Ridgewood Parish Submits Plan to Bishop

By Stefanie Gutierrez

“Our parish pastoral council and its members have worked very hard on our plan,” Msgr. Edward Ryan, pastor, said. “This is an expression of our hope-filled future at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, and I am deeply grateful for the council’s hard work.”

On Saturday, Dec. 8, parishioners old and new witnessed an important event for the church in Ridgewood. On the parish’s 90th anniversary and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, nine members of the pastoral council signed the final document in the pastoral planning process that will be submitted to Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.

Stefanie Gutierrez Photo 

READY FOR FUTURE: Msgr. Ryan accepts the parish planning plan from members of the planning council at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal parish.

It was the conclusion of a two-year endeavor undertaken by the entire parish and its council. It began with a discernment process. Then members were selected to the parish pastoral council.

“In the beginning, we were overwhelmed,” Teresa de Gomez said. “But we did not doubt to accept the call of our pastor, Msgr. Ryan, and the parish congregation to work on the pastoral planning council.”

After the nine members were trained under the diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning, the council conducted one-to-one conversations with over 100 parishioners. As they heard thoughts and ideas for the future of the parish, they shared it with other members and the pastor.

“We really appreciated the feedback, opinions, ideas, goals… of what they wanted to see happen,” Thomas Cooney said.

“One of the best things was getting to know the parishioners,” Rickelyn Kraker added.

In February, they held the first parish assembly, where over 100 people attended. They then wrote the parish’s Mission Statement and Goals, which they based on the input of all the parishioners who participated in the one-to-one interviews and the parish assembly. The parish Mission Statement and Goals were published, and reflection groups were held. They established objectives on how to reach the parish goals.

Bernie Zablocki has been a parishioner at Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal for 30 years. When he first heard about the pastoral planning process, he was somewhat doubtful.

“In the beginning, I felt like we were taking a big chance in this whole process,” he said. “But the people that we gathered together and who worked hard together showed me that this is different. It is different this time and the difference is that the council was successful. We are hopeful that we will see results from the parish and the neighborhood.”

“One of our parish goals was to reach out to other parishes in the neighborhood and work together in the community,” Dianne Haussermann explained. “And tonight, the St. Pancras Church Choir from Glendale sang at our Mass.”

Her husband Mark was also on the pastoral council. He found that one of the best experiences of participating in the pastoral planning process was “everyone working together.”

Zablocki, who has seen the difference in Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal’s demographics throughout his 30 years at the parish, said that one of the main concentrations of the council was on the changing ethnic groups. Fittingly, every member of the council represented a different ethnicity. The main languages spoken within the parish are English, Spanish, Polish, German, Italian and Filipino.

De Gomez, who was head of publicity for the council, advertised all of the council’s events in each language. Her seven children, who range in age from two years to 18, helped in every way. She said the older children helped in the design of the signs and translation into the languages, and the younger children helped with coloring. Others aided in hanging the signs around the parish.

“The signs were there, announcing every step taken to reach the goals for the future of our parish,” de Gomez said.

“I think all of us are very honored and grateful that the parish took account to let us, the council, do this service,” she said.

The final four goals that were signed into effect on Saturday night are: to encourage members of our parish community who are under-represented in the demographic profile to be involved in the spiritual and social life of the parish; to develop lay leadership by encouraging gift discernment and stewardship education; to promote active full participation in the Eucharistic liturgy making it the source and summit of parish life; and to promote and encourage a Christ-like example of service to others in civic and community outreach.

“Each of the goals has a list of objectives attached to it and they each have a person who is responsible to see that the goal is reached,” Msgr. Ryan said.

The council will now monitor the progress of the parish in realizing the objectives as a way to meet their goals. He added, “I think the most important part of the process is that we have involved a great number of parishioners in developing these goals. It represents not just the work of the nine people on the council but also the parish-at-large.”

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