Vibrant Parish Experiences

The pastoral objective of “engaging parishioners in the life of the parish” requires each church to provide opportunities where parishioners can offer their talents and skills to serve in groups and ministries, while also foreseeing a recruitment, formation, and empowering process. Read more below on how parishes addressed this pastoral objective.

Because of Holy Family parishioners attending ACTS retreats, workshops and leadership meetings throughout the Archdiocese, the Pastoral Council decided to charter its own ACTS group. The parish found this initiated more communications between the English and Spanish speaking parishioners.

Their action plan simply reads: “Charter an ACTS group.”

Holy Family also collaborated with the Social Concerns teams of neighboring St. Laurence and St. Angela Merici via the St. Vincent de Paul Conference to address the needs of the poor within each parish's respective boundaries. Through the combined efforts, they have assisted the community through the food pantry, with financial assistance for utilities and furniture needs, home visits, distribution of items at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and back packs, shoes, and school supplies for children at the beginning of the school year.

Therefore, their plan indicates: “Address the needs of those less fortunate living within the community.” 

Parishioner participation within some ministries was low at Holy Ghost, so the pastoral planning committee first developed a survey to understand why. Then, they used several communications channels like the parish bulletin, web site, and fliers to introduce and explain the ministries and programs.

The church also hosted a "Get Acquainted" meeting inviting all the leaders of both the Hispanic and English-speaking groups. Archdiocesan Planning group facilitated the meeting. The meeting was quite beneficial and one goal established is for membership of the Parish Pastoral Council to be more representative of the multi-cultural Holy Ghost community.

By being proactive in fostering ministry understanding, Holy Ghost “Creates opportunities for parishioners to be more involved.”

At Mary Queen in Friendswood, the first Financial Peace University class was held in early 2015. Participants learned about budgeting, saving, eliminating debt and financial stewardship of the resources God has given to them. Twenty-three families successfully completed the nine week class.

So, their action plan reads as follows: “Establish a Financial Peace University (FPU) ministry to educate parishioners and community members on how to be better stewards of the financial resources that God has entrusted to them.”

Queen of Peace in La Marque, offers Mass and Communion services in Pine and Sea Breeze Nursing Home in Texas City, when a priest is available. Members of the community are receiving blessings and parishioners are making a difference in the lives of those unable to worship at the church.

They engage more people by reaching out to physically limited as they “Offer parish services to retirement and nursing homes within the community.”

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Manvel had several Filipino parishioners. A Filipino member of the pastoral council mentioned activities among Filipino parishioners at Sacred Heart were held in their homes rather than on church grounds. This conversation created the catalyst to promote these Filipino programs and invite all parishioners. The first activity was the October Bazaar where there was a Filipino food booth.

Two other activities, a weekly event, and a yearly celebration, were initially also held at a Filipino home. Now, they are celebrated in the parish hall and open to everyone. The parish is benefiting from the new level of vitality and sharing among the parishioners.

This beautiful inclusion initiative is depicted in their plan to “Engage Filipino community to incorporate their traditions and celebrations into all parish activities thereby exposing all parishioners to multi-cultural celebrations and activities.”

During Advent and Lent, the entire Sacred Heart of Jesus parish took part in "W I D F O" (What I Did For Others) by writing their personal acts on small paper cut-outs, made by CCE students. Each individual act was then transferred onto large posters hung on either side of the altar. Every week Father would acknowledge the acts.

Deeds were recorded in more than six languages as well as simple XXXs and OOOs from the youngest parishioners. Each week, the plain brown poster transformed with more colorful acts of service, love, and sacrifice for others, in imitation of Jesus, in His Name, as one parish community.

Their action plan states: “Engage the parish community to come together as one by performing acts of service, love, and sacrifice for others. Acts of service for the week are posted on Sunday for parishioners to see, and hopefully become involved.”

