St. John XXIII Catholic Church

Strategy

Progress

Establish New Parish Leadership Team

Revisited

While the new Parish Leadership Team (PLT) has been established since May, 2022, its membership has been expanded to include the Director of Faith Formation & Pastoral Care (Maureen Rotramel) and the Director of Communication and Stewardship (Allyson Olivier) who join with the Pastor, Trustees, Pastoral Council Chair, Finance Council Chair, Director of Administrative Services (formerly Pastoral Coordinator), School Principal, and PLT Facilitator.  Recognizing the significant roles Maureen and Allyson play in the execution of our Strategic Plan, the PLT has seen fit to make them permanent members of the team.

With a leading charge of the PLT being to manage the execution of our Strategic Plan in support of our parish mission and vision, it has been compelled to modify the plan by adding strategies determined to be of high-level importance such as preparing for the 2023-24 Eucharistic Revival.  It should also be noted that the PLT recently clarified the manner in which it makes decisions, favoring a discernment process involving all PLT members with the Pastor having the ultimate say versus a PLT membership majority vote.

Strategy

Progress

Hire Director of Communication & Stewardship

Centralize parish-wide marketing communications under the lead of the Director of Communication & Stewardship

Develop a process whereby new efforts to advance our mission are decided upon in a more global way

Update

Since hiring Allyson Olivier this past August to fill this position, she has focused on the development of a new website that encompasses all facets of our parish.  This work is nearly complete and we anticipate rolling out the new site prior to the end June, 2023.  In addition, Allyson has been endeavoring to improve communication and collaboration across our parish and partner organization ministries, with particular attention paid to our school.  She is also overseeing the development of promotional videos for both our parish and school that will be posted to the City of Port Washington website and featured within our own digital communication platforms.  Moreover, she has spent a great deal of time getting to know the many volunteer groups affiliated with SJ23 to the ends of better supporting their efforts and building connections between them.

Now that the PLT is well established, this strategy is being addressed via the standard PLT meeting agenda item “walk-on topics.”  These are new points of interest or concern brought forth by team members that may have a significant bearing on our parish.  The PLT carefully considers these items, taking the best interests of our entire parish into account before acting on them.  Depending on the nature of the item, the PLT is also sure to involve the Pastoral Council before any final decisions are made, recognizing the Council’s oversight of all parish ministries.    

Strategy

Progress

Establish a volunteer “Welcoming Task Force”

Update

Focused attention on ensuring all those who attend our weekend Masses are warmly greeted and appropriately accommodated has been given, so at the very least those parish staff and volunteers who are in a position to act on this point of interest are well aware of it.  Making families with young children feel more welcome and supported has been a particular point of focus, with welcome cards distributed that speak to both such families and others attending Mass who may enhance their worship experience. Moreover, both “busy bags” and children’s bulletins are now available at all three of our worship sites to afford a more positively engaging and meaningful Mass experience for young children and their parents alike.

The Welcoming Task Force has also been a catalyst for reinitiating training for the host of volunteers who serve in support of our weekend worship services.  Going forward, the aim is to engage in this training on a regular basis so there is both high quality and consistency in our Mass volunteer service.

In the spirit of the Task Force, there is an ongoing effort led by our Buildings & Grounds Committee to ensure that each of our worship sites is well equipped, especially from a lighting and sound standpoint. 

Prepare for 2023-24 Eucharistic Revival

Update

The Evangelization Committee continues to spearhead this effort and has established plans for having our parish engage in the Eucharistic Revival in multiple ways throughout the upcoming year.  By heightening awareness of and strengthening belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, the Sunday experience is sure to be enhanced.

Strategy

Progress

Identify current parish efforts to support and nurture those in need

In Progress

Parish leadership groups have been surveyed to better understand what they do to support and nurture those in need within and outside the parish.  In addition, these groups were asked to articulate their operational strengths, weaknesses, and needs.  This information has been compiled and analyzed by our Pastoral and Finance Council chairpersons who, in concert with our Director of Communication and Stewardship, have orchestrated a May 23 parish leadership summit to share their findings and provide suggestions/direction on how we may be more effective in our outreach efforts.  By having all of our leadership groups come together, we hope to broaden understanding of/appreciation for what each group is trying to accomplish, strengthen group connectivity, and surface opportunities for cross group collaboration.     

Conduct survey of parishioners

Yet to be Addressed

While significant progress has been made in accounting for our outreach efforts, we have yet to develop a survey to gather feedback from our parishioners regarding their needs.  This will surely be a point of attention within the 2023-24 iteration of our Strategic Plan.

Support Food Pantry new facility efforts

In Progress

Given parish preliminary approval of the Food Pantry’s plans to build a new, ground level facility on our St. Peter’s campus, the Food Pantry is now engaged in a campaign to secure the funds necessary to proceed with this project.  Once the goals of this campaign have been reached, St. John XXIII will enter into a formal lease agreement with the Food Pantry that ensures all due consideration and protection of our interests prior to the Food Pantry commencing with construction.

Strategy

Progress

Execute Love One Another Campaign

Complete

The second of three waves of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee Love One Another fundraising campaign closed out this past January with our parish achieving 94% of its $1,723,000 pledge goal.  Payment on these pledges began this past fall and will continue until December 2027, with 40% being retained for Archdiocesan needs, and 60% being disbursed to St. John XXIII.  These funds will enable our parish to significantly reduce the principal on our Gather & Grow mortgage and ensure that our parish and school operational budgets remain unburdened by our monthly mortgage principal and interest payments for at least the next five years.