SPIRITUAL LIFE
Eucharistic Adoration
Purpose: To grow in relationship with God through prayer and reflection by making a holy hour in the church. Structure: Mondays and Tuesdays from 9:00am-3:00pm. Please come to the back door of the rectory to gain access to the church.
Life in the Spirit
Purpose: To help people deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Structure: The two day seminar is held each year in the spring.
Prayer Chain
Purpose: To pray for those in immediate physical, mental, emotional or spiritual danger due to illness, accident or disease and those dealing with long term disability. Structure: To request prayer or to be a member of the Prayer Chain, please call the rectory.
PARISH LIFE
Altar & Rosary Society
Purpose: To further social, charitable, service and fundraising endeavors of the parish. Structure: Altar Society meets on the second Tuesday of the month, Sept.-Dec. and March-June.
Bingo
Purpose: To raise needed parish funds and provide a social outlet through our Bingo gaming program and Bingo kitchen. Structure: Bingo is played on Wednesdays and doors open at 9:30 a.m. Help is always welcome: kitchen workers, callers, floor workers.
Funeral Dinner Ministry
Purpose: To minister to and provide the bereaved a meal and the opportunity to share stories and memories following a funeral Mass. Structure: When a family requests a funeral dinner, our team makes phone calls to parish households requesting specific dishes needed for the meal. To be on the call list or to be a member of the team, please call the rectory.
Adult Faith Enrichment
Purpose: To provide faith formation/education to individuals in an effort to help them better understand and grow in the Catholic faith. Structure: AFE meets on the first Thursday of the month from 7-9 p.m., October, November, December, March, April May. We invite participants to bring a snack to share with others. Doors open at 6:30 for food and fellowship. Registration takes place in September; you may also attend single sessions for $10.00.
Parish Activities
Purpose: To provide activities which offer the opportunity for fellowship, recreation, socialization and community building within the parish. Structure: Activities are announced in the bulletin and on the website. New team members are welcome.
Parish Technology
Purpose: To administer and support the parish website. Structure: This is a wonderful stewardship opportunity for those with computer skills and technology background.
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (R.C.I.A.)
Purpose: To educate and form in the faith non-baptized adults who wish to become Catholic through Baptism and those who, already baptized, seek full communion with the Church. Structure: Sessions are offered jointly to Inquirers from our parish and those from St. Augustine, Barberton, our cluster partner, and are held every Monday, 7-9 p.m. from September into May. Those seeking to enter the church receive their sacraments at the Easter Vigil.
Shut-Ins Ministry
Purpose: To take the Eucharist to and visit with parishioners who are shut-in due to physical or medical limitations. Structure: The Eucharist is taken to shut-ins every first Friday of the month.
Stewardship
Purpose: To teach others to receive God’s gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others and return them with increase to the Lord. Structure: Stewardship opportunities in a variety of parish ministries, groups and organizations are listed in the bulletin and on the website or you may make an appointment with a member of pastoral staff to discuss your interests and discern their best use in the parish.
SERVICE
Adopt-A-Plot
Purpose: To beautify the parish grounds by adopting and caring for, through planting and weeding, a specific plot of ground on parish property. Structure: Each spring available plots are made known for adoption. Plot holders are responsible for their plots from spring through fall.
Advent Project - Global Operation Christmas Child
Purpose: To bring the love of Christ to children in over 125 impoverished countries by filling a shoebox with toys, personnel hygiene items, school supplies. Structure: parishioners may assemble a completed box, donate items for boxes or donate money towards the shipping of the boxes. Collection week is mid-November.
Church Cleaning
Purpose: To work with others to keep the church clean and tidy by vacuuming, dusting and straightening up in the sanctuary, vestibule and sacristy. Structure: Teams clean the church every Monday and Friday at a time mutually acceptable to parish staff and the cleaning teams.
In His Name – Local
Purpose: To benefit the Peter Maurin Center and the homeless population they serve. Structure: Requested items may be placed in the In His Name basket by the main doors of the church.
Kenmore Free Store
Purpose: To provide clean, gently worn clothing, kitchen/household items, linens, towels, toys, shoes, etc. for those in need in our area. Structure: Donated items may be placed in the red cart in the front of the old school during store hours: Tuesdays from 4-7 pm and Saturdays from 9 am-noon.
Lenten Almsgiving Project - Global
Purpose: To honor the Lenten theme of almsgiving, promote the values of human life and empower others in third world nations. Structure: Rice Bowls are made available the weekend before Ash Wednesday and all alms which are collected Easter weekend benefit Catholic Relief Services.
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry
Purpose: To witness to the love of Christ by embracing all works of charity and justice and offering service to those who are in need and suffering; specifically at our parish through the distribution of food and hygiene items. Structure: The pantry is open on Thursday afternoons. Non-parishioners in need must make appointments through Info-Line; registered and active parishioners are to call the rectory.
