A Message from Pastoral Council

Dear fellow St. Thomas parishioners,

With the summer over, we turn back to work, school and our parish business with a renewed commitment. Our Pastoral Council has its first meeting of the year this coming week, and I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you for what the Pastoral Council is responsible.

The Pastoral Council is your voice in our parish, and acts as an advisory board to our pastor and clergy. We look for members who have a variety of experiences and represent different phases and parts of parish life, through service, membership in various organizations, or the school. Pastoral Council is the way that much of the policy, stewardship and changes to our parish are discussed. All of the members of the Pastoral Council are available to you, after mass, in the parking lot, at Social Sundays, or through our new Pastoral Council email address ([email protected]), regular mail or parish phone number. We want to hear from you. Please send us your suggestions, questions, ideas and concerns.

I want to thank the three members of the Pastoral Council whose terms expired this past June. Their work on behalf of St. Thomas was and is exemplary and I was grateful to have the opportunity to serve with each of them: Camille McCue, Lori Lang and Jean-Baptiste Carelus. Pastoral Council members terms end after a few years, so we can add new voices to the fold, but we will miss seeing these three members at meetings. Thank you again.

Continuing members of the Pastoral Council include Manny and Haydee Torres, Jim and Mary Anne Denon, Bob York, Mike Harding, and me, the chair. We are so pleased to welcome to Pastoral Council our newest members, who will join us starting at the September meeting: Sean and Annemarie Lapham, Megan Smith, Luann Viglione, Dick Seery Sr., and Lou Imperioli. We hope between all of our members there is someone you might know and with whom you are comfortable asking a question or bringing a suggestion.

In the next few months, Pastoral Council will be involved in the push for greater stewardship in our parish. As you know, our parish, like many in our Diocese, faces declining membership and therefore declining revenues, and Monsignor and the Finance Council have already made significant cuts to the budget, without affecting too greatly the services we can offer. Now we will turn to you, asking you to belong more deeply by donating your time, talents and treasure - to think again about what you can commit to the parish. Our faith grows stronger when we are deeply engaged with our parish community, through service, gifts, ministry or involvement. We will be sharing more about that soon through our new Stewardship advisory group, and I hope you will find a way to renew your commitment to St. Thomas.

Please join me in welcoming our new Pastoral Council members. Thank you and enjoy the coming fall, and may God bless you and your family.

Melissa Connolly
Chair, St. Thomas the Apostle Pastoral Council

Pastoral Council  

Let Us Know

One of the primary roles of the Pastoral Council is to be a means of communication between St. Thomas parishioners and the pastor and his staff. With that in mind, please use this form to share with us your thoughts, concerns, compliments or suggestions about the parish and its programs or activities. Please be as specific as possible.

Just drop the form in the collection basket or mail it to the Rectory. You can also reach out to the Pastoral Council by e-mailing or speaking to a member directly or fill out the form below and click on the submit button. Thank you for taking the time to share your views with is.