Living Out Our Mission

   At Resurrection, we have spent 2024 discussing our vision for living out our parish mission.

   Our mission states: "Resurrection Parish is a friendly, caring Christian Community composed of members of varied backgrounds who are family oriented and who strive for a oneness of spirit and deeper love of Christ. Our mission is to pass on our Christian values and Catholic traditions by tending to the spiritual, physical, and educational needs of all through worship and stewardship."

   If you'll notice, the keys to living out our mission are worship and stewardship. We have discussed these guiding principles with school families and will continue to discuss them parish-wide. Our goal in all of this is simple: Together we want to develop a deeper relationship with Christ, and to use what God has given us to share the love of Christ with others.

Worship

   In terms of worship, our  vision is simple. We want all parishioners to celebrate Mass together on weekends and Holy Days. Worship of God, particularly at Mass, is central to our Christian faith, and growing our relationship with Christ starts here. We come to Mass to be fed. We are fed by the Word of God, by the Homily, by the receiving of the Eucharist, and by the community of believers with which we all worship.

   Nothing is more important than all of us celebrating Mass together. We all have a place at the table.

Stewardship

   We want everyone to experience the fullness of the faith. We live out this faith not only by our worship, but also by our stewardship. Our vision is that we want the practice of stewardship to become a way of life for everyone in our parish. We believe our focus on stewardship will take our currently thriving parish to new levels. We view stewardship as a way for us to grow closer to God, which will translate into a lifestyle of service, where we serve the needs of others.

   What exactly is stewardship? The following definition encompasses our vision of stewardship: "Stewardship is the grateful response of a Christian disciple who recognizes and receives God's gifts and shares these gifts in love of God and neighbor."

   This definition says the Christian disciples - you and I - are challenged to recognize and receive God's gifts, which would be our skills, our personalities, and our finances, and then to share these gifts, in love, with God and neighbor. With humility, we recognize we are not the owner of our Time, Talent, and Treasure, but merely caretakers  who are responsible for spreading God's kingdom on earth.

   TIME: Time is the duration of life God has given us. It is the most fundamental of the Three T's of Stewardship as it prioritizes our relationship with God and then our relationships with family and friends. The wise use of our time sets the stage for the wise use of our talents.

   TALENT: Talent includes the special gifts, our strengths, that God has nurtured in us. As in the Parable of Talents, God expects us to cultivate and develop the gifts he has given us and to return them with an increase. God knows that by using our talents for the sake of His kingdom, we will grow in holiness and deepen our faith.

   TREASURE: Stewardship of Treasure, as part of the inclusive concept of Stewardship, is simply what we have earned through our Time and Talent. Stewardship of Treasure is all about giving generously to God, who has given so generously to us. The Gospels instruct us to give from all aspects of our lives, which includes our financial resources. When used according to God's will, our income becomes an expression of our devotion to God, and it shows our trust for His plan for our lives, a trust like the poor widow in the Gospels who put in two small coins out of her meager livelihood.

A Call To Action

   The Parish Council, the clergy, and the staff are calling each of us to this life of stewardship. It is a journey that we will walk together, a journey where we will grow in relationship with God and grow in community with each other.

   We have been working at the parish level to become more stewardship focused - developing ministries to better serve our parishioners and our community, including visits for the homebound, cards for those grieving a loss, meals for new moms, a moms morning Bible study, and more.

   Now, we need your help! We invite all our families to join us in becoming a mission-focused parish. Read below to see how you can help!