Our Vision

(Check here soon for a formal vision statement.)

The pastoral council is here to listen, learn and communicate with parishioners and each ministry team, as well as with our neighbors outside the parish, to discern the future course of parish life. We are a visioning body that guides the work of the various ministry teams. (Click here to link to the ministry team page.) Our hope is to gain the trust of the entire parish as we pray and work together to continue the growth of St. Thomas More parish.

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Contact Us

Feel free to contact any of the members regarding life at St. Thomas More Parish.

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S.W.O.T. (listening) Session results

The Pastoral Council has spent the last several months conducting listening sessions regarding the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats at St. Thomas More. A synopsis of what we have heard so far follows and evidences the diversity and great insights of our parishioners. As a Council we hope each person reading this will welcome and accept the opinions and thoughts of your neighbors, whether you are in agreement with them or not. Sometimes it helps to remember that we are all children of God, even if we don’t hold the same humanly views. The following categories were identified based on themes shared during our listening sessions.

Parishioners:
Thoughts shared so far express that the parishioners of STM are caring, committed and generous, both with money and with time. There has been some concern shared over people moving out of the parish and that despite STM having a good reputation, some people in our parish may not be as welcoming or as accepting of others as God calls us to be.

Priests:
Concern has also been stated over the shortage of priests. Although many stated that STM has been blessed with great priests, parishioners have expressed a diversity of opinion regarding our current Diocesan leadership.

Worship:
Opinions shared about Worship include STM providing good worship opportunities, a need for better instruction for altar servers and appropriate behavior in the cry room, a need for more stress on justice issues and a desire for better attendance at Mass.

Facilities:
The facilities at STM have so far been a topic of great need for things such as an elevator in More Hall, more meeting space, sound improvements, wheel chair access in bathrooms and regular maintenance. However, opportunities suggested are that STM could utilize existing space better, that the infrastructure has potential and upgrade the use of technology throughout. A strength is that the More Hall kitchen is a good size.

Finances:
Financially many view STM as a very generous parish with good financial resources. There has also been commitment expressed to keep the tithing school tradition. Concerns revolve around uncertain economic times, tithing being below what it should be, that there is sometimes a struggle to get financial commitments and some do not tithe at all. There are opportunities identified for untapped economic resources.

Our Neighborhood:
Our neighborhood is seen as a stable environment. It was also described as having both a strong sense of community as well as a need to increase our presence in the neighborhood and South KC. It was suggested that we might need to conduct a census of who is living within the parish bounds so that we have a better understanding of our neighborhood demographics.

Communication:
Communication was a theme repeatedly mentioned as a weakness throughout the parish from needing to provide good information to new parishioners to keeping people well informed on important dates and things going on to not openly talking about controversial issues and the divisions between us. Opportunities were identified to get groups together for more interaction and better communication, reach out to others and let them know about STM, be more involved in the community and better coordination between organizations, parish staff and the school.

Programs:
There were identified weaknesses in policy and programs regarding a lack of adult education, not having a FIRE program in the school, no Spanish speaking services, a lack of knowledge about Catholic social justice and a lack of strategic planning. Strengths were identified in the athletic programs, various activities for all ages and the parish picnic.

Ministries:
Ministries were described across the continuum from the existence of well functioning ministry teams and having a strong and active seniors group to some ministries not being very welcoming. The JAY was described as a strength. There is a perceived need for more committed ushers, more training provided for people who volunteer, more intermingling between groups and a need for bible school and younger youth activities.

Thank You:
From these listening sessions have come wonderful opportunities for our community as we define a vision for the next five to ten years. Thank you to everyone who has participated so far. We welcome all others to share your thoughts and vision for our parish at upcoming listening sessions, which will be announced in the bulletin. You are also welcome to contact a member of the Pastoral Council to share your thoughts individually. The collective vision for our parish is driven by our parishioners, please let your voice be heard.

Sincerely,
The Pastoral Council

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