St. Edward, Spring has 48 active ministries. To publicize information about each ministry and its successes, each weekly bulletin includes a Ministry Spotlight. A paragraph, highlighted with two pictures, includes information about the ministry, meeting times, spiritual and social activities, contact information and a call for volunteers. The goal is to get more parishioners involved regardless of the amount of time one can volunteer.

St. Edwards’ plan to engage in their rich parish life states: “Increase awareness and celebrate successes of parish programs with a Ministry Spot Light in the weekly bulletin.”

St. Ignatius Loyola, Spring created an organizational structure with five major groups for 80 ministries. The goal of this structure is to better serve the parishioners, increase participation levels and develop a stronger sense of belonging within the Parish. 'Leadership Nights' are conducted with each ministry to solicit ideas/challenges/successes and keep each group moving forward. The parish is also establishing 'term-limits' for ministry officers.

Through this reorganization, the parish can sustain the considerable activity going on while also enriching parish life. The parish plan can “Promote knowledge of all parish ministries and encourage cross participation.”

St. Ignatius also holds an annual ministry fair after first Mass’ Sunday. All ministry groups are encouraged to host an information table where they can share information about the ministry, its successes and needs. Parishioners can sign up for one or several ministries.

The sign-up forms are entered into a main spreadsheet to analyze the results. This gives the pastoral council a clear picture of which ministries were successful in the membership/volunteer drive and which ministries will need further attention. The analysis also shows where there is sincere interest and parishioner participation.

The action plan simply states: “Hold an annual Ministry fair.”

St. Michael, in the Galleria area, put together a comprehensive action plan. The first activity was a Movie Night for parish families held on the sports field at St. Michael. It was a huge success and is now planned to be an annual event. In addition, an annual festival/picnic is being established. Other ideas include an outdoor mass or a "come as you are" mass invitation at the Saturday evening mass. They described this initiative as: “Reformulate both direct and indirect efforts to welcome new parishioners with families.”

St. Michael's Director of Social Justice Ministry established a collaborative approach to invite St. Raphael's youth to St. Michael's Youth Faith Formation programs and events. The annual Christmas Party for children became a joint effort with great success for both parishes. Also, both parishes enthusiastically created an annual St. Raphael Festival beginning in October 2013.

While engaging the youth in the community they “Partnered with a ‘sister´ parish on youth/young adult activities.”

To foster greater parishioner participation, young adults who sing or play musical instruments, gather, and create music for the Sunday evening Mass. So, they decided to “Revitalize the Children's Choir and Contemporary Choir.”

A new Welcome booklet was developed and is mailed along with the Monsignor's welcome letter to each new parishioner. Pastoral Council members also take turns each week to call new parishioners; response is very positive. The church now has a fully stocked Welcome Center in the Usher's Closet and at the Church Office with all registration and sign-up forms both for Parish and outreach activities. The action plan emphasized: “Reformulate both direct and indirect efforts to welcome new parishioners.”

This pastoral objective offers opportunities to “stimulate the whole community to create a welcoming and accessible environment for hospitality and evangelization through embracing a Spirituality of Communion.” Take a look at examples on how parishes considered this objective and the action plans each parish created.

Prior to Mass at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Manvel, Fr. Tom greets the entire congregation and walks throughout the church acknowledging visitors and new parishioners. He encourages them to introduce themselves and where they are from. A deacon hands the visitor a "Welcome Packet" that contains a Rosary, prayer booklet, and listing of the different church ministries with contact information.

This practice has attracted new people to the church and made them feel welcome. Current parishioners often take time after Mass to talk to the visitors and new parishioners. The result is a closer community at Sacred Heart. Sacred Heart declared an action plan to “Engage new and visiting parishioners through a Welcome program at all Masses.”

St. Cecilia in the Memorial neighborhood of Houston also wanted to improve its hospitality programs.  The New Parishioner Welcoming Program and Welcoming Committee holds a monthly program for parishioners to meet the Pastor and Parish leadership and to learn about St. Cecilia parish membership. After registration, a welcoming letter and packet is sent to new parishioners; a quarterly dinner is held to further welcome them and build fellowship. Efforts are underway to provide a personal contact for each new parishioner to answer questions and ensure they have opportunities to become quickly engaged in parish life.

The New Parishioner Welcoming Program has been met with much enthusiasm and reinvigorated the parish's greeter and usher programs at the Masses. A sense of warmth and community is growing. This parish activity started simply with an action plan to “Establish a Welcoming Committee and a monthly program to meet parish staff.”

With a large multi-ethnic parish community, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Northwest Houston formed a Hospitality Ministry where parishioners would greet parishioners and visitors at the church entrance before every weekend Mass.

The parish also developed a public awareness campaign, ministry of the month, and program to unify the parish's rich diversity. Materials included a Spirituality of Communion banner, flyers for the bulletin, and web site updates to emphasize the campaign and the many ministries offered at the parish. Messages were delivered throughout religious education classes, schools, and Mass.

With a multi-cultural parish who wanted to enhance hospitality, this parish addressed the opportunity with an action plan to “Create a Spirituality of Communion committee to address hospitality and the challenge of integrating intercultural and ethnic perspectives in our English, Spanish, and Vietnamese communities.”

The parish at St. John the Baptist in Alvin developed a standard form to capture visitor and new parishioner information. Then they created a new guidebook and recruited volunteers to be a part of the ministry. This parish’s action plan simply proclaims to “Build a hospitality ministry.”

St. Michael, in the Galleria area, put together a comprehensive action plan. The first activity was a Movie Night for parish families held on the sports field at St. Michael. It was a huge success and is now planned to be an annual event. In addition, an annual festival/picnic is being established. Other ideas include an outdoor mass or a "come as you are" mass invitation at the Saturday evening mass.

The parish also developed a new Welcome booklet is mailed to each new parishioner with the Monsignor's welcome letter. Pastoral Council members also take turns each week to call new parishioners; response is very positive. The church now has a fully stocked Welcome Center in the Usher's Closet and at the Church Office with all registration and sign-up forms both for Parish and outreach activities.

St. Michael’s has designated this activity as: “Reformulate both direct and indirect efforts to welcome new parishioners with families.

As parishes look at spiritual offerings and education initiatives for their parishioners, this pastoral objective is meant to help further the parish activities: Evaluate, develop, and plan liturgical and spiritual development opportunities that promote individual spiritual growth and an increase in holiness, while facilitating active participation by the faithful in the celebration of the liturgy. Let’s see what’s working at these parishes.

Because of Missouri City-based Holy Family parishioners attending ACTS retreats, workshops and leadership meetings throughout the Archdiocese, the Pastoral Council decided to charter its own ACTS group. The parish found this initiated more communications between the English and Spanish speaking parishioners. The parish action plan addresses the desire to “Charter an ACTS group.”

Holy Ghost in West Houston is promoting growth in prayer life. Morning prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours (LOTH) is held weekday mornings in the church. The parish sourced reproducible booklets for the prayers through the Internet. The parish also holds Eucharistic Adoration monthly that begins with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. The parish’s spiritual journey continues through the action plan to “Develop spiritual development opportunities through prayer and Eucharistic Adoration.”

Holy Rosary's St. Valentine's Marriage Guild created opportunities to include Spirituality of Communion messages for engaged and married couples. Activities included:

• An Italian dinner with Deacon Tom Vicknair, the leader of Marriage Matters!, as the guest speaker.
• A Lenten meal and reflection after the Sunday Vigil Mass
• A family picnic and barbecue.

These events have been instrumental in helping the parish's married couples appreciate the goodness of their Sacrament as well as make new friends. The parish action plan declares: “Foster a Spirituality of Communion in the sacrament of marriage and plan parish events that enrich couples’ marriages.”

