How Will You Answer the Call to Parish Ministry?

There is a wonderful song that we sometimes sing during Mass called, The Summons, by John L. Bell and Graham Maule.  The first verse makes a powerful statement for serious consideration: “Will you come and follow me if I but call your name?”

2000 thousand years ago, Jesus called his disciples to follow him as noted in St. Matthew’s gospel:
“As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen. He said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.  He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.”  Matt 4: 18-22

Christ spoke similarly to St. Francis of Assisi when he said, “Rebuild my Church”.  Clearly, the disciples answered the Call, as did St. Francis—we know what resulted.  Today, Our Lord also reaches out to us.
Have you considered whether you have a call to become part of Christ’s ministry at St. Francis?  If so, do you have questions about ministry life in the church?  

​Such as:

• What are the ministries at St. Francis, and how many?
• Which one(s) am you drawn to?
• How can you apply your time and talent?

To offer your time and talent to a particular ministry, we recommend three steps to help your discernment.  First, pray about it—quiet contemplation will let the Holy Spirit work.  Second, learn about our parish ministries, particularly the one(s) you are most interested in.  Third, talk to someone knowledgeable about ministry life at St. Francis, a ministry leader or Staff Liaison to the ministry of your interest. 

To provide first-hand information to those interested in parish ministries, the parish annually hosts a Stewardship Sign-up event in the Great Hall during the last part of August.  There, nearly 100 ministries are represented where you can meet members of various ministries that may interest you.  In the meantime, please look at the parish website for information page on each ministry group and a Ministry Brochure that further details all the ministries at St. Francis.
Lastly, Stewardship Committee members are available and eager to answer any questions you may have and to assist you in your decision.   Please contact Mark Smith, Stewardship Staff Liaison, at 972-712-2645, or Greg Deiter, Stewardship Committee Chair, greg.deiter@icloud.com for questions you may have.

“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
St. Francis of Assisi