Synod 2021 - 2023

A Synod Recap by Sean Farrell

Dear Parishioners, 

I wanted to provide an update on our participation in the 2021 – 2023 Synod on synodality. As a reminder, Pope Francis is inviting the Church to gather and listen to each Catholic to guide the Church’s path forward at this time in our history. 

Activities completed for the Synod at the Church of Saint Luke included a listening session held in February where approximately 50 parishioners gathered in person to discuss their views on the Catholic faith today, and parish life at The Church of Saint Luke. We also mailed a survey out to all parishioners and received about 100 responses! All the data collected from the listening session and the surveys were summarized and sent to the Diocese of Scranton. This is a quote from the response we received from the Diocesan Synod Team: "It is clear that your parish took this process seriously and that your community put a lot of thought and effort into helping this experience to be meaningful and fruitful."

Thank you to all that took their time to either attend the listening session or complete the survey, and a special thank you to Debbie Jean who spent many hours reading through all the responses and compiling the report to send to the Diocese.

In addition to sending the data to the Diocese, we've identified multiple themes that we can work on as a parish to improve. The summary data was shared with the Pastoral Council, office staff, and other relevant committees such as the finance committee and communications committee. Some action items we were able to start implementing immediately. For example, your feedback on improving ways parishioners can get more engaged with the community helped shape the video series on talent, time, and treasure that was shared during Mass in March and April.  Another theme that surfaced was making it easier to provide feedback and suggestions. To that end, we've updated our website feedback form and will promote this channel of communication in the bulletin, on our facebook page, and on the TV broadcast using a QR code.

Contact Us. Click the Contact us link and it should bring you right to the form to complete.  We now have black suggestion boxes at the front of the church and by the ramp door.

What's next? The Pastoral Council will continue to review the feedback and identify additional items to address and their potential solutions. We look forward to engaging with you in the future to get your input on what solutions would be most important or meaningful to help our parish achieve its mission in the coming years.

Additionally, I will be attending a Diocesan listening session with Bishop Bambera on June 5th to represent the Church of Saint Luke. All the data collected from the Diocese will be sent to a regional gathering of bishops and then finally to the Vatican in 2023.

Thanks again for all the input you provided. Not only were we able to provide the Diocese of Scranton with valuable data, but we've learned so much about your needs and how we can do more to strengthen our parish community.

Kind Regards,

- Sean Farrell

The Church of Saint Luke Communication Committee

Synod Delegate for The Church of Saint Luke