Renew My Church and Building a New Reality

Building a New Reality Sharing Information Sessions

frcarl-information-sessions-sep22 CORRECTED (1)

Fr. Rex's Letter to Ascension and St. Edmund and Fr. Carl Becoming the new pastor of the Parish

Letter from Bishop birmingham on the Ascension and St. Edmund Naming Process

Letter from Bishop Kevin Birmingham on Ascension & Saint Edmund naming process

October 23 Update on the Naming Process

The Naming Survey was completed last Sunday. We had excellent participation from our parishioners, and we are thankful for all those who took part. The results have been submitted to the Archdiocese with the goal of our parish naming choices being reviewed by Cardinal Cupich in the next meeting of the Presbyteral Council, an advisory group that assists the Cardinal in the decision process. That will occur on November 4

At this point, we do not know the results. Once a decision is made, it will be shared with our pastor Father Rex. While we hope to learn our new name soon, there are sometimes delays that can stretch out the timeline. The Presbyteral Council typically has a crowded agenda, so some decisions may be put off until the next meeting of the Council. Also, the Cardinal has final authority for the decision. While he pays close attention to community input, he can, if he chooses, depart from the recommendations of the community, though he would do so only for a compelling reason. So, we wait. And we pray for the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Unification Team will share any updates with the parish as we learn them.

A Look Ahead

In the weeks to come, we will be sharing information from the parish meetings that took place in September, as well as answering the questions that surfaced, so that all parishioners can share in that information. All that information will be in upcoming bulletins. Father Rex will also be setting his priorities for the unification transition, addressing such matters as Mass schedules and collaboration among our many ministries.

Thank You for Participating in Our Recent Ministry and Parishioner Meetings!

Three meetings were held: September 7 for Ministry Leaders of the Parish (all involved in any ministry were invited), and Parishioner Meetings held September 15 and 18. These meetings were focused on encouraging dialogue with Ascension and St. Edmund parishioners around the vision for our new parish. Participants were asked “In 2025, Cardinal Cupich has declared [our parish] to be ‘one of the most vibrant parishes in the archdiocese.’ What is it about our parish that makes us vibrant and dynamic?” The small group discussions were lively, and the questions, concerns, and suggestions were documented. They have been collated and will be addressed in this space over the next few weeks.

We want to thank those parishioners who were disappointed in our initial meeting and voiced their concerns. With each meeting, the Unification Team worked to address those voiced concerns. We especially want to thank the ministry leaders who returned for the final meeting where specific information was shared regarding the Unification timeline to date and where we go from here. The timeline is inserted in this week’s bulletin

An important part of our recent Parishioner Meetings was a “Letting Go” exercise. Have there been hurts, misunderstandings, or confusion historically between our parishioners on both campuses? Are there fears or sadness around the changes that are happening in our parish? Can YOU let go of these experiences so we can move forward and focus on following Jesus? He will carry our burdens and lead the way.

The name of our new, unified parish will be the way we identify ourselves in our parish bulletin, on our checkbook and contracts, in the way we talk about ourselves in our Catholic community, and even more important, the spirit we share and what we represent to others.

Sunday, September 25th is the deadline for suggestions. Forms are available on the websites, in the Parish Offices, and at the entrances to both churches. Unification Team members will be available after all Masses this weekend to answer questions and assist in filling out the forms for those with special needs. The Ascension-St. Edmund Unification Timeline is at the right on this page. Copies are also available at the Church entrance.

Mark Your Calendars for These Important Meetings

Thursday, September 15th, 2022 at 7:00 in the Church at the St. Edmund campus and

Sunday, September 18th, 2022 at 1:00 pm in the Pine Room at the Ascension campus

These meetings will provide an overview of the process of unification to date, identify immediate needs, and discuss the anticipated process going forward.

Dear Parishioners,

You are invited to be part of this exciting opportunity of naming our parish, newly unified through the Renew My Church (RMC) process. Please take some time to review the following information and keep this process in your prayers.

As part of the naming process below we are asking for your preference or suggestion on a new parish name. All parishes have the opportunity to continue with the combined temporary name decreed July 1, or to establish a new identity for the parish community as outlined below:

Renew My Church Temporary Name

-Ascension and St. Edmund Parish

- Please note that church buildings are consecrated spaces that keep their current names. The naming process described here relate to the name of our Parish community boundaries.

Timetable and Naming Process

-All parishioners are invited to submit preferences and ideas from September 10 through September 25.

- Parishioner input will be consolidated down to a short list of names for RMC leadership to consider.

- Please note rationale for a suggested name is as important as the name itself.

- A name may pass screening because of a compelling justification.

- All parishioners are then invited to indicate their preferences pending the outcome of the suggestion phase.

- The Presbyteral Council will screen the submitted names.

-The Cardinal selects a unified parish name.

