St. Joe’s: a place where faith meets action

St. Joseph’s Parish is in the midst of fine-tuning its new communications strategy. An important part of this process included asking parishioners at all masses, including students and young adults at university mass, to tell us what draws them to our church. We received a wide array of responses, but some of the adjectives that kept coming up in dozens of responses included: welcoming, friendly, progressive and liberal. Here’s how our parishioners and guests see St. Joseph’s Parish:

• Invitation to be the Spirit – not shackled by prescriptive Catholicsm but open to the paths of the mystics – accepting – weekly reinforcement of us in God and God in us.
• The house of God and I love the place
• Compassion, sharing, cooperative, awareness of other’s needs, gentleness, sincerety
• Equal partners ( women – men, lay-religious; young-old) parish members make decisions, take responsibility are accountable – no clericalism
• Social justice inclusiveness, re-claiming Catholicism
• Care for the poor, everyone having a place, liturgy, deep, meaningful, communal, progressive, Living the Spirit of Vatican II
• Spiritual, caring, warm, inclusive, welcoming of children. My wife is fighting stage 4 cancer and I need the spiritual and warmth of a church, so I do not feel alone in this fight we are in. She usually cannot come because of the illness, so I come alone.
• A community that tries hard to “practice what they preach”
• Realistic, 21st century – catholic teaching while respecting the history of a 2000+ year old tradition – hopefully not going backward. Should St. Joe’s begin to return to the proceedings of the church prior to Vatican II – I will reluctantly say farewell.
• Progressive, non-traditional, youthful, change-oriented
• Prayer that is alive, calls us to be attentive, nurtures the soul…lifts the heart. The preparation of liturgy calls us to a deeper sense of who we are in God and one another
• A dogma-free place and community of worship, a faith-celebratory place
• Welcoming, liberal, diverse, outreach, vocal community
• Radical, welcoming, faith in action, justice and solidarity, action community
• Oblate, home, accepted, tolerance, mission to the lonely and the poor, beautiful
• Homilies, welcoming, prayerful, challenging, inclusive, atmosphere, environment, reflection of the good. Prayer silence is powerful and necessary. No need to provide distractions like today’s dancers. It takes away from the impact of the word.
• Social justice, fellowship through liturgy that connects all, willing to take risks to express our faith, our mission, our love for God in all people.
• A community which is inclusive, vibrant, liberal, reaching out, progressive, active, loving, caring for the poor, working for social justice
• Liberal, open-minded, inclusive and still Catholic
• Service, community, openness, welcoming, unique, family. This community is so open and welcoming. No one is a stranger here.
• Truly a spiritual experience – not “religious”
• Warmth, lay homilies, liturgical dance, beautiful music
• A supportive and inclusive community – equality. “be the change you wish to see in the world”
• St. Joe’s brings life and meaning to “we are church”
• Modern and democratic – “a church for today’s world”
• Inclusive, heart centered, justice oriented, welcoming, seeking through silence, celebrating God’s love
• Liturgy well celebrated and reflective – conscious of social justice
• Apparent and intense dedication of the parishioners, strongly female
• Creative, liberal, welcoming, thought-provoking
• Refuge, home, welcome, trust and  challenge, community, safe to be self, myself, yourself, ourselves, rooted in tradition, connected to contemporary realities
• A sharing community imperfect but always striving to be inclusive…striving to find its place in the modern world
• Welcoming, avant-gardiste, open-minded, open heart
• Peaceful, translate Bible to modern stories, music
• My anchor, welcoming community, real embodiment of God’s teachings, reminder of my purpose on this earth: to love my neighbour
• All are welcome, open, not rigid, willing to bend when necessary
• A tall drink of water in a desert church
• Great music. Because the community of St. Joe’s accepts and loves me for who I am, in my strengths and my failings, I have greater faith that maybe God loves me too.

Now tell us about your experience and what you’re looking for in an open and welcoming Catholic parish community, especially as we prepare for another semester at university! Let us know by either posting your comments, or sending an e-mail to: cadam@st-josephs.ca .