Dear Parishioners,
Well, we’ve had a few weeks and weekends under our belts and we continue to work on kinks throughout the building. In addition, we are pondering on processes and policies for good stewardship of the church. In this regard, we are being very mindful to keep the church clean and free of clutter. We ask that folks do not bring old magazines, prayer books, pamphlets, religious sacramentals, or food items for the purpose of sharing them. Our old church narthexes quickly got cluttered up with all kinds of things which started to make it look like a swap meet or thrift store.
As far as sharing food or seasonal garden items are concerned, our school is considering creating a location outside in the front of the school building for people to share their home garden produce. That means, if such items are left anywhere else on the campus, they will likely be thrown away. If parishioners would like to have some items (ex. pamphlets, posters, free items to give away) put in the narthex of the church, please submit a written request to the office which will be reviewed by the staff for consideration. If you feel called to help out in cleaning the church or any other part of our campus, please reach out to Stephen Voehl, our Business Manager who, among many other roles, manages the physical stewardship of our facilities. Our church is an amazing work of art. It is a building which has been inspiring people long before it was even completed. Let’s keep it that way.
The same goes for all parts of our campus. During demolition and construction, and the need to move to the Parish Center for Mass, we became much closer as a community. We also became more aware of the need for repair and upkeep of the Parish Center and other buildings. Please commit yourself to being mindful of the trash or other things that clutter up our facilities. If a ministry in which you are involved uses the kitchen and especially the stove/oven/grill/refrigerators, etc., please make sure that you leave things cleaner and better than how you found them. Clean up the floor and take out the trash accumulated after your meeting. Check the bathrooms to make sure trash isn’t about the floor and that the toilets are flushed. Report any issues to the office at your next opportunity if something is broken. Make sure to lock the doors of a facility if you are the last one’s. Communicate to another group that you are leaving and what doors are or need to be locked.
We must all commit ourselves to being stewards, tending the goods which God has given us. An entitlement or attitude of assumption (that someone else will do what you should do) can very easily become sin. So, let us all take responsibility and be accountable to each other about our collective need to keep our buildings, facilities, grounds, indeed all the physical goods of our parish clean. When new people come to our church, the state of repair and cleanliness of the facilities speaks volumes. Let them see how much we love God and each other by taking good care of St. Anne Parish.
Let’s commit ourselves to good stewardship of the amazing gifts given to us by God. Let us keep our focus on the Eucharist and the sacramental life where we encounter and commune with Christ, the reason why our parish exists. May we and our campus demonstrate our mission that we are a “welcoming community, inspired by the Holy Spirit, we seek out to proclaim Christ’s loving mission.”
Blessings,
Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor