Life changed for all of us when the Coronavirus hit. We were locked out of everywhere, including Church. Even though some of us can fit in the Church for public Mass again, many of us are still wondering - What is going on in the lives of many of the people we were used to seeing at Mass every Sunday but no longer see because of the pandemic? This situation has left both parish staff and parishioners wondering - How do we remain connected as a parish at this time? How do we connect with the people we miss seeing at Mass?
St. Joseph Parish is starting a new parish-wide initiative to help our parish family remain connected as a community that is still growing in faith together during this time of uncertainty and social distancing. Each week, beginning on September 28th, Sean McVeigh, our Director of Adult Faith Formation, will email a link to a video from the FORMED Catholic media content resource to everyone in the parish we have an email for in our parish database system.
If you do not see the email Sean sends on September 28th in your inbox by midafternoon, check your spam folder. If it isn't there, email Sean and ask for him to forward you the email. He will also verify that we have the correct email on file for you so that you don't miss future emails.
Parishioners are invited to watch each video Sean sends and then join in an online discussion on the topic with other parishioners. Discussions will begin the first full week of October and will be hosted by the staff members listed below. We hope you will join the discussion time that works best for your schedule. Remember, it is not just about you seeing other people, but there are people who miss seeing you and would like a chance to join in a faith-filled conversation with you.
Simply email the staff person who is hosting the time that works for your schedule. Let him or her know you'd like to join his or her discussion time. That staff member will add you to his or her email list and will send you a link for the weekly online discussion meeting.
The current discussion times available are -
Mondays - 12:30 to 1:30 PM (afternoon) - Sean McVeigh - email: s.McVeigh@dbqarch.org
Tuesdays - 3:00 to 4:00 PM (mid-afternoon) - Deacon Jeff - email: j.volker@dbqarch.org
Wednesdays - 6:00 to 7:00 AM (early morning) - Deacon Dennis - email: d.ternes@dbqarch.org
Thursdays - 7:00 to 8:00 PM (evening) - JoAnn Starr - email: J.Starr1@dbqarch.org
Fridays - 9:00 to 10:00 AM (mid morning) - Deacon Ken - email: k.bauer@dbqarch.org
Directions for joining FORMED. St. Joseph Parish has a subscription to FORMED, so you do not need to purchase one yourself. FORMED is free for you to use in conjunction with St. Joseph. To register your free FORMED account, if you haven't done so already, go to https://formed.org/. Select the button that says, "Sign Up." You will then see three options - "I am an individual," "I am a Parish or Organization," or, "I Belong to a Parish or Organization."
Select the last option, "I Belong to a Parish or Organization." You will be asked for the name of your Parish. Simply type in St. Joseph in Marion, Iowa. Once you have selected St. Joes as your parish and provided the other information they ask for, such as your email address, you will have access to all of the media content for free. This includes the video links Sean will be sending to you as part of this initiative.
We hope you will join in our efforts to keep our parish connected as a strong community throughout this time of the pandemic. God bless you all.