Renew My Church: Parish Conversation to Discuss our Future

 As Jesus Christ calls us to constantly renew His Church, we must be prepared to lend our voice and efforts to the possible ways in which we bring about that needed renewal. Included here is a summary of where we are today, but much more will be shared in our next parish meeting. Please come to learn more and share your feedback and input. 

Process Overview 

Renewal requires envisioning, planning, and new means to bring Jesus Christ to others. There are nearly 100 groupings of parishes and schools across the Archdiocese engaging in a process to address necessary questions of structure, how to work together across communities within each grouping, and to establish a strong foundation for vitality through focused evangelization and faith formation efforts. Supporting our parishes with the best structures enables us to breathe renewed life into our efforts to make disciples, build communities, and inspire witness. 

Initial Scenarios 

To initiate discussion, the Archdiocese has offered a set of initial scenarios that show potential models of how our parishes could be configured in the future. These initial scenarios have been developed accounting for data such as demographics, Mass attendance, financial and facility conditions. The scenarios reflect input from archdiocese staff, vicariate leaders, and local pastors. 

These initial scenarios, which will be shared in detail at our next parish meeting, are conversation starters only. No decisions have been made. The Grouping Feedback & Discernment team may propose additional scenarios they believe merit discussion as long as they would be viable. 

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: 

• Ministerial and spiritual needs of the parish: To enliven the work of evangelization, formation, worship, and pastoral care in today’s time and culture, parishes ordinarily will build a strong staff team to support the pastor. Staff teams will be professionally trained and justly paid. To support this staffing and basic operations, such as paying utilities, parishes generally will need operating revenue of $750,000 or more (excluding rental income). 
• Parishioner count and Mass attendance: Based on the number of pastors expected to be available across the Archdiocese in the future, a minimum of 800 parishioners attending weekend Mass is generally needed to be assigned a full-time, resident pastor. In addition, parishes need enough people power (i.e, parishioner count) to support vibrant ministries. 
• Pastoral manageability: It is critical that our structures support our pastors and pastoral teams to focus as much time and energy as possible on ministry. These structures need to be realistic to manage, considering potential travel between campuses, sacramental coverage, and administrative, facility, and ministerial needs. 
• Parish financial stability and facilities: Parish financial stability and adequate, accessible and safe facilities with capacity for growth and affordable ongoing repair/maintenance. 

Note on Foundational Principles in relation to the challenges posed by COVID-19 

The foundational principles written above remain the benchmarks against which to consider the viability of structural scenarios. Parish data will need to be compared against the foundational principles considering both pre-COVID data (i.e., Fiscal Year 2019 financials and October 2019 Mass attendance) and how COVID has impacted the financial sustainability of each parish and potential scenario. What is important is how those financial implications affect the future. Short-term financial challenges should not significantly influence decisions. However, where it is clear the effects will continue into the future, that reality will need to be included in evaluation of each scenario. 2 

Additional Information and Definitions for Reading the Initial Parish Scenarios: 

The next page includes the initial scenarios for our grouping, which consists of: 

• St. Athanasius Parish 
• St. Joan of Arc Parish 
• St. Mary Parish 
• St. Nicholas Parish 
• Sheil Center Campus Ministry 

The schools of St. Athanasius, The Academy of St. Joan of Arc, and Pope John XXIII are important Catholic education ministries in the grouping. However, school structures are not in the scope of this discernment process. Some parish scenarios may require discussion about school governance / relationship to parish, but no changes are proposed to school structures nor programs. 

Key data points for each parish are listed on the final page of this document. 

Reading the scenarios, it is important to distinguish between the words parish and church. 

Parish = The People, Community, Organization 

Church = Building; the sacred space in which we worship 

A united parish has one pastor, budget, staff, Finance Council, etc. – but may have multiple churches. The assets of each parish uniting as one parish become the assets of the united parish. 

A united parish may take the form of a new parish with a new name (Parish A and Parish B form New Parish C) or Parish B becoming part of Parish A. In either case, the church buildings retain their names. So Church B would still be Church B even if it becomes part of Parish A. 

When a parish would have two churches, one of the churches would be designated as the parish church where the sacramental records would be kept. 

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. 

Your input is needed 

Again, these initial scenarios are conversation starters only. No decisions have been made. We are asked to provide feedback on the initial scenarios from the Archdiocese and propose alternative scenarios and configuration models. 

Please come to our next parish meeting to learn more and share your feedback and input. 3 

Initial Parish Scenarios for Discernment 

As noted on page 2, school structures / programs are not in scope of this discernment process. Some parish scenarios may necessitate discussion about school governance / relationship to parish, but no changes are proposed to school structures nor programs. 

Parish scenario 1 – Sheil Center + 2 parishes 

Sheil Center remains in its current structure as campus ministry with a full-time priest director. 

Parish 1: St. Nicholas remains in its current parish structure. 

Parish 2: St. Athanasius, St. Joan of Arc, and St. Mary unite as one parish at three sites, two sites, or one site. 

Parish scenario 2 – Sheil Center + 2 parishes 

Sheil Center remains in its current structure as campus ministry with a full-time priest director. 

Parish 1: St. Mary + St. Nicholas unite as one parish at two sites. 

Parish 2: St. Athanasius + St. Joan of Arc unite as one parish at two sites or one site. 

Parish scenario 3 – 3 parishes, connecting Sheil campus ministry with a parish 

Parish 1: St. Nicholas remains in its current parish structure. 

Parish 2: St. Athanasius + St. Joan of Arc unite as one parish at two sites or one site. 

Parish 3 + campus ministry: St. Mary + Sheil Center campus ministry unite as one with two locations in Evanston. 

• Priest staffing scenario 1: 1 priest leader with dual roles of Pastor + Director of Sheil Center 
• Priest staffing scenario 2: 2 priests; 1 pastor + separate priest Director of Sheil Center 

Parish scenario 4 – 3 parishes, connecting Sheil campus ministry with a parish 

Parish 1: St. Nicholas remains in its current parish structure. 

Parish 2: St. Mary + St. Joan of Arc unite as one parish at two sites or one site. 

Parish 3 + campus ministry: St. Athanasius + Sheil Center campus ministry unite as one with two locations in Evanston. 

• Priest staffing scenario 1: 1 priest leader with dual roles of Pastor + Director of Sheil Center 
• Priest staffing scenario 2: 2 priests; 1 pastor + separate priest Director of Sheil Center 

Average weekend Mass attendance (October Count)
Year	St. Athanasius	St. Joan of Arc	St. Mary	St. Nicholas	Sheil Center
Oct. 2019	438	555	527	1,177	512
Oct. 2018	447	472	576	1,124	573
Oct. 2014 (5-yr)	630	528	706	1,040	619
Oct. 2009 (10-yr)	683	505	673	1,256	778
Oct. 1999 (20-yr)	865	582	954	1,048	968
% of parish’s attendance by language (2019)	100% English	100% English	98% English  2% French Creole	53% English  47% Spanish	100% English
Church seating capacity	600	400	500	550	-
Baptisms, Weddings, and Funerals (based on July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019)
Baptisms <7 yrs old	24	9	18	76	-
Weddings	7	1	9	14	-
Funerals	14	14	14	36	-

