Category: General

Director of Evangelization

Description

Midtown Catholic is a family of parishes in the center of Omaha, Nebraska. Starting in 2020, St. Thomas More and St. Joan of Arc parish came together and share a pastor, parish office, and staff. We are looking for an energetic Director of Evangelization who will help the pastor create and implement a Clear Pathway for discipleship for our parishioners and anyone who is interested in joining the Church. The Director of Evangelization will report directly to the pastor and give support to our coordinator for religious education and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, as well as a number of small groups and ministries.

Duties

• Developing and supporting evangelization initiatives in both parishes
• Building a Clear Path of Discipleship and create and support teams leading each step of the path
• Building relationships with school leaders and teachers to find ways to help them grow spiritually
• Work with school leaders to find ways to help parents grow spiritually
• Directly support coordinators of Religious Education, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, junior high and high school ministries
• Recruit, train, and support small group leaders
• Attend Senior Leadership Team meetings and collaborate with SLT members to execute team decisions. Identify and develop leaders who can help lead evangelization efforts.
• Reports directly to the pastor

Requirements

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Enthusiastic worker with an openness and desire to learn new skills
• Must be a practicing Catholic in good standing with the Catholic Church
• People person who does not mind meeting and speaking with new people
• Ability to work either with a team or independently with little direct supervision
• Previous work in Evangelization preferred
• Experience leading small groups and classes

Education and Experience

Bachelor’s degree in Theology, Philosophy, Evangelization, or related field preferred.

Must be Safe Environment certified and background check completed or complete within first month of employment.

Application Instructions
Send resume and cover letter to Eric Keisling, Director of Finance and Operations, at ejkeisling@midtowncatholic.church

Understanding what it means to be a Christian man is harder than ever in our world today. The Midtown Catholic That Man is You group gives men clarity about their identity and purpose around what it means to be a husband, a father, a son, and a brother to other men.

The group of men watch a thirty-minute video every week and discuss what they learned and how it might impact their lives. It is a forum where men get together hoping to learn something from one another’s life experiences. It is a group of “Good Men Trying to Get Better”. 

There is no obligation to speak up in the group.  You are welcome to just sit and listen. 

All men are welcome from any parish, any background, or faith.

The group meets every Saturday at 6 a.m. in the St. Thomas More cafeteria. Each session normally concludes around 7 a.m.  Please enter through the door on the West side of the cafeteria. 

Coffee and donuts are provided. 

Any questions, please call Jerry Hassett at 402-650-0360.

Last summer when I first arrived, I set a vision for our organizational structure. All the items on that list of where we need to be are complete or in process. These tasks were essential for us to move forward to the next phase of parish renewal. The first phase of renewal was mostly an internal structural reorganization that was needed in order for two or more parishes to work together with one pastor. I envisioned that we needed an organizational structure that:

• Has a centralized office and shared employees
• Has a centralized workflow for funerals, weddings, and baptisms
• Has one name under which all communications flow
• Has a centralized database with CRM capabilities (customer relationship management software)

And so, it is time to move forward with the next phase of the vision that is a bit more churchy and fun (at least for me). Again, last summer when I arrived, I wrote another list of items of where I would like us to be in the near future. I’ve shared that vision with a small number of people and now it’s time to share it with a larger audience. I envision a church that:

• Has one mission that drives everything we do
• Has a clear path for discipleship growth
• Helps people take next steps along that path
• Equips people for the work of mission and ministry
• Is more interested in raising givers than raising funds
• Emphasizes and organizes outreach as one church
• Creates community and faith maturity through small groups and steps
• Offers prayerful, transcendent, and meaningful liturgies
• Raises up leaders for mission to be sent to other parts of the city and world

I’m excited for this next phase. With the help of the Parish Councils and a church consultant group we will formalize our mission, vision, and strategic plan this coming year.

In Christ
Fr. Lorig – Pastor

We continue to evaluate our communication strategies for Midtown Catholic. I recently stumbled upon this statement from a church communications blog.

Don’t prioritize communicating anything outside of your vision and discipleship plan.
Communication without purpose is just noise. As you define the journey that your church will guide people through, resist the urge to communicate anything that doesn’t fit within that process. Let your vision and discipleship path be the filter that all communication runs through. If it doesn’t make the cut, toss it out.

To be honest, this has given me some pause and a bit of heartache. It’s not the first time I’ve read something similar and while I would like to get us there someday, we are not in a position to communicate in this way for variety of reasons.

1. We are going through transition and communicating the changes happening are absolutely necessary for those of you who are stakeholders in our family of parishes.
2. We don’t really have a locked in “Vision and Discipleship Plan”. I have an idea of what those are, and we are discussing them internally, but I would like to go through a more formal process with our parish councils in the near future.
3. Defining a journey that our church will guide people through is “not the way we’ve always (or ever) done it”. Internally, we call it a “clear path” and yes, we are discussing it as well. If the mission of the Church is to make disciples, then a parish ought to have a clear process with defined steps for a person to grow into a mature faith. Every church that is seeing growth whether it be Catholic or Protestant has committed to a “clear path” for its members.
4. Finally, even with a fuzzy vision and mission, we generally know that our parishes exist to reach the lost and make disciples. That said, I feel guilty that we don’t currently offer anything extra outside Mass and some sacramental prep to help people mature in the faith. Be assured that this will not always be the case.