Guidelines:

- Mission-Driven. A community comprising two parishes, each with a proud history

- Thoughtfully consider how we will re-focus ourselves to the mission that Jesus entrusted to us.

- Unique Identity. Names are important and can define us uniquely.

- The names selected will reflect the identity of our newly unified parish.

- Names symbolize who we are and what we want to be as a faith community.

- Names of existing parishes, schools, or properties, in the archdiocese will not be considered.

- Saints and Feast Days. The names need not necessarily be saint names, but must pass canonical muster.

-Names should be associated with a feast day for the new parish to celebrate.

Internet links are offered for your convenience and consideration:

Let’s show our enthusiasm by inspiring the Cardinal with our ideas as he discerns the future name of our unified parish.

Peace,
Fr. Rex Pillai

Options to submit a suggested name:

1) Online using this form at:

https://forms.office.com/r/K1u2dp90r1

2) Fill out a provided paper and turn it in to a parish office. Note: Forms are available at all Church Entrances.

3) Or call your parish offices during the during office hours when you can reach a live staff person by phone, and they will input the information below. The deadline for submission is 11:59pm, Sunday, September 25, 2022.

September 1 Update

Honoring Our Past and Embracing Our Future

Our histories are important and should be honored! To that end, all are invited to submit a history of their time at Ascension Parish or St. Edmund Parish. Describe your story, your involvement, your joys, and your challenges. What you share is up to you. Include a picture, if possible. Our His-stories and Her-stories will be compiled into a beautiful book for learning about each other as we begin our combined journey as a new parish. This coffee-table style book will be available at a nominal cost to anyone interested. An electronic version will also be available for free.

To participate in this project, type or write your contribution and turn it in at either campus Parish Office, bring to church, give it to a Unification Team Member, or send it to the dedicated email below. Materials will be scanned into the master document. We have no firm deadline at this point, but definitely not until after the parish naming process is complete. Our stories are important, and this project will take time.

This project is intended to serve as a vehicle of transformation from our previous two parishes to one thriving, Spirit-led union. We hope all will participate!

Ministries Meeting

Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 7:00 pm in the
Pine Room on the Ascension Campus.

If you are interested in working on the Shared Stories Committee,

please contact us at [email protected]

This first meeting is intended for the leaders of the parish who are active in our various ministries. The focus is to bring parishioners together with similar interests to begin a dialogue. No merging of ministries is planned at this time. Rather, it is intended as a visioning process of what our parish can become.

August 26 Update

Last Saturday, August 20 5:30 pm Mass at St. Edmund

The rain moved the celebration indoors, but the “Mass and Meet” (Fr. Rex) was a sunny and warm affair. It was heartwarming to see the church filled with people and the musicians adding their heavenly voices to a concelebrated mass by Fr. Rex Pillai and Fr. John Lucas, assisted by Deacon Tom Dwyer. The reception afterward was filled with wonderful food prepared by the Reception Committee, music by parishioner DJ Dan Kane, with laughter and camaraderie provided by all who attended! Special thanks to JoAnn Lewandowski of the Reception Committee, Maria Allori, the Development Director at the St. Edmund campus, and Unification Team members Denise Walsh and Mary Darnall for helping to make the event a success!

This Sunday

Sunday, August 28, at the 10:30 am Mass at Ascension
Followed by a reception for all ages “On the Green” hosted by
the Knights of Columbus and the Unification Team.

Note: there will be no 11am Mass at St. Edmund on August 28th.
Any parishioner needing transportation to attend these events should contact the
Parish Office at either parish campus or use the email noted below.

Looking Ahead: Mark Your Calendars and Spread the Word for These Important Meetings!

Ministries Meeting

September 7, 2022, at 7 pm in the Pine Room on the Ascension campus.
This first meeting is intended for the leaders of the parish who are active in our various ministries. The focus is to bring parishioners together with similar interests to begin a dialogue.
No merging of ministries is planned at this time.

All Parishioner Meetings

Thursday, September 15, 2022, at 7 pm in the church at St. Edmund campus, and
Sunday, September 18, 2022, at 1 pm in the Pine Room at the Ascension campus.
These meetings will provide an overview of the process of unification to date, identify immediate needs, and discuss the anticipated process going forward.

We invite you to contact us through a dedicated email account: [email protected]

August 20 Update

Time to Meet and Greet

We will pray together through our Sunday liturgies and join in fellowship afterward.

Fr. Rex Pillai, our pastor, and Fr. Robert Carlton, our Associate Pastor, and members of the Unification Team will be present at these Masses and receptions. We hope you will be there!

Saturday, August 20th at the 5:30 pm Mass at St. Edmund.
Followed by a reception for all ages “On the Green” south of the church
hosted by the Reception Committee and the Unification Team.
(In case of rain, meet in Murphy Hall.)

