Notes on the Transitions,
Number 4 in a Series
Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Tacoma
Last night, the Holy Rosary and Visitation parish Transition Teams met together for the first time. The meeting was chaired by our incoming pastor, Very Rev. Nicholas Wichert.
Also there were our current pastor, Rev. Jacob Maurer, and Leigh Stringfellow from the office of the Vicar of Clergy.
This is a great bunch of folks. It was interesting to meet some of the folks from Visitation again, seven or eight years since I last worked there.
Most of us there have worked our way through the grieving process, but as we discussed last weekend’s survey, many of those scabs were ripped open again.
Even so, the united team was positive and focused on the future. There’s a real sense of positivity and of making this “arranged marriage” work.
It was interesting to note how many people on the Visitation team had once been parishioners at Holy Rosary, and of course I worked for Visitation for years. I think that contributed quite a bit to our ability to get right down to work.
Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Tacoma
We spent most of our time together talking about the Sunday Mass changes.
The analysis of the survey results was not quite done, but we were able to share our experiences in looking at the filled-out surveys and entering the data, not to mention the questions and comments we received during and after the Masses.
As a result of our conversation, the Transition Team is putting together a Question and Answer sheet for distribution at the Masses. Our plan is to do one every week to address the most pressing questions and concerns.
This week’s topics are:
- This survey was confusing! Why?
- Why ask our date of birth in the survey?
- Why don’t I have the option of my Mass time?
- When I don’t see my Mass time it makes me feel unwanted.
We also talked about fellowship opportunities, as well as the best way to welcome and involve the folks who will inevitably be displaced from one parish or the other.
I’m excited about some of the possibilities. These are two vibrant and growing parishes, and their strengths and weaknesses seem to be mirror images of each other. Together, we are far stronger than either of us on our own.
The unified Transition Team will continue to communicate through email, and we plan to meet again.
Given that both of our parishes are Marian and that today, in addition to being the Vigil of the Assumption, is also the memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, I will leave you with this thought:
