The high school graduating students each May will be personally contacted by the Young Adult Group leader(s) to be encouraged to continue their faith journey by completing a registration form to St. Mark Parish. This will allow the newly graduated, young adult to be welcomed into the parish by the Welcoming Committee or the Young Adult Group with a meal and conversation.
Often times, a newly graduated young adult will continue to live at home and never becomes a fully recognized member of the parish. Entering the workforce after high school is becoming more common, and we need to reach out to these new community members, and encourage them to stay connected to their St. Mark Parish family after leaving the Faith Formation program.
Our parish has used small group sharing in the past for an Advent or Lent activity. These opportunities are very valuable for growing in our faith and building community. Since people are very busy and reluctant to make a long commitment, we will start with developing small faith sharing/bible study groups in the months of October and April. These small groups will be offered at a variety of days, times, and places. The content will be developed from the Sunday Gospels and augmented to fill an hour. Every effort will be made to have food present.
Adult religious education is important to the strength and vitality of our church and parish family. Connections made or reinforced through common study and faith sharing can be incredibly meaningful and lasting. People who have had positive experiences will return. Our goal is to encourage new people to give it a try!
On the third Sunday of the month, in conjunction with Pay-It-Forward Sunday, a member of the Parish Council or one of the committee chairs will speak to the congregation before or after Mass to inform them of past, present, and future activities in a particular committee. This information will also be written in the bulletin for the week or the following week.
People will not volunteer to help if they are not aware of activities and the needs of the parish. Parishioners will be more informed about the committees, their purpose and activities, the leader or contact people for each committee, and be more aware of opportunities and encouraged to volunteer their time and talents.