Parish Data Finances (church only; no school financials included)
FY19 income statement	St. Athanasius	St. Joan of Arc	St. Mary	St. Nicholas
Collections	$592,383	$368,065	$400,155	$817,864
Total operating revenue incl. collections, excl. rental	$739,616	$508,589	$483,001	$1,171,015
Additional rental income	$16,000	$15,000	$286,978	-
Total operating revenue	$755,616	$523,589	$769,979	$1,171,015
Total operating expenses	$709,042	$472,392	$935,603	$1,143,392
Operating surplus / (deficit)	$46,574	$51,197	($165,624)	$27,623
FY20 income statement	St. Athanasius	St. Joan of Arc	St. Mary	St. Nicholas
Collections	$569,326	$328,378	$356,458	$820,779
Total operating revenue incl. collections, excl. rental	$718,862	$430,553	$420,186	$1,158,465
Rental income	$14,240	$76,003	$296,144	-
Total operating revenue	$733,102	$506,556	$716,330	$1,158,465
Total operating expenses	$663,108	$570,790	$889,816	$1,164,997
Operating surplus / (deficit)	$69,994	($64,234)	($173,486)	($6,532)
Savings on deposit with archdiocesan bank (no parish has debt)
Total savings	$1,998,630	$218,846	$950,983	$1,614,292

RMC First Session
Monday, September 13, 2021
Renew My Church Update

On Monday, September 13, 2021, the Evanston Grouping held its first meeting of the Discernment & Decision phase of Renew My Church. St. Athanasius hosted the grouping teams from St. Joan’s, St. Mary’s, and St. Nick’s for a tour, dinner, and meeting. The Sheil Center team was unable to be there on the 13^th, because of the Freshman First Night for students and parents, so they attended a separate session for only them at the Sheil Center on Thursday the 15^th. The session was led by our three-person facilitating team. 

We began with introductions so the grouping team members could get to know each other better. Then the facilitators led us through the overall vision of Renew My Church and described the roles and responsibilities of the grouping team members. Our team members noted this important reminder:  the Renew My Church journey is both spiritual and structural. Our goal is to responsibly utilize our resources so our parishes can more effectively make disciples, build communities, and inspire witness. 

Our next meeting will be on Monday, September 20, 2021, and will be hosted by St. Joan of Arc Parish. At that meeting we will be given more information about the characteristics of our grouping parishes.

We thank the members of our Evanston Grouping Teams for accepting the call to serve. Please continue to pray for them and all Evanston Catholics as we work to fulfill the charge Jesus made to St. Francis of Assisi to Renew His Church.

In Christ,
Fr. Hernan Cuevas
Fr. Kevin McCray
Fr. Bradley A. Zamora
Fr. Tom Baldonieri
Fr. Anderson

RMC Second Session
Monday, September 20, 2921
Renew My Church Update

On Monday, September 20, 2021, the Evanston Grouping held its second meeting of the Discernment & Decision phase of Renew My Church.  St. Joan of Arc hosted the grouping teams from St. Athanasius, St. Mary’s, St. Nicks’ and the Sheil Center for a tour, dinner, and meeting.

The meeting began with a reminder of the 3 mission imperatives of Renew My Church which are making disciples, building communities, and inspiring witness. The facilitators then discussed that the goal for the meeting was to become aware of the grouping realities and to identify strengths and challenges of the Evanston grouping as a whole.  Data from all parishes and the Sheil Center about Mass attendance, demographics, and finances was shared with all the members of the RMC team.  

The team worked in groups comprised of all 4 parishes and the Sheil Center to evaluate the data and determine the overall strengths and challenges of the Evanston grouping and identified the overall strengths and challenges as:

Large Group Consensus

• Strengths
  • Financially no debt; good savings
  • Diversity
  • Collaboration *
  • Robust Schools *
  • Active Lay Leadership
  • Similar Challenges
  • Strong Interfaith Connection
• Challenges
  • Operating deficit
  • Shrinking attendance
  • Aging and mobile worshippers
  • Many worship choices in Evanston
  • Engagement – General
  • Priest shortage
  • Not engaging youth
  • Distrust of institutions

The night ended with an encouragement to continue to learn more about each other’s faith communities and to continue to reflect on the strengths and challenges of the Evanston grouping.