At Prince of Peace in Northwest Houston, a reflection question about the Gospel is published on the screens in the Church between Masses. Parishioners have said the question draws them into the Gospel message and is something they look forward to. Many also use the question as a point of discussion after Mass. Everyone in the parish, from the pastor who designs the questions to the Twitter followers, has their own private opportunity to reflect on the question but it has also served as a point of unity for parishioners. The parish action plan wanted to give prominence to the Word of God to “Spread the Gospel message each week across all available media including the bulletin, electronic screens, homily, Facebook, and Twitter.”

Parishioners at Queen of Peace in La Marque offer a spiritual bouquet of prayers with different intentions monthly. A Eucharistic Adoration is also held every Friday at the parish. Adult bible classes are held every Sunday and Monday. The classes are filled and parish leaders are delighted more parishioners are involved and being nourished with the Word of God. The intention of this parish action plan was to “Provide more spiritual development opportunities to parishioners and the community-at-large.”

The parishioners at Sacred Heart in Crosby promote liturgical and spiritual development through praying the Rosary before Mass, Catholicism DVDs, and installing acolytes. The result is more parishioners getting involved in other aspects of the Masses and church community. Also, the Homily is published via social media prior to Mass. This helps prepare parishioners for the Gospel message. It also gives time to develop a Spanish translation of the Homily for a "whisper translation" performed real time at all Masses. The parish also purchased missalettes in Spanish. The parish’s first action plan speaks to “Promote liturgical and spiritual development through a variety of activities.”

Also at Sacred Heart, prayer is promoted using the resources of the Legion of Mary (members of the Legion of Mary become instruments of the Holy Spirit through a balanced program of prayer and service). Another focus for the parish is confession. Kneelers have been placed in front of the Blessed Sacrament for penance. This prayerful action plan focuses on ways to “Provide a model of reverence to the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.”

The parish of St. Laurence in Sugar Land developed Small Faith Communities that meet in parishioner’s homes during Lent. More than 500 parishioners participated. The action plan is designed to “Engage parishioners in spiritual growth and holiness through Small Faith Communities.”

St. Martha in Kingwood developed several action plans to help parishioners toward spiritual growth. First, the Priests and deacons at St. Martha use PowerPoint slides/pictures to further the homily message. Not only has this improved the retention of the homily, it is allowing the parish to reach across the cultures and ages and bring people closer to Christ.This action plan addresses ways to “Improve retention of the Word using PowerPoint slides during homilies.”

In a Parish Action Plan writing session, seven parishioners at St. Martha acknowledged the churchgoers’ hunger for developing better prayer lives. Based on this need, the group created a series of workshops on prayer, using methods of prayer that the average person could begin to practice immediately.

These workshops were held on consecutive Tuesday evenings that focused on the following four methods of prayer:

• The Jesus Prayer
• Praying with Icons
• Ignatian Spirituality (Praying with Imagination)
• Eucharistic Adoration

The goal of this second action plan is to “Assist in the development of personal prayer by offering spiritual development opportunities.”

A committee at St. Martha was formed of three representatives each from the Anglo and Hispanic communities to share ideas and to develop a program. Both groups learned much from the planning process and developed a better understanding of each group’s perspective for the Blessed Mother. The group focused on two devotions: The Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG) and Posada to bring together the Anglo and Hispanic communities. The result was a parish celebration, not just a Hispanic celebration. It stimulated a sense of unity. This third action plan emphasizes a “Focus on special devotions, especially from all cultures represented within the parish.”

Finally, students at Kingwood High School who attend St. Martha formed a Catholic Club, F+SHS (Father, Son and Holy Spirit Club), with the purpose of sharing their faith with like-minded individuals. The students also had a desire for a day of reflection, which was organized using materials adapted from another Action Plan, where the participants could develop a closer relationship with our Lord.

