Dear Faithful Parishioners,

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to all of you for one of the most beautiful and memorable Christmas celebrations I can recall here at St. Joan of Arc Parish. I believe that our Advent initiative, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” was successful in inviting back many parishioners who, for whatever reasons, have been away from Sunday Mass. I pray that everyone will continue to join us at the Sunday liturgy which, the church calls, the source and summit of our faith.

I am especially thankful to those whose generous gifts of time and talent helped to make the Christmas liturgies so elegant and prayerful – the lectors, greeters, ushers, altar servers, cantors, choir members, musicians, sacristans, those who coordinated the various ministries, those who arranged the church environment, those who maintained and cleaned the environment (inside and outside), the deacons, our sacramental minister and the countless worshippers who attended these celebrations and raised their voices in joyful song.

As we all know, Christmas is a gift that keeps on giving. Beginning with God who first gave us the gift of his Son, and continuing throughout history to our own day, human beings exist in relationships of reciprocity. We give to others because we have received. We receive because others have given. This is especially evident in the Christmas season when this reciprocal activity is like no other time of the year. And so, fresh from this Christmas time of giving and receiving, I believe St. Joan of Arc parish is perfectly poised to launch our capital campaign which has been named Cherishing Tradition, Creating Vision.

As you are aware, this past fall we conducted the readiness assessment phase of the campaign to see if our parishioners would support this initiative that I hoped would help us prepare for our centennial celebration in 2024. I am grateful to all those who participated in this process by either completing a survey, attending a group meeting or by speaking individually with our campaign coordinator, Lorraine Klemz. I want to assure you that your observations and suggestions were taken seriously.

From this initial phase it became overwhelmingly clear that the majority of parishioners would support this campaign that has three main projects as its goal: refurbishing the pews and replacing the kneelers in the church, replacing the carpet in the church with another more durable material and painting the church interior. Other projects that we also hope to accomplish are repairing the parking lot and improving its lighting, as well as some minor repairs of the roof.

Currently our campaign materials are being printed and will be shared with the parish in February when we will host another round of meetings, either in groups or with me and Lorraine Klemz alone. Please see the schedule of these meetings and plan to attend one of them to learn more about the campaign. If you wish to meet with me personally you may contact Lorraine Klemz at LNCinc@live.com to schedule a meeting.

It is my hope that everyone will participate in Cherishing Tradition, Creating Vision in some capacity. Whether through a monetary gift or by the support of your prayers, this campaign is about much more than enhancing our place of worship, as significant and sacred as this effort is. Ultimately this is about deepening the bond we share with one another and with our Lord Jesus Christ. Only in this way, will St. Joan of Arc Parish be prepared to embrace its second century as a faith community that is rooted in a rich tradition from the past and equipped to bring forth a creative vision for the future.

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