Please continue to pray for the members of the Evanston Grouping Teams and all Evanston Catholics as we work to fulfill the charge Jesus made to St. Francis of Assisi to Renew My Church.

In Christ,
Fr. Anderson
Fr. Tom Baldonieri
Fr. Hernan Cuevas

Fr. Kevin McCray

Fr. Bradley A. Zamora

RMC Fifth Session
Monday, October 18, 2021
Renew My Church Update

On Monday, October 18, 2021, the Evanston Grouping held its fifth meeting of the Discernment & Decision phase of Renew My Church. St. Joan of Arc hosted the grouping teams from St. Athanasius, St. Mary’s, St. Nicks’ and the Sheil Center.

The meeting began with a reminder of the 3 mission imperatives of Renew My Church which are making disciples, building communities, and inspiring witness. The facilitators then discussed that the goal for the meeting was to share impressions and themes from the individual parish sessions, to continue to discuss feedback on the scenarios and to equip the writing team with ideas to create a draft of how the different scenarios meet the three mission imperatives of RMC.

Each team from the 4 different parishes and Sheil center reported out a summary of the feedback that was discussed at each of the individual parish sessions. Based on what was heard and considered each team member then rated each scenario based on whether they thought it met the RMC aspirations, that it somewhat met the RMC aspiration or that it did not meet the RMC aspirations.

The night ended with the writing team meeting to discuss the next steps of the writing process to prepare the first draft of the feedback summary to be reviewed at grouping session 6 which will take place on November 1, 2021.

Please continue to pray for the members of the Evanston Grouping Teams and all Evanston Catholics as we work to fulfill the charge Jesus made to St. Francis of Assisi to Renew My Church.

In Christ,

Fr. Anderson
Fr. Tom Baldonieri
Fr. Hernan Cueva

s
Fr. Kevin McCrayFr. Bradley A. Zamora

Renew My Church Overview

Let us pray for all of us as we enter into Renew My Church calling during these months. Let us pray for an open mind and heart to see us a missionary church. It is in the spirit of renewal and collaboration that we will re-encounter Jesus Christ as we have conversations with members of other parishes. We are called to bring the best of each other as disciples of Christ. Let us keep in mind that Christ calls us to have a personal transformation and conversion of heart.

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Participating Evanston Parishes

• Saint Joan of Arc
• Saint Mary
• Saint Nicholas
• Saint Athanasius
• Sheil Center

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Renew My Church Vision

Renew My Church is our answer to God’s call to Rebuild his church in Chicago. Why is there a need for renewal? We are facing not an “age of change,” but “a change for the ages.” We are now in a missionary age. Pope Francis calls us to work towards a renewed model of a parish. Our Chicago journey is both structural, (to ensure our parishes have adequate resources for vitality) and spiritual (to re-encounter Jesus Christ as disciples and parish communities). The three important elements to drive renewal: Christ calls us to a personal transformation and conversion of heart, Christ calls us to ensure that our methods serve our mission, Christ calls us to communion and collaboration recognizing that we all bring different gifts necessary to support one another in this work of renewal.

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Timeline

Familiarization – April through August  During this time, Pastors are inviting 5 members from their parish community (Principal, paid staff and 3 more non-staff) to pray and consider to be part of the Grouping Feedback and Discernment Team. Renew My Church (RMC) Archdiocesan Staff is in the process of assigning a facilitator who will manage the process for the grouping. Besides the facilitator, we will also have support from the Vicariate Team and Pastoral Accompaniment Team. Priests will have a preparation retreat in late July or August.  Discernment and Decision – 4 to 6 months starting in September  The Pastor and 5 parish members will form a Grouping Feedback and Discernment Team. The team will start their formal meetings with the other parishes after Labor Day.  Organizational Transition – 8 to 12 months following Discernment and Decision  Planning and execution of steps needed to create a new parish. Building the New Reality  This ongoing process will commence when the new parish is ready.

