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Strategic Planning Update

August 2025

Our Steering Committee met on Saturday morning. The full minutes from our meeting are linked here. Below are a couple of the highlights from the meeting.

  • As a Steering Committee we will be shifting the schedule of our meetings from monthly to every other month, but we will continue with our monthly parish email updates and articles in the bulletin.
  • We discussed the current state of the Love, Pray, Grow tithing effort and are very grateful and pleased at the early response from our parishioners so far. Thank you!!!
  • We will be planning for a parish and school golf outing fundraiser for sometime in 2026 as we just ran out of time to pull one together for this fall.
  • Culture Committee
    • The Committee welcomed Bonnie Furlong as its newest member.
    • The Committee discussed the monthly movie nights, with the next scheduled for September 9th, and the recent Garden Party to kickoff the Venetian Festival.
    • Preparations for the upcoming Rock the Rectory event, that will be in lieu of our annual picnic, were discussed as the planning continues. We are hoping for a great turnout from our parish and community. We are asking everyone to help spread the word.
    • The next parish pilgrimage was shared. We will be travelling to Ireland in the Fall of 2026 (September 28th through October 9th). A brochure will be coming out shortly with additional information.
  • Worship & Evangelization
    • The Committee is working on organizing a local pilgrimage for our parish to the Cross in the Woods for mass sometime in September.  This will provide our parishioners with an opportunity to gain an indulgence related to this year’s Jubilee. More details will be shared soon.
    • Novena for the Feast of the Assumption will begin on Wednesday August 6th.
    • The 33 days of video links for the Consecration to Mary are being shared out in the Parish email communications.
    • The Committee is working on the development of core teams for the following stages of their Catechetical Plan:
      • Pre Evangelization
      • Evangelization
      • Catechesis
      • Discipleship & Mission
    • The Committee is also working on filling out the Liturgical Environment team to help assist Father with the decoration of the church throughout the year.
  • Facilities
    • The Emergency Operations Team came together last week to review their plan where they put into place medical Go Bags, reviewed the use of our onsite AED’s, and planned for an upcoming training for our Ushers & Facilities Committee.
    • The State Police Safety Grant is still in motion and we are hoping to have the funds in time for some of our planned upgrades this fall.
    • The Master Plan for our entire parish campus was discussed as we look towards the future and consider some of our existing needs within our current facilities.
    • The air conditioning and sound system upgrades received some very promising news by the way of several donations to cover the related costs. These will both be presented to our Finance Council on Monday the 4th for approval.
  • School Committee
    • Our School Committee did not meet in July. They are scheduled to meet on August 19th.
  • Finance Council
    • The Finance Council has not met since our last meeting and they will meet on Monday the 4th.
    • Both the church and school did finish the last year in a deficit. A balanced budget was passed for the coming year with a couple of assumptions that we will be working on to ensure that they meet, and hopefully exceed our expectations.
  • The next Steering Committee is scheduled for October 4th after First Saturday mass.

July 2025

Our parish Steering Committee met on Saturday (7/12) morning to review the progress of the St. Mary Vision – Love, Pray, Grow. Below are a couple of highlights from our meeting:

  • Culture Committee
    • Looking forward to a couple of upcoming events:
      • July 19th – Gathering in the Garden after the 4:00 mass on July 19th as a kickoff to Venetian week
      • August 16th – Rock the Rectory (see the flier in this week’s bulletin)
  • Worship & Evangelization Committee
    • The Eucharistic Triduum was a huge success!!
    • A fall adult Bible study will focus on church history
  • Facilities Committee
    • The State Police grant process continues to move forward, with the hope of work beginning in the fall
    • Emergency Operations Team will be meeting on July 17 at 6:30
  • School Committee
    • Working on the school’s entry in this year’s Venetian Parade
    • Team members are spanning out across the area to spread the word to other churches about St. Mary’s School
  • Finance Committee
    • Amended the 2024-2025 budget (finished the year with a loss)
    • Approved the initial budget for 2025-2026 that is balanced

We also discussed the St. Mary Vision presentations a couple of weeks ago after each of the weekend masses. Overall we felt like they went well and while we did receive some feedback, we obviously were hoping for a few more parishioners to attend. We will continue to communicate our progress as we move into the implementation stage of our plan. We are hoping as we implement the plan it will provide additional opportunities for members of our parish to engage in specific activities.