This all began among a few amazing teenagers with a yearning for a closer relationship with God. Leveraging the successes from the Parish Action Plans allowed the team to quickly develop this follow-on day of reflection. This action plan addresses ways to “Deepen spiritual experience for the youth of the parish.”

The parish pastoral council at St. Raphael the Archangel in Woodlake/Briar Meadow created new programs around faith formation. They are:

• Conduct pre-baptism classes at the parish rather than sending parishioners to St. Dominic Center
• Formed a new prayer group for families with Virtus trained facilitators
• Started a Charismatic group
• Hold a night adoration group
• Incorporate Legion of Mary activities.

These undertakings are attracting many new volunteers.

The parish action plan simply states: “Create programs around faith formation.”

St. Raphael also started evening Bible study in Spanish reading scriptures from the Holy Bible. Participation in the classes continues to grow prompting the addition of more classes. This parish action plan addresses the need for multi-lingual bible study classes and declares: “Form multi-lingual bible study classes.”

In cooperation with St. Anthony of Padua, teams from both St. Anthony and Sts. Simon & Jude in The Woodlands developed a Hispanic Ministry Council that delivers Spanish liturgy and access to Spanish Sacraments, as required, at both parishes every weekend. The parishes hired a bilingual retired priest and share the cost. The parish is also pleased to see former parishioners returning, who had migrated to other parishes offering a Spanish Mass.

The action plan underscores the advantages of working with nearby parish and sharing resources: “Partner with ‘sister’ parish on multi-cultural activities.”

Houston’s population is a kaleidoscope of ethnicities. Parishes are exploring how this pastoral objective will help in meeting the needs of the parishioners: Promote an interchange among the various cultural communities within a parish and draw on resources of archdiocesan departments to build stronger intercultural connections. Here are some testimonials of parishes who have already implemented action plans.

Holy Ghost in West Houston partnered with the "Faith and Citizenship" organization (Concetarz Comunidad) and implemented the immigration reform recommendations of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This included a postcard campaign and participation in "Fortnight for Freedom".

A Respect Life committee was formed and is working with the Archdiocesan Respect Life ministry. View the video about the Respect life work and the Gabriel Project work in the parish. All meetings are conducted in Spanish. The parish action plan accentuates ways to “Promote faith and citizenship by engaging all parishioners.”

Sacred Heart of Jesus, Manvel had several Filipino parishioners. A Filipino member of the pastoral council mentioned activities among Filipino parishioners at Sacred Heart were held in their homes rather than on church grounds. This conversation created the catalyst to promote these Filipino programs and invite all parishioners. The first activity was the October Bazaar where there was a Filipino food booth.

Two other activities, a weekly event and a yearly celebration, were initially also held at a Filipino home. Now, they are celebrated in the parish hall and open to everyone. The parish is benefiting from the new level of vitality and sharing among the parishioners.

This beautiful inclusion initiative is depicted in their plan to “Engage Filipino community to incorporate their traditions and celebrations into all parish activities thereby exposing all parishioners to multi-cultural celebrations and activities.”

During Advent and Lent, the entire Sacred Heart of Jesus parish took part in "W I D F O" (What I Did For Others) by writing their personal acts on small paper cut-outs, made by CCE students. Each individual act was then transferred onto large posters hung on either side of the altar. Every week Father would acknowledge the acts.

Deeds were recorded in more than six languages as well as simple XXXs and OOOs from the youngest parishioners. Each week, the plain brown poster transformed with more colorful acts of service, love, and sacrifice for others, in imitation of Jesus, in His Name, as one parish community. Their action plan states, “Engage the parish community to come together as one by performing acts of service, love, and sacrifice for others. Acts of service for the week are posted on Sunday for parishioners to see, and hopefully become involved.”

At Sacred Heart in Crosby, the Homily is published via social media prior to Mass. This helps prepare parishioners for the Gospel message. It also gives time to develop a Spanish translation of the Homily for a "whisper translation" performed real time at all Masses. The parish also purchased missalettes in Spanish.