Sunday, August 28, at the 10:30 am Mass at Ascension

Followed by a reception for all ages “On the Green” hosted by
the Knights of Columbus and the Unification Team.

Any parishioner needing transportation to attend these events should contact the
Parish Office at either parish campus or use the email noted below.

Mark Your Calendars and Spread the Word

Ministries Meeting

September 7, 2022, at 7 pm in the Pine Room on the Ascension campus.

This first meeting is intended for the leaders of the parish who are active in our various ministries.
The focus is to bring parishioners together with similar interests to begin a dialogue.
No merging of ministries is planned at this time.

All Parishioner Meetings

Thursday, September 15, 2022, at 7:00 pm in the church at St. Edmund campus, and
Sunday, September 18, 2022, at 1:00 pm in the Pine Room at the Ascension campus.

These meetings will be to provide an overview of the process of unification to date, identify immediate needs, and discuss the anticipated process going forward.

We invite you to contact us through a dedicated email account: [email protected]

Unification Team Update July 2022

On July 1, St Edmund’s and Ascension will officially unite as one parish with Fr. Rex Pillai as our Pastor. As you can imagine, there is much to do administratively to ensure a successful transition. But perhaps an even more important task is that of joining our hearts and minds into one new and vibrant community.

To that end, a small team made up of members of both parishes has begun to meet – the Ascension/St Edmund Unification Team. This team’s purpose is to begin weaving a new cloth out of our individual parish fabrics – to help us all form a new faith community.

This is not our task alone – we are simply the conduits to help us all come together. In the coming months, we will be sharing news of our activities and plans in this space, and by other means (social media, parish websites, etc). On designated Sundays, we will be available after masses to talk with you and will seek your feedback through additional channels. We understand that this process may be difficult, exciting, frustrating, and hopeful – all at the same time! But by sharing what’s in our hearts and on our minds with each other, we believe we can create a new community that we are all proud to be members of.

We invite you to contact us through our new email account: [email protected]. Tell us what’s on your mind about the unification of our parishes. We will consider all feedback as we move forward. We look forward to sharing this journey with you!

St. Edmund: Deacon Tom Dwyer, Denise Walsh, Mary Darnall and David Eilers

Ascension: Lisa Reed, Peter Kaye, Michaelene Malonowski and Deb Pastors

Oak Park Renew My Church Grouping Summary

November 2021

We are grateful for the opportunity to submit feedback to you. The pastors and pastoral leaders, parish delegates, and the hundreds of parishioners who participated in this process look forward to your feedback and response. We would like to continue and expand our collaborative ministry together. We are excited to continue inspiring disciples to accompany all members of our family of faith to a deeper personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Following our participation in an extensive discernment process, members of the Oak Park Grouping Team have agreed on several foundational principles, reflected in the Feedback and Implementation Considerations below.

• The Grouping Team has enthusiastically embraced the call to recognize that our four parishes are diverse parts of a single Church and welcomes the opportunity to form structures that will allow our existing communities to collaborate, grow out ministries, and evangelize our community together. Our Grouping has embraced our proposals to combine our efforts even at the expense of existing structures, and has been most resistant to proposals that would preserve the status quo at any member parish.

• The Grouping Team has also benefitted from the energetic and engaged lay leadership of its member parishes and believes that the success of any scenario will depend on the recognition that our flock should be led by a pastor or pastors who will take advantage of that energy, informed by the Spirit of Vatican II.

• In accordance with our parishes’ strong commitment to social justice, our Grouping would also welcome the creative repurposing of existing redundant facilities to new purposes that would serve the needs of our community.

• Finally, in part due to this same commitment to social justice, our Grouping Team asks that the Commission reject any scenario that would simply close the St. Catherine-St. Lucy church (“SCSL”). As set forth below, SCSL, serves as a visible reminder of the interrelationship between suburban Oak Park and Chicago’s underserved west side, and maintaining that church as a place of worship provides a unique opportunity to support not only future evangelization efforts but existing partnership with other Catholic resources in our community.

• Leadership: this Grouping is blessed with substantial lay leadership, informed by the spirit of Vatican II. Every parish has active and engaged parishioners, who have proven track records of participating and contributing to the liturgical and administrative lives of their parishes and engaging in social justice work in the world beyond the parishes. The ambitious plans preferred by the Grouping Team reflect the engaged and energetic lay leadership present here.

• The ordained leadership chosen to shepherd this diverse and highly engaged flock is critical to the Grouping’s success in carrying out the Renew My Church mission. Depending on which scenario is chosen, there will be a need for one or several pastors, each faced with well-educated and engaged parishioners. Additional associates will also be needed to support the unification and pastoral needs of the newly configured Grouping. It is important that the clergy chosen to be forward-looking and excited to create a vital Vatican II inspired Church. Anyone who yearns for or wants to re-instate a pre-Vatican II Church would stifle the palpable energy and commitment of the people of these parishes, and ensure the failure of the Renew My Church effort. Success is never assured, but it would have a much greater chance if we the Church were led by clergy who share this vision.