Here is a link to the full agenda and minutes.

Our next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for August 2nd at 9:15 after First Saturday mass.

St. Mary Vision: Love – Pray – Grow

This past weekend members of our steering committee presented an update on our Strategic Plan progress. In case you missed it, the slide deck is below!

June 2025

Our parish Steering Committee met last Saturday morning (6/7). Below are a couple of highlights from the meeting and here is a link to our full agenda with additional details.

  • The Culture Committee – The Committee is currently planning for a couple of garden parties this summer and the upcoming “Rock the Rectory”. Members were also encouraged to spend time before the blessed sacrament prior to their next meeting.
  • The Worship & Evangelization Committee – The Committee is planning for the Triduum events coming up associated with Corpus Christi (6/22). 
  • The Facilities Committee – The Committee moved any items not completed in 2024-2025 to 2025-2026 and reprioritized all of the items on the 5 year Facilities Plan. 
  • The School Committee – The Northern Lights event is on Thursday night (6/12). Open enrollment is currently going on for next school year and to get the word out, our new commercial is on our website and playing at the Charlevoix Theater.
  • The Finance Council – The Council is working on the budget for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026. Tithing continues to be a focus and a new effort will kick off in July.

Our next Steering Committee meeting is on Saturday, July 12th.

May 2025

Our Parish Steering Committee met last Saturday (5/3) and included below are some of the highlights from our meeting. Also, please feel free to take a look at our full agenda and minutes from the meeting.

May Steering Committee Highlights

  • Culture Committee
    • Action Steps have been aligned to the actions identified in the Strategy Statement
    • Reviewing the annual events hosted by the parish in an effort to coordinate with the Worship & Evangelization Committee to increase impact & celebration
    • Looking to identify parishioners responsible for certain events to help alleviate the burden that falls on a few for all events
    • Parish Movie Night – May 13th at 7:00 PM (this is the accurate time as it was changed to accomodate the fundraiser at the Castle earlier in the evening)
  • Worship & Evangelization Committee
    • Preparing for the Corpus Christi Triduum (June)
    • Discussed a parish summer retreat potentially to be held at the Cross in the Woods
    • Seeking out teams of parishioners to help prepare for the different events throughout the year
    • Bridge Pause for Prayer – exploring spreading it out to the other churches in town
  • FacilitiesCommittee
    • Reviewed the 5 year plan to identify any outstanding items from 2024-2025
    • Focus on finalizing the Emergency Operations Plan
  • School Committee
    • Commercial for the school is completed & is now playing at the theater in Charlevoix, also located on the webpage
    • Northern Lights is coming up on June 12th
    • Open House was held earlier this month & good attendance from pre-K families
    • Continuing to work with current families on staying through the middle school grades
  • Finance Committee
    • Continuing to work on the budgets for both the school & parish for next year
  • Communication Update
    • Work continues on the development of a brochure & slide deck (PPT) to better share the work of the St. Mary Vision – Love, Pray, Grow with all Parishioners
      • Have brochures ready to share & put in bulletins the weekend of May 17th & 18th
      • A draft slide deck will be reviewed at the June 7th Steering Committee meeting for committee input
    • Parish wide presentation likely on the weekend of June 14th & 15th
      • A format & schedule will be developed at our next meeting on June 7th

April 2025

Due to the impact of last week’s ice storm, the Steering Committee meeting on Saturday, April 5th was cancelled. The work of St.Mary’s Vision – Love, Pray, Grow has been continuing through the work of each of our committees. Committees will be meeting throughout the month of April and our next Steering Committee meeting is scheduled for May 3. We are aiming for a full rollout of our St. Mary’s Vision – Love, Pray, Grow during the weekend masses sometime in mid to late May.

March 2025

Our Steering Committee met on Saturday (3/1) morning and it continues to amaze me the amount of great things going on in our parish. Thank you again for everything that you are all doing to make it happen!

I have listed a couple of highlights below, but please feel free to check out the full version of the minutes of our meeting by clicking here.