The parish also promotes liturgical and spiritual development through praying the Rosary before Mass, Catholicism DVDs and installing acolytes. The result is more parishioners getting involved in other aspects of the Masses and church community. This action plan offers ways to “Promote liturgical and spiritual development through a variety of multi-lingual activities.”

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton also developed session modules for Confirmation first utilized during 2013-2014. The parish also implemented an annual Day of Reflection and created session modules for English, Spanish and Vietnamese youth faith formation programs. The parish’s second action plan addresses this activity: “Create a "Spirituality of Communion" catechesis module for elementary, middle school and high school faith formation programs.”

Finally, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton developed a public awareness campaign, ministry of the month, and program to unify the parish's rich diversity. Materials included a Spirituality of Communion banner, flyers for the bulletin, and web site updates to emphasize the campaign and the many ministries offered at the parish. Messages were delivered throughout religious education classes, schools, and Mass.

A Hospitality Ministry was also formed where parishioners would greet parishioners and visitors at the church entrance before every weekend Mass. The parish’s third action plan states: “Create a Spirituality of Communion committee to address the challenge of integrating intercultural and ethnic perspectives in our English, Spanish, and Vietnamese communities.”

A committee at St. Martha in Kingwood was formed of three representatives each from the Anglo and Hispanic communities to share ideas and to develop a program. Both groups learned much from the planning process and developed a better understanding of each group’s perspective for the Blessed Mother. The group focused on two devotions: The Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe (OLG) and Posada to bring together the Anglo and Hispanic communities.

The result was a parish celebration, not just a Hispanic celebration. It stimulated a sense of unity. This action plan emphasizes a “Focus on special devotions, especially from all cultures represented within the parish.”

St. Raphael also started evening Bible study in Spanish reading scriptures from the Holy Bible. Participation in the classes continues to grow prompting the addition of more classes. This parish action plan addresses the need for multi-lingual bible study classes and declares, “Form multi-lingual bible study classes.”

In cooperation with St. Anthony of Padua, teams from both St. Anthony and Sts. Simon & Jude in The Woodlands developed a Hispanic Ministry Council that delivers Spanish liturgy and access to Spanish Sacraments, as required, at both parishes every weekend. The parishes hired a bilingual retired priest and share the cost. The parish is also pleased to see former parishioners returning, who had migrated to other parishes offering a Spanish Mass. The action plan underscores the advantages of working with nearby parish and sharing resources: “Partner with ‘sister’ parish on multi-cultural activities.”

With pastoral staff and parish volunteers stretched thin, collaborating with nearby parishes can effectively help foster more ideas and alleviate the drain on resources. Parish can consider this pastoral objective: Partner with at least one other parish by meeting regularly with parish leadership to identify opportunities to share resources. Let’s see what action plans these parishes created.

To save on costs, Holy Family in Galveston united with five other churches from the Galveston area to share the position of Youth Minister. The Youth Minister is responsible for developing programs and resources to engage the youth of the archdiocese. The action plan states, “Hire a youth minister.”

St. Michael's Director of Social Justice Ministry established a collaborative approach to invite St. Raphael's youth to St. Michael's Youth Faith Formation programs and events. The annual Christmas Party for children became a joint effort with great success for both parishes. Also, both parishes enthusiastically created an annual St. Raphael Festival beginning in October 2013. While engaging the youth in the community they “Partnered with a ‘sister´ parish on youth/young adult activities.”

In cooperation with St. Anthony of Padua, teams from both St. Anthony and Sts. Simon & Jude in The Woodlands developed a Hispanic Ministry Council that delivers Spanish liturgy and access to Spanish Sacraments, as required, at both parishes every weekend. The parishes hired a bilingual retired priest and share the cost. The parish is also pleased to see former parishioners returning, who had migrated to other parishes offering a Spanish Mass. The action plan underscores the advantages of working with nearby parish and sharing resources: “Partner with ‘sister’ parish on multi-cultural activities.”