Conclusion
We are grateful for the opportunity to submit this feedback to you. The pastors and the pastoral leaders, parish delegates, and the hundreds of parishioners who participated in this process look forward to your feedback and response. We would like to continue and expand our collaborative ministry together. We are excited to continue inspiring disciples to accompany all members of our family of faith to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayerful reflection and consideration of this feedback regarding our future.

The Official Decree from the Archdiocese of Chicago on the combining of Ascension and St. Edmund Parishes

The official document from the Archdiocese can be read HERE

The Renew My Church Process

Dear Community Members,

You are invited to a special meeting on March the 8th at 7 PM. You may attend “live” in St. Giles McDonough Hall or you will have the opportunity to participate in the meeting on line via Zoom. Here is the link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82839923921?pwd=QW44NVpINW1yVENsU1pXaXh1RG1FZz09

Meeting ID: 828 3992 3921
Passcode: 322704

The purpose of this gathering is to share information and help understand our continuing Renew My Church Process. We will learn more about how this journey is both Spiritual – re- encountering Jesus Christ as disciples and parish communities – as well as Structural – ensuring our parishes have adequate resources for vitality.

We will learn more about this phase we are now in, Organization Transition, moving which will in turn move us to the third phase (Building Our New Reality).

There will be one meeting for all four parishes as we are merged into two new parish realities while still keeping some of our Oak Park Grouping connections we have already established. Please plan now to join us for this informative meeting, Tuesday March 8th, at 7 PM.

THE CATHOLIC PARISHES OF OAK PARK, IL
Ascension, St. Catherine/St. Lucy, St. Edmund, St. Giles

January 29, 2022

Dear Parishioners of the Oak Park Parishes,

We, your priests, write to share with you the results of the Renew My Church parish configurations. The pages that follow contains the official document coming from the Archdiocese of Chicago. You will find that the information is detailed, but offers a clear direction for building the new parochial reality that we shall soon begin to implement.

We are gratified that Cardinal Cupich, the auxiliary bishops, the archdiocese’s Presbyteral Council and the administrative leadership of Renew My Church, in coming to their decision, ultimately agreed with and chose to adopt much of what the Oak Park parish representatives had presented to them. To that end, we wish to thank so many of you who were involved in this lengthy but important process. The Grouping Members from the 4 parishes met regularly for months to pray about and discuss how to move forward in a manner that would honor our past, address current challenging realities and develop a blueprint for future. We are immensely grateful to them.

In addition, we wish to thank our parish Pastoral Staffs with whom we have had many discussions and from whom we have gained important insight for moving forward. Our Parish Councils have also been involved in these arduous and challenging discussions and we thank them sincerely for all the ways that they have guided us, encouraged us and offered valuable input to us.

Finally, we offer our heartfelt gratitude to you, our beloved parishioners, who have prayed along with us for a noble outcome, who have shared your thoughts and opinions with us and who have stayed the course, trusting that we would always have your best interest in mind as we addressed both the practical and pastoral needs of our 4 communities of faith.

The decision:
Ascension and St. Edmund Parishes will unite as one parish, effective July 1, 2022. Fr. Rex Pillai will become the pastor of this united parish.

St. Catherine / St. Lucy and St. Giles Parishes will unite as one parish, effective July 1, 2022. Fr. Carl Morello will become pastor of this united parish.

Let us continue to pray for one another as we embark upon this new and exciting time. Challenges are sure to arise, but let us recall what St. Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians tells us: “As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.” Let us, therefore, walk forward together in unity, embracing the new reality that we are asked to become and choosing to trust that the Holy Spirit shall walk along with us every step of this sacred journey.

May our Lord bless us all.

Fr. John McGivern
Pastor, St. Edmund Parish

Pastor Administrator, St. Catherine/St. Lucy Parish

Fr. Carl Morello

St. Giles Parish

Administrator, Ascension Parish

Fr. Rex Pillai
Associate Pastor, Ascension Parish

Oak Park Renew My Church Update: January 2022 from the Archdiocese of Chicago

Discernment Process

Ascension, St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy, St. Edmund and St. Giles Parishes engaged in the Renew My Church (RMC) review and discernment process over the past few months. The Grouping Feedback and Discernment team (GFDT), which was made up of members from each community, met to review and discern the future parish structure for the area. Our deepest appreciation goes to the GFDT who prayerfully discerned the parish structure during this challenging time of the pandemic.

Based on their meetings and feedback gathered from the larger parish community, they submitted feedback to the archdiocese, which included hope and commitment to work as a united Oak Park Catholic community regardless of the specific parish structure decided.

The Archdiocesan Standards and Recommendations Commission, which includes representatives from across the Archdiocese of Chicago, reviewed the feedback and other information, including financial summaries and parish trends.

Cardinal Cupich and Bishop Birmingham are grateful to Fr. Morello, Fr. McGivern, Fr. Pillai and the Grouping Team who gathered together, and all who offered feedback through the recent discernment process.

Outcome

In the past few weeks, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, the archdiocese’s auxiliary bishops, and the archdiocese’s Presbyteral Council met to discuss the Commission’s recommendation. Based upon those discussions and prayerful consideration, Cardinal Cupich made the following decisions regarding the parish structure in this grouping.

The parishes will be structured as two parishes, with expectations that pastors and leadership teams will continue the collaboration that has already begun across Oak Park. This reflects the hope and commitment expressed by the grouping team to work in concert as an Oak Park Catholic community.

 Ascension and St. Edmund will unite as one parish effective July 1, 2022.

o Both churches will continue to host a regular schedule of Masses. The specific schedule will be determined by the pastor in consultation with parish leadership.

o Ascension will formally be designated the parish church where the united parish’s sacramental records will be kept.

o Fr. Rex Pillai will serve as pastor of the united parish.

o The local community will discern possibilities for the permanent name of the united parish, within guidelines provided by the archdiocese, and submit three to five options to Cardinal Cupich.  Each church retains its name.

o Ascension School will serve as the parish-governed school.

 St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy and St. Giles will unite as one parish, effective July 1, 2022. o St. Giles will formally be designated the parish church where the united parish’s sacramental records will be kept.

o St. Catherine St. Lucy Church will remain sacred space with the worship schedule to be determined by the pastor in consultation with parish leadership. This may or may not include a regularly scheduled Sunday Mass.

o Fr. Carl Morello will serve as pastor of the united parish.

o St. Giles School will serve as the parish-governed school.

o St. Catherine St. Lucy School will continue in its current structure supported by Big Shoulders with pastoral support provided by the parish.

 Based on the hopes and commitment expressed by the grouping during the discernment process, the archdiocese affirms the Oak Park grouping’s vision to use St. Catherine St. Lucy campus as a base for powerful ministry outreach to the West Side of Chicago. Ministry outreach efforts will be supported by the entire Oak Park Catholic community.

Rationale

 The archdiocesan RMC Commission was grateful for the excitement from many in the grouping to work as one united Oak Park Catholic community, with the possibility of formally uniting in one parish.  Considering long-term priest placement needs and not wanting to lock into a parish structure that may not be manageable for future pastors, the archdiocesan RMC Commission proposed structuring the parishes as two parishes would be the most prudent decision at this time.

 Retaining two parishes at four campuses provides flexibility for future priest placement and also avoids complexity that would result in Ascension and St. Giles Schools being under the same parish entity. The archdiocese remains grateful for the support of Big Shoulders and Fenwick’s partnerships at St. Catherine St. Lucy School.

 Being structured as two parishes does not preclude efforts to work as a united Oak Park Catholic community. To best serve the areas of Oak Park, Austin and Galewood with two parishes, the archdiocese encourages parish leaders to continue to share ministries.

 The archdiocesan RMC Commission clearly heard the grouping’s desire to retain all four churches and supports continuing all as church buildings retaining their sacred character.

o The pastor and parish leadership team of the newly united St. Catherine-St. Lucy and St. Giles parishes will provide a recommendation regarding the frequency of worship at St. Catherine-St. Lucy Church, which may or may not include a regularly scheduled Sunday Mass.

 The archdiocesan RMC Commission encourages the Oak Park Catholic community to collaborate with the West Side Catholic community to envision how best to collectively address the spiritual and social needs of their shared ministry areas. This includes using the resources of both communities as well as their physical presence at St. Catherine St. Lucy, St. Martin de Porres, St. Agatha, and other Catholic institutions serving the community.

Next steps

 The renewal process calls us to become a stronger, more sustainable presence for the future capable of reaching more people in their work of making disciples of Jesus Christ, building communities with one another and inspiring witness in the world around us.

 The newly united parish communities will embark upon the next phase of renewal, focusing on strong evangelization to the world around us. We know that this structural change is just the beginning of our journey of renewal.

 Renewal of our Church means that every Catholic, every searcher, and everyone who loves Jesus and his Church, will have to look anew at what it means to be Jesus’ disciple and to live out that discipleship.

 Profound gratitude to all involved in the process to date, and prayers for all those who will take up the next phase of renewal, sharing faith and evangelizing those searching to know Jesus more deeply.

Renew My Church Update from the Archdiocese of Chicago

January 2022

Dear Parishioners,

We are pleased that Bishop Kevin Birmingham, our regional bishop and Cardinal Cupich’s representative to our region of the archdiocese, will be with us on Friday, January 28, at 8:00pm, to join us in prayer and share an important update on the future of our parishes. This will be held online.

Please go to www.renewmychurch.org/announcements for details about how to access the meeting from your computer or smartphone. You can go on the site today to register for the virtual announcement on January 28, 2022.

Discernment Team Feedback to the Archdiocese

November 2021

Dear Ascension Faith Community,

On November 16, the Renew My Church Grouping Discernment Team put the finishing touches on a feedback document to the Archdiocese, and with that, completed the first phase of the Renew My Church (RMC) process.

RMC is a comprehensive effort by the Archdiocese to revitalize the church in order to make disciples, strengthen and build communities, and inspire witness to faith in Jesus Christ. This first phase was devoted to determining which of six scenarios would result in the best use of buildings and ministries to carry out that mission. Perhaps you took the opportunity to attend some of the information and feedback sessions about the scenarios or participated in the Novena With a Twist that was part of this process.

The Grouping Team used data, its own experience, your feedback, and Foundational Principles provided by the Archdiocese, to determine the best scenarios for Oak Park. The Team is making two recommendations to the Archdiocesan RMC Commission: a two-parish scenario (with two different pairings of the parishes) and a one parish scenario. It is important to remember that the Team’s role was to discern and recommend, not to decide. That resides with the Cardinal.

Next steps are for the Writing Team members—a group that wrote up the work of the entire Team, consisting of one person from each of the parishes—to present the feedback to the Executive Committee of the RMC Commission on December 7. The Executive Committee will then make a recommendation to the full Commission, which refers up to the Vicar and Presbyteral Council and finally to Cardinal Cupich. He will announce his decision for the new structure for the churches in Oak Park on January 28.

During its last meeting, the team members talked about the process, and expressed their gratitude for aspects of the work they had done together. “I’m grateful for the people I’ve met from the other parishes through this process”; “I’m grateful for the openness and lack of defensiveness”; “I’m grateful for the support of the smaller parishes by the Team”; “I’m grateful for the hope and excitement I feel about the future of our church in Oak Park”. These were just some of the team members’ comments. The overall sentiment was one of gratitude for the opportunity to participate on the Team and for the work it did together.

After January 28, all parishioners will have the opportunity to engage in the next phase of Building the New Reality.

Let us continue our Advent journey to celebrate the birth of the One who fulfils all of our hopes and longings.

Blessings,

Fr. Rex

Call to Prayer

As the Renew My Church process in Oak Park unfolds, it is essential to ask the Holy Spirit to continue to guide us and all those who will be making recommendations and decisions. Therefore, the parishioners of Ascension, St. Catherine/St. Lucy, St. Edmund, and St. Giles will be coming together to participate in a prayer novena (nine days of continuous prayer).

The Novena will begin on Sunday, November 7 at our weekend liturgies. For the next eight days, you are invited to participate in daily prayer with Renew My Church as the intention. Some ideas to inspire you include:

1. Attend daily Mass
Ascension
Monday - Friday at 8:15 am
St. Catherine/St. Lucy
Tuesday at 8:30 am
Wednesday at 8:30 am
St. Edmund
Monday at 8:30 am
Friday at 8:30 am
St. Giles
Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 6:30 am
Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 am
Saturday at 8 am
2. Visit another Oak Park Church for personal prayer
3. Participate in Contemplative Prayer (Ascension Parish - Saturday mornings at 8:30 am)
4. Participate in Eucharistic Adoration (St. Giles Parish - Thursday at 7:00 pm)
5. Truth and Justice for Racial Healing (Zoom – Thursday at 7:00 pm)
6. Walk a Labyrinth. Some labyrinths in the area are located at Ascension Catholic Church courtyard, Dominican University, and First United Church (corner of Kenilworth and Lake Streets)
7. Pray the Rosary for Peace (St. Giles Parish – Saturday following 8:00 am Mass)
8. Color a Mandala
9. Take a 30-minute silent walk in nature

10. Sit silently for 30 minutes.

The Renew My Church Novena will conclude with an Evening Prayer Service on Monday, November 15 at St. Edmund Parish at 7:00 pm.

Novena Prayer for Oak Park Grouping Renew My Church

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful. And kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.

We call upon you as members of Ascension, St. Catherine/St. Lucy, St. Edmund and St. Giles Parishes to aid us in our discernment for your people. We trust in your guidance and in the gifts you have showered upon us: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, courage, reverence, right judgment, and wonder and awe.

Assist us, we pray:

to hear you clearly

to listen to each other attentively

to imagine our future boldly

to discern your direction wisely

to persevere in your holy will courageously

to stay together in charity to surrender our own plans readily

to embrace the greater good to hand on your gifts to future generations.

Enlighten our minds to discover the path you lay out for us that our combined efforts open hearts to faithful discipleship in Christ Jesus. Amen.

