee members are a part of are Finance, Mission, and Education/School. The Finance Committee focuses on the financial state of our parish and related issues such as collection, electronic giving, opportunities for fundraising...

Similar to the past two weeks, committee time was spent in a small group setting, where members finished solidifying action plans. The three small groups that committee members are a part of are Finance, Mission, and Education/School. The Finance Committee focuses on the financial state of our parish and related issues such as collection, electronic giving, opportunities for fundraising, and looking at what will be best for our parish community in tackling our debt....

The Parish Transformation Committee has completed all 10 weeks of meetings! Thank you to everyone for their time, talents, and contributions to the committee over the past weeks! We are proud of our accomplishments and teamwork to put together solid action plans moving forward. The steering committee members are meeting December 9th to talk about our next steps more in depth and prepare to share our plans with the Bishop in January. Upcoming information and opportunities...