  • One of the biggest updates was around the flooring project that is about halfway completed. The tile is basically finished, just a couple of small items remain outstanding. Unfortunately, the dust from the cutting of the tile invaded every crevice of the church from the balcony to the altar. It was not how it was supposed to go, but huge credit to Jason and the 2 crews of volunteers that showed up on Saturday morning to make sure things were literally spic and span and ready for 4:00 mass on Saturday afternoon. It was like a well oiled machine. The carpet is scheduled to go down this week and to be finished by the end of the day on Friday (3/7)
  • Maria R. is making huge strides with our Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). We have a confirmed Security Team with a lead person, as well as a full Medical Team, also with an identified lead. Representatives from Munson Hospital in Charlevoix were on site earlier in February to facilitate a “Stop the Bleed” training for several of the team members as well as others from the parish.
  • Father Peter worked with the Culture Committee during their February meeting to revisit, review, & update their strategy and action steps.
  • The Worship and Evangelization Committee finalized the Worship portion of their plan and started to dig in on our upcoming Eucharist Triduum as part of the feast of Corpus Christi in June.
  • The School Committee is working on a commercial that will play at the movie theater in Charlevoix, and it will also be shared on social media. It is budget season for schools, so the team is working to get a handle on enrollment for next year.
  • The Finance Committee is also working on next year’s budget for the school. 

February 2025

Our Steering Committee met this past Saturday (2/1) and covered several items as we begin to plan for the official release and communication of our newly named strategic plan: “St. Mary Vision – Love, Pray, Grow” in late spring 2025. Below are highlights from our meeting:

  • New plan name & Patron Saint – In an effort to create a more parish friendly name for our strategic plan, the committee landed on: St. Mary Vision – Love, Pray, Grow. St. Joseph Most Faithful was identified as our patron saint and we ask him to pray for all of us as we continue our collaborative efforts to create and implement positive improvements within our parish.
  • Knights of Columbus Connection – Don Jasurda provided an overview of how he sees many of the actions of several of our committees directly lining up with the mission and work of our local Knights of Columbus chapter. An intentional effort will be made moving forward to ensure the Knights are updated regularly on our progress.
  • New Chairs for the Culture Committee – Father Peter & Marianne Mast are now heading up the Culture Committee. They will continue to guide this committee by exploring activities that provide additional opportunities for more parishioners to become more involved.
  • Evangelization Plan Finalized – Our Worship and Evangelization Committee has finalized the Evangelization portion of their plan and identified 4 metrics that they will be tracking over time:
    • At least 10 fully initiated Catholics per year through OCIA
    • Increasing weekend mass attendance by 5% every year, each year, over 5 years (about 100 people total)
    • Adoration at the end of 5 years will be 24/7 with at least 2 adorers per hour
    • 50 youth consistently involved in youth ministry within the next 5 years
  • New Flooring Work has Started! – As part of our Facilities Committee Plan, the work to install the new flooring in the church and hearing aid loop started this week and will continue over the next couple of weeks. While we know it is a bit of an inconvenience during the construction phase, we feel that once completed, the new flooring and hearing aid loop will provide all parishioners with an enhanced worship experience.
  • Marketing Plan Complete – Our School Committee has completed their marketing plan and will be working on inputting it into our plan template. This coincides with the upcoming communications and efforts to maintain and grow our student enrollment for next school year.
  • Budget Season is Upon Us – The Finance Council is in the beginning stages of the budget process. The Council is also discussing staffing for both the church and school as we look towards another new year.

Please review our agenda with meeting minutes for additional details.

Thank you to everyone for your commitment and involvement in St. Mary Vision – Love, Pray, Grow. These are definitely exciting times for our parish and we are so appreciative of everyone’s efforts. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!

January 2025

Our St. Mary Parish & School Strategic Planning Steering Committee met this past Saturday (1/4). As part of our agenda, we reviewed the feedback that was shared at the meeting of all committee members on December 14th. The activity was called “Stars” and “Wishes”. The full results are in the tables below. Each table contains the feedback that was provided by participants. Overarching themes of the feedback are listed below:StarsAppreciation for the work & those individuals who are leading itAppreciation for additional fellowship opportunities & adoration hoursWishesA more meaningful name for our Strategic Plan, specific to St. Mary Parish and SchoolCommunicationConnection – looking into why some parishioners have left St. Mary ParishSchool related itemsCultureWorship and EvangelizationIn order to address the feedback that was shared, several of the items have already been assigned to our committees (the items in the tables below are color coded by committee). We feel like many of the items in the “Wishes” will be addressed as we begin the implementation of our plan. 

