When our parishes were formed 100 to 150 years ago, they had a very definite mission: to meet the spiritual and educational needs of the German, Irish and Italian immigrant communities that came to settle here. These communities were steeped in Catholic Christian cultures that were up to 1,500 years old as expressions of the Faith going back to Jesus Himself. The communities were ready-made; the Faith was readily available in the lives of the people and to some extent in the surrounding culture; and the main avenue of evangelization was through Catholic schools, built with much sacrifice by parishioners in order to educate and to hand on the Faith to their children.
Today, every one of these circumstances has changed—some dramatically so. Our churches
are not being populated by waves
of immigrant Catholic communities; our neighborhoods are not being filled with Catholics; and the
surrounding popular culture propagated by the media is largely unchristian, if not hostile to Christianity.
What, then, is our mission now?
Clearly, if we are to meet the needs of today, we will have to be
intentional about building up a more unified, vibrant and dynamic
Catholic community.
This goal raises many questions. What must happen to make this a reality? How can we reach out to the people of our area to invite them into the Catholic world centered in the person of Jesus Christ? How can we be the best stewards of the resources we have?
Deciding how we, the Catholic Community of Meadville, can best accomplish this goal and answer these questions is the task of pastoral planning.
Beginning in September, we will set this process in motion. We will ask for your input, and keep you informed about the work we are doing and plans that are being made. We will begin by collecting information from all parishioners so that we have the most accurate data available on which to base our plan.
Stay tuned.
– Fr. Jeffrey Lucas
As we journey through this pastoral planning, all of the documents, data, and communication will be available here on our website. We encourage you to make yourself familiar with all aspects of our site, as we will continue to update this area with more information.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact us at our main office.