Our third parish family townhall gathering (September 27, 2024 – Queen of Angels, Port Angeles)

by | Oct 6, 2024 | Catholic communities of the Olympic Peninsula (Parish Family 49), Parish life, Reflections

I am pleased to share with you the audio of our monthly parish family townhall gathering. As always, you may watch the video here – and I’ve included the timestamps below for reference & easy access – but the best way to navigate the video is to watch it on YouTube and use the timestamps there.

I want to take a moment to offer my apologies to those who showed up at 6 pm thinking it was starting then…..because the pastor (that’s me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) wrote the wrong time in his bulletin insert. I am sorry for the bad information and for leaving you waiting an extra half hour – though I am very grateful for your willingness to stick around!

It should also be noted that we had some sort of technical difficulty with the recording itself. For reasons unknown, the recording app on my phone stopped recording at about the 45 minute mark. Moreover, I didn’t notice until 30 minutes after that! Happily, I did eventually notice and the recording resumes at that point. I’ve tried to fill in the gap a bit with what I remember from the last question before technical difficulties, but that unrecorded time is mostly lost. I’m sorry about that. I will be purchasing a dedicated device for recording future townhall gatherings.

Our next parish family townhall gathering will be at Saint Joseph parish in Sequim on Friday, October 25th from 6:30 pm to 8 pm. Especially if you haven’t (yet!) come to one of these, consider joining us for both updates and fraternity. I look forward to seeing you there!

The third of our monthly parish family townhall gatherings. Held on the fourth Friday of each month and at a different church within the Catholic communities of the Olympic Peninsula, these gatherings are an opportunity for the pastor to provide updates on the state of the parish family and for parishioners to ask questions, receive answers, and offer feedback as we discern how we will become one parish family as part of Partners in the Gospel.

(The date in the video is incorrect – this actually took place on Friday, September 27, 2024)

  • 00:00 – Pre-recording explanation of technical difficulties
  • 00:58 – Opening prayer
  • 02:53 – State of and updates about the parish family
  • 16:15 – Q&A begin
  • 17:25 – Why aren’t we haven’t blessings for children and non-Catholics during communion time at Mass?
  • 26:50 – What about having a special blessing for those who can’t/don’t receive after Mass?
  • 27:22 – Are there plans to offer some kind of special opportunity for students of public schools to serve as ministers at Mass
  • 33:13 – Further concerns/questioning about blessings at communion time
  • 36:04 – What about putting off changing and putting the question to the bishop?
  • 39:35 – Is the question of blessings at communion doctrine or discipline?
  • 41:03 – Didn’t the family Mass – that aimed at including children & young adults participating as ministers – end up with the same people volunteering over and over?
  • 44:21 – Especially given issues of disruptions at Mass by mentally ill and/or homeless visitors, could we establish security teams at our parishes?
  • 52:34 – Resumption of regular recording after technical difficulties
  • 52:46 – Question about starting new initiatives for adult faith formation

this question followed on the heels of a similar question asked during the time when the recording failed. The general answer offered is that Father Maurer is VERY eager to support parishioners in starting new initiatives provided that 1) the initiative is consistent with the mission of the parish, 2) there is a feasible plan to pull it off (short or long term), and 3) there are at least three people willing to take responsibility for leading the new initiative

  • 54:32 – Would it be possible to keep vigil Masses at both Queen of Angeles and Saint Joseph?
  • 56:52 – Why couldn’t we have two vigil Masses on Saturday?
  • 59:56 – Is it possible to have a Sunday Mass at 5:00 pm?
  • 01:03:16 – Questions/concerns about the possibilities of what three Masses on Sunday might look like
  • 01:06:46 – Concern about Sunday evening Mass being a priest-killer
  • 01:07:34 – How is the chancery addressing priestly vocation discernment?
  • 01:17:38 – Closing prayer

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