Every parishioner desires a deeper faith. This pastoral objective helps Identify and provide resources and opportunities for adult formation responding to the various life stages and cultural needs of the parish adult community. Let’s look at examples from parishes that have already developed action plans for this objective.

Mary Queen in Friendswood hosted the Formation Toward Christian Ministry program to help educate its parishioners as well as those from surrounding parishes in theological training. With so many participating, the parish plans to continue a series of training classes on Basic Formation for Catechetical Leadership. The action plan offered an opportunity to “Provide theological training for adults.”

Parishioners at Queen of Peace in La Marque offer a spiritual bouquet of prayers with different intentions monthly. A Eucharistic Adoration is also held every Friday at the parish.

Adult bible classes are held every Sunday and Monday. The classes are filled and parish leaders are delighted more parishioners are involved and being nourished with the Word of God. The intention of this parish action plan was to “Provide more spiritual development opportunities to parishioners and the community-at-large.”

The parish of St. Laurence in Sugar Land developed Small Faith Communities that meet in parishioner’s homes during Lent. More than 500 parishioners participated. The action plan is designed to “Engage parishioners in spiritual growth and holiness through Small Faith Communities.”

St. Martha in Kingwood developed several action plans to help parishioners toward spiritual growth. First, the Priests and deacons at St. Martha use PowerPoint slides/pictures to further the homily message. Not only has this improved the retention of the homily, it is allowing the parish to reach across the cultures and ages and bring people closer to Christ. This action plan addresses ways to “Improve retention of the Word using PowerPoint slides during homilies.”

In a Parish Action Plan writing session, seven parishioners at St. Martha in Kingwood acknowledged their churchgoers’ hunger for developing better prayer lives. Based on this need, the group created a series of workshops on prayer, using methods of prayer that the average person could begin to practice immediately.

These workshops were held on consecutive Tuesday evenings that focused on the following four methods of prayer:

• The Jesus Prayer
• Praying with Icons
• Ignatian Spirituality (Praying with Imagination)
• Eucharistic Adoration

The goal of this second action plan is to “Assist in the development of personal prayer by offering spiritual development opportunities.”

Fr. Alfonso Tran and Deacon Ed Kleinguetl at St. Martha, Kingwood, developed and delivered a series of homilies on Spirituality of Communion at all the English Masses.  Each homily included a PowerPoint presentation, with the initial homily presented on the Fifth Sunday in Easter 2014 ("I am the way and the truth and the life"). Additional bulletin inserts were included to expand upon the concept. Parishioners appreciated the working definition and have a better understanding of the concept. St. Martha’s action plan declares: “Educate & form the faithful on Spirituality of Communion.”

St. Phillip the Apostle in Huffman offers several programs and ministries that are assisting parishioners with knowledge and love of their Faith:

• Adult Education and Youth Evangelization programs
• Programs to create a culture of service

The action plan offers ways to “Assist parishioners in reaffirming their Catholic Faith as well as explain and defend their faith.”

The parish pastoral council at St. Raphael the Archangel in Woodlake/Briar Meadow created new programs around faith formation. They are:

• Conduct pre-baptism classes at the parish rather than sending parishioners to St. Dominic Center
• Formed a new prayer group for families with Virtus trained facilitators
• Started a Charismatic group
• Hold a night adoration group
• Incorporate Legion of Mary activities.

These undertakings are attracting many new volunteers. The parish action plan simply states: “Create programs around faith formation.”

St. Raphael also started evening Bible study in Spanish reading scriptures from the Holy Bible. Participation in the classes continues to grow prompting the addition of more classes. This parish action plan addresses the need for multi-lingual bible study classes and declares: “Form multi-lingual bible study classes.”

St. Clare of Assisi offers several programs and ministries that are assisting parishioners, including:

• 33 Days to Morning Glory: Preparation for Marian Consecration
• Walking Toward Eternity
• Consoling the Heart of Jesus: A do-it-yourself retreat based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Parishioners can also participate in bible study classes as well as a weekly rosary in the church. The parish action plan emphasizes ways to “Provide parishioners with avenues to deepen their faith and understanding of Catholic traditions through small study and prayer groups.”

With an understanding that our youth will help the parish grow, this pastoral objective assists parishes in developing programs that will increase youth and young adult participation in the parish: Ensure a vibrant comprehensive youth ministry (addressing all components outlined by the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry) that actively engages adolescents and young adults of all cultures by making use of parishes and archdiocesan resources. The following examples show parishes who have implemented action plans around this very important demographic:

To save on costs, Holy Family in Galveston united with five other churches from the Galveston area to share the position of Youth Minister. The Youth Minister will be responsible for developing programs and resources to engage the youth of the archdiocese. The action plan states: “Hire a youth minister.”

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton also developed session modules for Confirmation first utilized during 2013-2014. The parish also implemented an annual Day of Reflection and created session modules for English, Spanish and Vietnamese youth faith formation programs. The parish’s action plan addresses this activity: “Create a "Spirituality of Communion" catechesis module for elementary, middle school and high school faith formation programs.”

The parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Northeast Houston created a plan to increase participation by its youth in the annual re-enactment of the Stations of the Cross. The church extends this invitation to neighboring parishes (Our Mother of Mercy and St Peter Claver). CCE class materials were also developed and available at the opening of the program. By including its youth in this solemn Lenten tradition, the action plan is designed to “Teach youth about the purpose of the Church’s and parish’s traditions.”

With the help of Dung Dinh from St. Mary's Seminary, the St. Justin Martyr Young Adult Community was established in November 2014 with weekly meetings held on Tuesday evenings. In addition to the weekly discussions around "Why Evil Exists?" based on the Great Courses video lecture series, the ministry hosted a small but successful Chili Cook-off & Super Bowl Party and invited parishioners and members of the nearby Holy Rosary Young Adult Community. With the understanding that their parish will grow with more young adult participation, the action plan addresses the opportunity to “Establish a Young Adult Ministry (ages 18-35) and collaborate with existing young adult ministries at nearby parishes. The Plan includes hiring a paid staff member.”

Students at Kingwood High School who attend St. Martha formed a Catholic Club, F+SHS (Father, Son and Holy Spirit Club), with the purpose of sharing their faith with like-minded individuals. The students also had a desire for a day of reflection, which was organized using materials adapted from another Action Plan, where the participants could develop a closer relationship with our Lord.

This all began among a few amazing teenagers with a yearning for a closer relationship with God. Leveraging the successes from the Parish Action Plans allowed the team to quickly develop this follow-on day of reflection. This action plan addresses ways to ”Deepen spiritual experience for the youth of the parish.”

St. Michael, in the Galleria area, put together a comprehensive action plan. The first activity was a Movie Night for parish families held on the sports field at St. Michael. It was a huge success and is now planned to be an annual event. In addition, an annual festival/picnic is being established. Other ideas include an outdoor mass or a "come as you are" mass invitation at the Saturday evening mass. They described this initiative as: “Reformulate both direct and indirect efforts to welcome new parishioners with families.”

St. Michael's Director of Social Justice Ministry established a collaborative approach to invite St. Raphael's youth to St. Michael's Youth Faith Formation programs and events. The annual Christmas Party for children became a joint effort with great success for both parishes. Also, both parishes enthusiastically created an annual St. Raphael Festival beginning in October 2013. While engaging the youth in the community they “Partnered with a ‘sister´ parish on youth/young adult activities.”

To foster greater parishioner participation, young adults who sing or play musical instruments, gather, and create music for the Sunday evening Mass. So, they decided to “Revitalize the Children's Choir and Contemporary Choir.”