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Here at St. Thérèse, we’ve identified a legion of formal ministries, which we list in four major categories:
* Worship
* Christian Formation
* Justice and Peace
* Community Life
Click on each of the major categories to get a detailed listing of each ministry as well as the time and talent required for each.
Worship ministries. The Second Vatican Council defined Sunday Mass as “the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed, and it’s the fount from which all the Church’s power flows.” Every member of our Church community is expected to gather with us every Sunday as the most important minister at Mass: the ASSEMBLY. We take this mandate of the Church very seriously, and we put a lot of effort into making the Sunday celebration the single most important focal point of parish life. We prepare for it carefully, and we ask each household to do the same, and be ready to participate each week. Members are invited to participate in any of the worship ministries which exist to serve the Assembly, but your most important ministry is always as part of the assembly.
We offer a quality Christian Formation program, for adults, youth, and young children. Our catechists (our teachers) use materials that are approved by our bishop, and help us understand our Catholic Christian faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, though, makes it clear that PARENTS are the primary catechists of children, and we can only build on the formation that’s happening in your home Church. Members of our parish community are expected to share love openly in the home, and pay attention to one another’s daily activities, to share meals, prayer, and questions of faith. That’s why we provide a Question of the Week, based on the Sunday Scriptures, as well as Living the Word, so that we can share our faith in the home.
We help folks to find ways to serve the ill, the poor, the rejected, and the suffering with our Justice and Peace Ministries. We tell households that much of what you do at home strengthens these ministries as well. For example: how well are you at seeking peace and forgiveness at home? Do you discuss current events? Do you recycle? All these are examples of ways your household builds up God’s kingdom.
Community Life ministries deal with the “nuts and bolts” of living in community: things like administration and maintenance, leadership and fellowship, and getting folks together to eat, drink, and be merry. This is at least as important in the Home Church. How often do you eat together as a household? How often do you sit down and really talk to one another? These are the kinds of things that build up a family, and these are the kinds of things that really feed the Body of Christ.
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