Since December was a light month for Committee meetings, the updates from each Committee Chair were very brief. All Committees are meeting over the next week, so we will have a more thorough update after our February meeting (2/1).

If you are interested in joining one of our committees, please see this weekend’s bulletin for a cut out sign up form that can be dropped in the collection basket or turned in at the Parish office. If you’d like to sign up online, you can do so with the form linked here.

Suggestions of Potential Names for our Strategic Plan:
St. Mary’s Path to Glory
Cross to Glory
“His” PathVision 2030
St. Mary’s Vision
Charlevoix Catholic

Suggestions for the Patron Saint of our Plan:
Mary Star of the Sea
St. Ignatius

STARS

1. Improved annual report. Important to provide transparency to the parish.2. Really excited about Evangelization & Worship Committee’s work3. Christmas in Guadalupe – multi-level parish evangelization community event
4. Sports & enrichment & outreach to home school community5. Facilities & organization6. Great idea to change the name of the strategic plan to something more accessible/ meaningful/ friendly to parishioners.
7. Father Peter – Happy we are retaining him.8. Scott Koziol’s leadership9. All the accomplishments so far, of every committee, I celebrate & appreciate & hope all will continue.
10. The presence of the Holy Spirit is Alive & Apparent in the works of our committees.11. Emphasis on communication with transparency.12. This many adoration hours is an awesome thing (He is the source of the miracles we are asking for in the strategic plan).
13. Thank you, Scott!, Maria!, Joe!, Liz!, & always Father Peter!

WISHES

1. Send a card/invitation to each parishioner asking if they would like to be a member of a committee.2. That all members of our parish can realize the same Vision & Intent (spirit) of our committee members.3. Bible study is very important to our parishioners spiritual life & relationships (weekly, year long every year is the goal. Could begin with term classes to promote desire).
4. Communication – What about a small pamphlet in pews (i.e. like “online giving” currently in pews for updates, etc.)?5. School – What actual steps have been taken to increase enrollment?6. Father & Son evangelism through group chats/seminars/outings/team building.
7. A robust process for welcoming & connecting with new parishioners.8. Evangelization – Outreach to community
Divorced Catholics
Unwed mothers		9. Facilities – Prioritize needs & copy to Finance Council.
10. Culture – Greeters at the end of mass?11. Culture – Do greeters reach out to new people?12. More events (specific topic) in the garden. Father Peter inviting entire parish (shows the community they are welcome).
13. More & more connection with home school parents.14. Preschool or toddler programs – reach out to young families.15. How can we achieve adding more storage?
16. What financial support is needed for improvements (indoor & outdoor) – Fundraising.17. Culture – Do greeters reach out to house bound parishioners?18. Culture – Social events
19. It’s important to change the name of the strategic plan to a mission name that speaks to more people.20. Comment: From a parishioner – Keypad on choir loft for safety reasons21. Bring back former St. Mary parishioners who are worshipping at other nearby parishes.
22. Theme, logo, name, & intercessors for the strategic plan.23. Be even more respected & appreciated in the community. Be relationships with more people in the community.24. School – What is the school marketing plan?
25. Communication – Theme for plan.26. I know personal invitation is best, which I have done, but I would still recommend inviting parishioners to both committees & implementation in a variety of other ways. If this has been done, I haven’t seen it….27. Communication – Develop a method for those not physically here throughout the year to participate (online, Zoom).
28. We probably need to separate the group/team/ committee for outreach to both the Catholics who have gone to other parishes & to former members who have gone to incandescent churches.29. For each lay ministry, need to share names & phone numbers so that members can contact in case need for sub.30. Sign up sheets or better communication on areas we need help. Who to contact if you want to help.
31. When major planning events happen or are completed, have Father Peter announce it at mass during announcements (ex. Results of survey to be implemented,  Flooring in church).32. Outreach to:
Parish members hurting, mourning, etc.
Members fallen away
Benevolence for communities		33. Find a Saint to serve as a patron for our Strategic Plan

October 2024

Our Strategic Planning Steering Committee and consequent sub-committees have been working hard over the past year.  All committees have been meeting at least once a month, with clear goals in mind and working toward the vision statement outlined from our strategic planning session developed in October 2023.