Renew My Church Team

Father Anderson – Pastor

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Pam Fitzell and her husband Steve have been Saint Joan of Arc parishioners for 38 years (1983-present) and their 4 children all attended Saint Joan of Arc School.

Pan has been involved in parish and school leadership and volunteer activities during the past 4 decades including Women’s Club, Parent-School Organization, church ministry and outreach. She is currently a lector, Eucharistic Minister and Arc of Hope Uganda board member.

Pam worked for the First National Bank of Chicago in international operations and corporate lending from 1976-1990.

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Sean Madden and his wife Jo Ellen moved into the Saint Joan of Arc Parish in 1989. Their sons Michael, Will and John were all born here, received their holy sacraments in our parish and graduation from Saint Joan of Arc School.

Sean currently serves as the Chairperson of the Parish Pastoral Council and has previously served on and chaired the School Board. Jo Ellen heads the alumni group, was choir director for 20 years and is a past president of the Women’s Club.

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Holly Pickering is a 13 year member of Saint Joan of Arc. She is married to Chris Pickering and together they have three children ages 15, 12, and 8 attending The Academy at Saint Joan of Arc and Loyola Academy.

Holly works as a fundraiser for Golden Crescent Habitat for Humanity and greatly enjoys serving the Saint Joan of Arc community, which has given her family a spiritual home.

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Jake Noble has been a parishioner at Saint Joan of Arc for the past 10 years along with his wife Kate and two sons, Mathew and Lucas. During that time Jake has been a volunteer catechist and over the years has taught several different grades (3rd and 7th). He is also a convert to the faith, having completed RCIA at the Sheil Catholic Center in 2001.

Professionally, Jake is Managing Director of the Commercial Real Estate group for CIBC Bank USA, a commercial bank headquartered in Chicago.

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Kristina Reyes has been part of the Saint Joan of Arc parish for the past 3 years. Kristina has been an educator for over 23 years in the archdiocese of Chicago and is currently the Head of School for the Academy at Saint Joan of Arc.

Event Calendar

Session	Audience	Topics	Date	Time	Location
Grouping Session 1	All Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Introduction to Renew My Church Vision and Process, and Roles	Monday, September 13	6:30PM	St Anastashia
Grouping Session 1 (continued)	All Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Introduction to Renew My Church Vision and Process, and Roles continued	Thursday, September 16	6:30PM	Sheil Center
Grouping Session 2	All Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Our Realities, Our Grouping Strengths and Challenges	Monday, September 20	6:30PM	St Joan of Arc
Grouping Session 3	All Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Receive Scenarios, Question and Answer Sessions	Monday, September 27	6:30PM	Sheil Center
Grouping Session 4	All Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Continued Discussion and Reflection on Scenarios, Identify Writing Team, Prepare for Parish Session 2.	Monday, October 4	6:30PM	St Nicholas
Town Hall	St Joan of Arc Parishioners	Parishioners share feedback on grouping scenarios.	October 12	7:00 PM	St Joan of Arc Church Hall
Grouping Session 5	All Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Continued discussion and reflection on scenarios, Writing Team preparation, last opportunity to add an alternative scenario, determine if a third parish session is needed.	Monday, October 18	6:30PM	St Joan of Arc
Grouping Session 6	All Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Draft 1 of feedback summary - Continued Discussion and Reflection on Scenarios.	Monday, Nov 1	6:30PM	Sheil Center
Grouping Session 7	All Pastors and Grouping Feedback and Discernment Teams	Complete final draft of Summary, Next Steps, Honorable Closure.	Monday, Nov 15	6:30PM	St Anastashia
Prep for Executive Committee Presentation	Pastors, Writing Teams, Principles	Prepare needs determined by the writing team	Monday, Dec 6	TBD	TBD
Presentation to Executive Committee	Pastors, Writing Teams, Executive Committee	Pastors and Writing Team present Feedback Summary to Executive Committee	Thursday, Dec 9