2011

Regarding our Saint Rita Parish Staff—

With the vacancy of our parish staff Administrative Assistant position, we are examining our employee and volunteer "flow chart." Anyone who gave a read to my sharing what the job description of the Administrative Assistant position entailed during Sheila Palazzolo's time, would have seen the obvious impossibility of finding anyone else to do the same. As ministries developed here at St. Rita and funerals tripled, three areas of attention evolved in a significant way—and this, by the way, is a compliment to the deep desire of the parish "to become more as a vital faith community in the Lord's vineyard. Those three areas are Administration Assistance; Orchestration of Ministries; and Facilities Management. In many parishes these are all paid positions (full or part time). Over the next couple of months, it will be our challenge to creatively adjust and reconstruct our staff flowchart of responsibilities to match today's realities of parish life and ministry at St. Rita. Please pray for us! In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to inform our parishioners of some of those realities in more detail.

In a council meeting some time last year, one of the members made the observation that "some of our people don't understand why the parish needs so many staff these days." I have a lot of responses to that observation, but perhaps the most significant would be: "As the priest shortage becomes more acute, the parishes that are strong, vital, and growing, are the ones that will remain. As pastor, I feel that it is my obligation to guide and encourage our parish to move in that direction. My motivation: Read the Centennial Book! Stay tuned. More to come.