October 5, 2021

Dear Ascension Community,

We need your help! As Ascension Parish goes through the Renew My Church process with our neighboring Oak Park parishes, we are at a stage where a list of scenarios have been created and feedback from our parishioners is needed.

On October 4th, our parish gathered to hear about the Renew My Church efforts of the Oak Park Parish Grouping. We recognize getting away on a weeknight is not easy, so we did tape it and it is available here:

You can also access it on our YouTube channel here. The recording will provide all the information, we hope, that will allow you to offer your feedback to us to aid us in decision making.

To assist the small team representing Ascension in providing feedback to our larger Oak Park Grouping, we need you to offer your feedback. To offer feedback, please view the meeting recording via the link above, then access the feedback form here: Renew My Church Feedback Form (pdf). (Below is a link to a Word version of the form). Once you complete the form you can place it in the collection basket at church, drop it in the Parish Center mailbox at 808 S. East Ave, or email it to [email protected]. We must receive these forms or emails by this Sunday, October 10. Please know that your feedback is very important as decisions will be made based on suggestions from our parishioners.

If you would like to review the scenarios in written form one more time, you can find them below, or click here to view them. If you have a different scenario in mind that is not suggested in the materials provided, please add that on your feedback form.

We thank you for your participation in this important process. We know that our parish church is important to you. You and your families are important to us and we want to be able to continue to serve our parishioners in the future.

Please submit all feedback by this Sunday, October 10, 2021, either via the collection basket or, better yet, to our specially designated email address: [email protected].

Thank you for making the time to provide us with this important feedback.

Letter Announcing Scenarios and October 4 Town Hall Meeting - Updated September 29, 2021

Dear Ascension Community Members,

We invite you to lend your voice and efforts to the possible ways in which our communities are being called to the Renew My Church (RMC) process. Renewal requires envisioning, planning and a new way to bring Jesus Christ to others. To that end we are sharing with you some offered scenarios showing potential models of how our parishes could be configured in the near future. These scenarios are being shared with you for your review and discussion at each respective parish meeting. Please read the scenarios here. The pdf is also included above. Please mark your calendar for an open parish meeting to discuss and have questions answered regarding these scenarios. The meeting will be held on Monday, October 4, at 7:00 pm in the Church (please note the location change). We will also livestream the meeting. You can join us from home via our YouTube channel at

www.youtube.com/c/AscensionChurchYouTube

We hope you take the time to read through the scenarios, consider them, and share your feedback for what might be the best structure that enables us to breathe renewed life into our efforts to make disciples, build our communities and inspire witness to who we are as followers of Jesus Christ.

We hope you take the time to read through the scenarios, consider them and what might be the best structure that enables us to breathe renewed life into our efforts to make disciples, build our communities and inspire witness to who we are as followers of Jesus Christ.

Blessings,

Fr. Carl Morello

Pastor, St. Giles Parish, Administrator, Ascension Parish

Fr. Rex Pillai

Associate Pastor, Ascension Parish

Bulletin Letter from the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 19, 2021

Dear Ascension Faith Community,

Imagine a group of dispirited followers of Jesus who had locked themselves in an upper room amidst fear and suspicion. The room was occupied by a group of followers who were afraid that they would suffer the same fate as their master. So, they listened to every step on the stair; they waited for the knock of the executioner; they prayed that no one would discover their hiding-place and that the world would leave them safe in their sacred enclosure. However, that was not to be. The Holy Spirit changed their plans. Little did they realize that the Holy Spirit was not shy of the boundaries and barriers that people erect. The Holy Spirit cannot be stopped by locked doors and locked hearts. As one writer pointed out that ‘when the Spirit comes, it is not like a spring breeze that whispers unnoticed through a room; it is more like a hurricane that lays flat all the precious protections against its force.’ And the Spirit takes this group of dispirited followers and fires them with a new energy and a new enthusiasm and a new authority.

Some 2000 years later as those who have been baptized in the same Spirit, and called, we are the forebears of those in that upper room. As you are well aware, the Renew My Church is back in motion. Each small team from the four sites of Saints Catherine and Lucy, Saint Edmund, Saint Giles and Ascension will meet with our Archdiocesan Facilitator for our fourth meeting on Tuesday, September 21st. At this meeting we will continue to look at and discuss initial scenarios for the future of Oak Park and greater Catholic communities that are also a part of our parish communities. These scenarios are meant to bring to the table many creative possibilities to best use ministries and buildings for making disciples, strengthening and building communities, and inspiring witness to faith in Jesus Christ.

What is a scenario? It is considering how parishes might unite to be stronger together, or what would allow a parish to stand alone, fulfilling all as mentioned above. In looking at a vision for the future, the spiritual and structural renewal to which we are called are dependent upon one another. We must consider the best and the most efficient stewardship of our resources.

