Posts related to the Renew My Church Initiative
Please read the letter that Cardinal Cupich has written to the parishioners of Queen of Angels and St. Matthias regarding the consolidation of our parishes and schools.
Letter from Cardinal Cupich dated December 4, 2019: English * Español
This letter is also printed in the December 15, 2019 bulletin.
Our hearts and prayers today are united with our brothers and sisters in our Lincoln Square grouping who have worked with us this Summer and Fall during the Renew My Church process:
Full Text of the Decision Document: English * Spanish
(Para leer en español la descripcion a bajo, haga clic de “Translate” en azul a la izquierda.)
The following structural changes decided on by Cardinal Cupich were announced by Bishop Hicks, Vicar General, and Mr. Cliff Barber, Chief Strategy Officer, at the November 8, 2019 community meeting:
Parishes and Churches:
Queen of Angels and St. Matthias Parishes will unite to form a new parish, effective July 1, 2020. Queen of Angels Church will be the parish church, where the pastor’s office and parish records will be kept. During the next year, St. Matthias Church will close as a site of regular worship.
St. Hilary and Transfiguration of our Lord Parishes will unite to form a new parish, effective July 1, 2020. St. Hilary Church will be designated the parish church, where the pastor’s office and parish records will be kept. During the next year, Transfiguration Church will close as a site of regular worship.
Schools
St. Hilary, St. Matthias, and Queen of Angels Schools will remain in their current programs, subject to each school remaining financially independent.
When one part of the body of Christ suffers, all parts suffer with it.
We may know that change is necessary because we have few priests and limited resources, but that does not make the changes easy to bear. We do not know or fully understand the grief and pain that others feel, because everyone experiences change and loss in different ways. Many are angry, many are scared, many are hurt. Please pray today for our community, our neighbors in the parishes and schools of our grouping, and for the leaders at the parish and archdiocesan level who will soon begin with work of putting these changes into practice.
Please join us for the announcement of the Renew My Church decision at 7 p.m. Friday, November 8 at St. Hilary Church, 5601 N. Bryn Mawr Ave. (corner of Bryn Mawr and California)! The parking lot is accessible from California and the meeting at 7 p.m. will be in the church.
Please read this information carefully before downloading
the feedback summary report at the bottom of this post.
Over the past several months, representatives from the four parishes of the Lincoln Square Grouping (St. Hilary, St. Matthias, Transfiguration and Queen of Angels) have met and collaborated as a Grouping Feedback and Discernment Team (GFDT) to prepare a feedback summary report for our archbishop, Cardinal Blase Cupich, and his advisors. The purpose of the report is to help these leaders be aware of the lived experience and pastoral realities of our parishes and schools, and to weigh the impacts of different possible scenarios for new structures of parishes and schools in our grouping. Click here for general information on the initial scenarios proposed and offered for parishioner feedback in September.
The final feedback summary was presented to the Renew My Church Commission’s Executive Committee on Monday, October 21. The Executive Committee will advise Cardinal Cupich and will act as liaisons to the Presbyteral Council, made up of priest representatives from across the archdiocese, who will also offer Cardinal Cupich their recommendation. The Executive Committee consists of:
The feedback summary is not a final determination of the future structure of parishes and schools in Lincoln Square. It is a summation of the conversations and perspectives discussed over the past several months concerning the various structural scenarios for our grouping. Ultimately, this prayerful process must – and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will – lead us to a parish model that best positions our community for renewing the Catholic presence in Lincoln Square for many more generations to come.
The final decision around structure(s) will not be made until after Cardinal Cupich and the auxiliary bishops hear feedback from the Archdiocesan Presbyteral Council, and the decisions may look different from what is reflected in this report. Until that time, please take the summary report for what it is – a transparent look at how the Grouping Feedback and Discernment Team prayed, listened to one another and to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and responded to the potential scenarios before us.
As with all things related to Renew My Church, we must be about making disciples, building community and inspiring witness. And none of us need wait for structural decisions to do this – we can do so right now and it all begins with prayer, within our own families and relationships, and our desire to follow our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you to all of our fellow parishioners who prayed for us during this journey and voiced their feelings, concerns and hopes along the way.
Sincerely in the Lord,
The Queen of Angels Renew My Church Grouping Team:
Rachel Hohner, Coordinator of Religious Education
Msgr. Jim Kaczorowski, Pastor *
Julia Kelly, Principal *
Martha Lacunza
Loretta Namovic * (Writing Team General Editor)
Guillermo Tenorio
Christina Tomaso * (Writing Team Representative)
* = members in the delegation presenting to the Executive Committee
ALL parishioners are invited to reflect on and share their thoughts about the proposed scenarios for the Lincoln Square grouping. These scenarios were discussed and some feedback was gathered from those present at meetings on Tuesday, September 17 and Thursday, September 19. To help us in our planning, please submit feedback on the scenarios by the end of the weekend of September 21-22.
Scenarios Handouts:
(previously shared through the bulletin on September 8th and 15th)
Agenda for Parish Session 2: English * Spanish
Opening Prayer of John Henry Newman, The Mission of My Life: English * Spanish
Summary of Grouping Data: English * Spanish
Working with the neighboring parishes in our Lincoln Square grouping, we have been invited to consider and give feedback on how we can collaborate for spiritual renewal, align resources to invest in ministry, and renew our parishes and schools. To initiate discussion, the Archdiocese has offered a set of initial scenarios that show potential models of how our parishes and schools could be configured in the future. Please plan to come to our next parish meeting to learn more and share your feedback and input:
The initial scenarios (5 for parishes, 2 for schools) are described in the handout included with the bulletin on September 8, 2019 or in the links below:
These initial scenarios are only conversation starters, and they will be shared in detail at our next parish session on September 17 and 19. No decisions have been made. These scenarios will be evaluated against a set of criteria determined using data across the Archdiocese for how a structure would support vitality and ensure viability, such as:
As we review the scenarios, it is important for all us to do so prayerfully keeping in mind that the spiritual and structural renewal to which we are called to foster are connected. The best and most effective and efficient stewardship of our resources (structural renewal) can allow us to invest more into the ministries that directly work toward making disciples, building community and inspiring witness (spiritual renewal). Just as Jesus asks us to pray always, He also invites us to trust always. Together, we pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to determine how Our Lord will use existing structures to create new ones that bring more people into relationship with Him.
As always, for more information, please visit RenewMyChurch.org, or ask me.
—Monsignor Jim Kaczorowski, Pastor