Mission Dresses
Purpose: To provide dresses for girls in Third World countries. Structure: Parishioners who like to sew are given patterns to follow and create dresses out of pillow cases and other light-weight materials. The dresses are sent with various mission groups throughout the diocese to those in need.
LITURGICAL
Altar Servers
Purpose: To serve at the Altar of God and assist the Priest during weekday and weekend Masses, as well as special liturgies. Structure: This ministry is available to students beginning in the 5th grade and to all interested adults. Training provided by the parish is required. Schedules come out every three months.
Contemporary Choir
Purpose: To enhance worship by providing liturgical music at the 11:00 am Mass that gives glory and honor to God. Structure: Choir practice is held on Wednesday evenings at 6:45 in the church. New vocalists and instrumentalists are welcome. Vocalists: The ability to read music is not necessary, but you must be able to carry a tune!
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
Purpose: To help distribute the Eucharist at the weekend Masses as well as to the shut-ins on the First Friday of each month. Structure: Those in this ministry serve at the discretion of the pastor and must attend diocesan training and parish orientation before being commissioned. Schedules come out every three months.
Ministers of Hospitality
Purpose: To welcome and assist all who enter the doors of our parish for Mass. Structure: These men and women exercise the gift of hospitality and minister during weekend Masses and special liturgies. Schedules come out every three months.
Lectors
Purpose: To proclaim the Word of God at weekend Masses and special liturgies. Structure: Those interested in this ministry must attend a parish training session. Schedules come out every three months.
LEADERSHIP
Parish Finance Council (A consultative body)
Purpose: To make financial recommendations to the pastor and aid him in the administration of parish goods. Structure: Members are chosen by and serve at the discretion of the pastor.
Parish Pastoral Council (A consultative body)
Purpose: To unite laity and clergy in a community of prayer, service, leadership and pastoral planning on behalf of the parish. Structure: Council meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month from August through October and January through May. Open elections are held in the spring.
SACRAMENTS
Baptism
Purpose: Baptism is necessary for salvation. It is through Baptism that we become members of the Church and the adopted sons and daughters of God. Structure: Pre-baptism classes are required. Baptisms may be celebrated at the 11:00 am Mass on Sunday, at 12:30 pm on the second Sunday of the month or at another time by arrangement with the pastor.
Reconciliation (Confession)
Purpose: To reconcile sinners to God and the Church, the Body of Christ, which has been wounded by sin. Structure: Confessions are heard on Saturday mornings from 9-10 am. Confessions at St. Augustine, Barberton, our cluster partner, are heard at 3 pm on Saturdays and 6 pm on Mondays.
Eucharist
Purpose: The ritual and sacramental action of thanksgiving to God which is the source and summit of Church life. It is a memorial of Christ’s Passover and proclamation of God’s mighty works. It is sacrifice as it makes present the sacrifice of the cross. It is the real presence of Jesus through the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ’s body and blood. Structure: The sacrament is available to Catholics who have made their First Communion. First Communion is held in May for students in the 2nd grade.
Confirmation
Purpose: Completes the grace of Baptism through an outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit sealing or confirming the baptized with Christ and equipping them for participation in worship and life of the Church. Structure: In our cluster, Confirmation for students is celebrated in the 8th grade and the sacrament is conferred by a bishop at St. Augustine Parish. Practicing adults requiring Confirmation should call the rectory.
Anointing of the Sick
Purpose: To allow those suffering physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to experience the healing power of Christ, understand the religious meaning of suffering and unite their suffering with that of Christ. Structure: Mass of the Anointing of the Sick is celebrated on the last Wednesday of each month at the 5:30 pm Mass. Anointing may be scheduled at another time; please call the rectory. Shut-ins are anointed on First Friday calls depending on the availability of the priest. Parishioners in the hospital should notify the Catholic Chaplain assigned to that hospital of their admittance and notify the rectory as well.
Marriage
Purpose: To unite one baptized man and one baptized woman in the holy bonds of matrimony according to the Rite of Marriage of the Catholic Church. Structure: Couples wishing to be married in the parish should contact the rectory at least 6 months before the desired date and before they book a hall, caterer, etc. They will be required to participate in a Pre-Cana event for engaged couples and take the Prepare/Enrich inventory which helps identify strengths and weaknesses of the couple which will then be used in marriage preparation.
EDUCATION
Parish Elementary School
Purpose: To offer a quality education and form students in their Catholic faith. Structure: Our partnership with St. Augustine Parish, Barberton, enables children of the parish in grades K through 8, to be enrolled at St. Augustine School on an equal tuition basis.
Parish School of Religion
Purpose: To educate and form students attending public schools in their Catholic faith. Structure: Public school students in grades 1-8 are required to enroll in PSR. Failure to do so may impede the reception of the sacraments. PSR classes are held on Sunday mornings from 9-10 am at St. Augustine Parish, Barberton. Registration packets are made available in August.