Once these scenarios are decided upon they will be brought forth to the parish. We plan to send them out on Friday, September 24, 2021. There will be an open parish meeting on October 3rd or October 4th to which all parishioners of respective parishes are invited to review these scenarios and offer feedback regarding the scenarios. As mentioned, these meetings will take place in each parish on the same weekend and on the same day and time. We will keep you posted on the date and time for this meeting here at Ascension. We plan to share more information with you as and when they become available. Thank you for your support and prayers as we continue this process of Renew My Church. Let us pray for one another.

Blessings,

Fr. Carl Morello, Administrator Fr. Rex Pillai, Associate Pastor

June 2021 Update on Renew My Church

June 2021

An Update on Renew My Church

A Letter from Fr. Carl and Fr. Rex

This letter can also be found in the bulletin for June 13, 2021

Dear Ascension Parishioners,

The heart of our Renew My Church effort is the parish grouping process—the goal of which is to ensure that all parishes across the archdiocese have the vision, leadership, resources, and operational foundation necessary to create an effective culture of evangelization that makes disciples, builds communities, and inspires witness.

Changing church attendance patterns over many decades has left many parishes heavily burdened by operational and financial concerns that limit their ability to have expansive ministry programs around evangelization and discipleship formation. A decreasing number of priests available to serve at parishes creates a need to rethink our leadership model to include a stronger lay leadership core team with proper governance structures for accountability. There is a need to ensure that we have a common understanding of proven evangelization programs and processes that are rooted in Catholic teaching.

All 344 parishes in the diocese have been joined into 98 groupings. Within these groupings, parishes will determine opportunities for collaboration and unity following a structured process for discernment, transition, and building a future together.

Many of today’s challenges require looking and working beyond our individual parish. The only way to make sustainable change in our communities is to work together in new and bold ways. Groupings are called to greater collaboration to take on these challenges with bold vision.

Our grouping consists of the 4 Oak Park parishes. Grouping parishes together allows for local-level ownership and planning to take place and ensures that local feedback is present within the process of renewal. Grouping allows for assessment of new parish models. Additionally, parish groupings help strengthen relationships between parishes, provide a better evaluation of the current realities within their community, make for a clearer discernment of what configuration would be best for their community, and more effectively identify what they each have to share and what the spiritual renewal in their community will look like.

A set of parishes is considered a good grouping if they: are reasonably close geographically. serve the same broader community (e.g. the parishes serve the same public-school district). have obvious commonalities and affinities (e.g. parishioners occasionally attend mass at more than one parish in the grouping).

Here at Ascension Parish, after much consultation and consideration, the 5 members of our parish grouping are: Maryanne Polega, Annie Bookmeier, Lisa Reed, Tom Gull, and Jim Schwarber. Mary Catherine Meek is the parish Pastoral Staff Member on the group and all of these individuals have demonstrated leadership and wisdom in a variety of ways in the parish.

The first meeting took place on Tuesday, June 8th. There will be several gatherings throughout the course of the next several months. Our goal is to create a few scenarios for what the new Catholic footprint will be in the Oak Park area. Once submitted, Cardinal Cupich will make the final determination as to what changes will actually be made.

We will continue to update you with information when it is made available. Please pray for the success of these proceedings and that they will indeed serve to make a more vibrant, healthy and sustainable Catholic community for everyone who currently worships at the 4 Oak Park parishes.

Blessings,

Fr. Carl Morello, Ascension Church Administrator &

Fr. Rex Pillai, Associate Pastor

May 2021 Letter to Oak Park Parishes from the Priests of Oak Park with an Update on Renew My Church

Letter from Oak Park Priests to the 4 Parishes Pentecost Sunday 2021

February 26, 2021 Introduction to Letter from Bishop Manz outlining the time frame for Renew My Church in Oak Park

February 26, 2021

Dear Ascension Parish Family,

This week, we are sharing a letter sent to the four Oak Park parishes from Bishop Manz. The letter outlines a time frame for our parishes to begin the Renew My Church, or RMC, process. The Renew My Church mission has as its priorities making disciples, evangelization and vocations, building communities, leadership development, mission vitality, operating stability, and finally, inspiring witness by our faith in action. All of these priorities stem from this fact, WE ARE CALLED BY JESUS CHRIST! The journey is meant to be spiritual, bringing people to a life-giving relationship in Jesus Christ, as well as the necessary changes that are needed in the structure and operations of our parishes. This is a quick overview of much of what RMC will require of each parish as we enter the process this June.

Please read the letter and join us in praying that the Holy Spirit, always with us, gives us wisdom, courage and guidance as we move toward this process.

Blessings,

Fr. Carl and Fr. Rex

This past January, Ascension parish council and staff joined the parish councils and staff of our fellow Oak Park parishes for an introductory zoom presentation on the RMC process.

Renew My Church Letter from Bishop Manz February 2021

Renew My Church letter for bulletin Feb 2021

Unification History to Present w U Team Priorities and Activities (2)