In Christ,
Fr. Jeff Lorig – Pastor

The Archbishop is ending the general dispensation from the obligation to participate in Sunday Mass effective the weekend of Pentecost, May 22-23.

We will continue to sanitize the pews, reserve some sections for social distancing, refrain from the sign of peace, and hold off on receiving from the chalice. Slowly we will resume having altar servers and bringing up the gifts. Mask wearing will be enforced as long as the city mandates it and will be highly encouraged when it does
not.

Those who are prevented from attending Mass due to advanced age, sickness, disability, or some other serious reason are excused. For those who are unable to attend, we will continue to provide Mass via livestream.

When I began writing this article last week, it was the same week Fr. Frank was on vacation. While the workload was not much different than other weeks and Fr. Greg at St. Joan of Arc is a big help, it did get me thinking. How are we going to do daily Masses, school Masses, and funeral Masses when we have three parishes and only two priests?

It’s not like I didn’t know this situation was coming, but the blunt reality of it hit me pretty hard this week for some reason. So, being the problem solver that I am, I started considering some different scenarios. Answers were not coming easily. The puzzle really distracted me even during my quiet prayer time in the morning. I wish I could say God gave me an answer and I solved the puzzle, but He didn’t. Rather, I was beginning to envision all the conversations about who gets what Mass, when, and where. I became very discouraged. I began to envision all the difficult and possibly
heated discussions with parishioners about what is fair for each parish. I even began to imagine a strange competition among neighboring parishes for retired or resident priests to live at their rectories so that a parish would not have to change its Mass schedule. I began to envision a very siloed church made up of financially competing parishes, competing for parishioners and money. It’s a scene that would make Jesus roll over in his tomb if He hadn’t already risen from
the dead, of course.

Every pastor faces this dilemma. When you change your Mass schedule, you risk making parishioners mad and losing them. When you lose parishioners, you lose revenue; and when you lose revenue, you risk losing programs, ministries, and extra capitol for building improvements. At the heart of it for most pastors though, is that we risk being a failure, or at least looking like one to others. Yes, because we are human and sometimes not very holy, we pastors often find comfort in our self-importance and false sense of success.

So maybe God did give me an answer. Turns out, the puzzle I was trying to solve was how to make everyone happy, which is impossible. And it turns out, that’s not my task as pastor. My task is to ensure that the word of God is proclaimed in a compelling and effective manner, that the sacraments are reasonably available to all those within our parish boundaries, and that our parishioners join in the mission of reaching more people for Jesus Christ so that more people know that Jesus Christ is within reach. Whatever decisions are made, whether it be about Mass schedules, personnel, or programs, they have to be based on what is best for the whole and not just what is “fair” for a particular parish. We are in this together as a family of parishes. Every parish will have a part to play, but not every parish will have the same part to play.

The real puzzle to solve here at our Midtown Catholic parishes has nothing to do with Mass schedules but has everything to do with how to achieve our ultimate mission to “go and make disciples.” This is what success looks like.

-Fr. Lorig

Director of Finance and Operations

Description

Department: Finance and Operations
Reports to: The Pastor

As part of the Pastor’s Senior Leadership Team, the Director of Finance and Operations handles the operational and administrative aspects of St. Joan of Arc and St. Thomas More parishes to align with the parishes’ overall mission and vision. He/she is responsible for the finance, administration, human resources, and overall operations of both parishes. The position exists so that the Pastor may focus on the overall leadership of the two parishes.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

– Attends Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meetings and collaborates with SLT members to execute the parish vision.
– Carries and communicates parish vision to key constituents and groups within the parishes and schools.
– Is an ex officio member of the parish Finance Councils and committees.
– Provides leadership and support to the financial, maintenance, and clerical personnel.
– Develops and maintains accurate and timely financial/demographic information.
– Establishes and oversee parishes’ internal controls and financial due diligence.
– Budgets and facilitates plans for short-term/long-term financial requirements of the parishes.
– Has oversight of employee payroll, benefits, and training.
– Develops and maintains employee policies.
– Oversees maintenance/building improvement projects with maintenance team and committees to ensure they are completed in a timely fashion and within budget.

Requirements

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
– Active, practicing Roman Catholic in full communion with the Catholic Church, with a demonstrated commitment to prayer and continued formation.
– Sound understanding of generally accepted accounting principles
– Comprehensive knowledge of payroll/related tax issues and accounts payable.
– Ability to adapt and apply knowledge and skills to a variety of parish situations that may occur.
– Demonstrated organizational skills, capable of overseeing multiple projects simultaneously, and prioritizing activity.
– Strong communication skills and effective use of Microsoft Office suite.
– Ability to work and lead from within a team.
– Demonstrated ability to maintain confidentiality in dealing with sensitive information.
– Availability on evenings, weekends, and occasional extended periods as needed.

Education and Experience
– Minimally, 3-5 years of progressive and relevant accounting/financial/business experience and applicable college course work/degree.

Application Instructions

Send a cover letter stating your interest and qualifications for the position, a current resume, and 2 or 3 references including names and contact information to Father Jeff Lorig at jplorig@archomaha.org or to 4804 Grover Street, Omaha, NE 68016.