Below is a recap of the vision statement, along with bulleted reports from the sub-committees on what they have accomplished and are planning for the next 6-12-24 months. We are very pleased with the good work that has been achieved thus far, and are excited about what is to come in the near future! 

St. Mary Parish and School Strategic Plan Vision Statement

I) By the year 2028, St. Mary’s Parish will reflect a strong, united Catholic Christian Community working together to live out our inspirational mission every day.  To do this we will offer more frequent access to the sacraments, 24/7 adoration, and other prayer opportunities that will serve as the source of our interior life.  Formed and strengthened in this way, we will build community by developing a warm welcoming culture, by deepening our identity around our common beliefs and by providing a full faith formation experience.  We will develop our relationship with the broader Charlevoix Community and will have a well-respected and favorable reputation throughout the area.  We will be a community that seeks to spread the Gospel offering many ways for people to come to know the faith and to reconnect with the faith.
II) We will have increased the number of fully engaged parishioners in an environment that is easy for newcomers to join and will offer a full range of activities and services in beautiful and appropriately sized facilities. Our school, through eighth grade, will have over 100 students and will provide a strong classical education.  We will have 50 youth consistently involved in our youth ministry programs.  We will establish ways for every school family to be involved in our Parish ministries. We will work in a positive partnership with public schools and home-schooling families. 
III) We will be successful financially, encouraging 100% of active parishioners to tithe. We will effectively communicate our mission, our vision, and our needs with a goal to inspire parishioners to give at least half of their weekly 10% tithe to our parish. This will result in robust savings and endowment funds, a fully funded mission, and prorated funds for all capital projects with no need for special campaigns.

Committee Reports/Goals/Progress
Culture Committee

The recent parish survey was developed by this committee. They are currently reviewing and analyzing the results

  • Developing plan to become a more welcoming parish
  • Improved greeter and usher training
  • Addition of welcome desk to Parish hallway for weekend Masses
  • Improved messaging

Worship and Evangelization Committee

  • Additional hours of adoration
  • Rosary said during adoration
  • Grow our Parishioners’ understanding of the different ministries St. Mary Parish offers and the important role they play in Parish life
  • Bridge “Pause for Prayer” initiative – began summer, 2024, ongoing

School Advisory Committee

  • Focus on marketing and retention of students by continuing to offer different opportunities (i.e. athletics, enrichment, small school advantage)
  • Additional security measures have been put into place (grants from Michigan State Police)
  • Installation of a playground gate
  • Growth in fundraising efforts
  • Addition of enrichment programming, outreach to homeschool and public school community

Facilities Committee

  • Went through an evaluation process of the current state of the church, school, rectory, and grounds. This process has resulted in a 5 year facilities plan. The committee is currently working to prioritize the identified projects
  • The Committee is also working on the development of a safety/security plan that will align with the school’s plan. Part of this work included submitting an application for the State Police Grant. We were recently informed that our application has resulted in an initial award of $143,000. A majority of funds will be focused on secure entrances. Much more info to come regarding the projects identified in the grant
  • Projects to begin in the next 6 months:
    • New flooring in the church, funded by donors
    • Air conditioning, funded by donors
    • New Sound System

Finance Council

  • This is a long standing council within our parish and was incorporated into the strategic planning in an intentional effort to create greater efficiencies
  • Continues to meet monthly to review parish finances and budget
  • Creating a greater understanding of parishioners tithing
  • Improved annual report
  • Working closely with Facilities committee on short and long term improvements to the Parish & School Campus
New grippy flooring in the east school entryway
New school safety fencing on the north side of the school playground
Church walls got a new coat of paint early this summer!
More paint – looks fresh & clean!
School playground slide was repaired this spring and new rubber chips added this fall
Wood chip filler added to swing and pre-k play areas to meet State of Michigan standards!