PEP Newsletter

Ideas For Your Parish

________________________________________________________________________________________                                                                                                     May, 2024

History of the PEP Newsletter

The first newsletter appeared in February, 2002 as a way of offering ideas and suggestions for improving parish life and ministry.  Never more than one page in length, each monthly edition explored one aspect of the parish, covering such areas as liturgy, community-building, formation, outreach, administration and leadership. Since that initial entry, 268 monthly editions have been published over the last 22 years.  This might be a good time to revisit a few of the previous issues to refresh your memory.  All of the past issues, except for a few of the earliest ones, can be viewed on the PEP website, www.pepparish.org/newsletter.    

Popular Issues

  1. Bringing People Together: What a parish can do – 1. Create a climate of equality, 2,. Get people talking, 3. Provide a non-partisan environement, 4. Pray for blessings.  (August, 2012)
  2. Weekend Liturgies: Become welcoming celebrations, 2. Invite active participation, 3. Attend to diversity in the congregation, 4. Create a hunger to return. (May, 2002)
  3. The C-D-I of Decision Making: This stands for Consult-Decide-Inform.  If the parish leadership, pastor, staff and lay leaders, can catch on to this, then everything else falls into place. (May, 2003)
  4. Moving On (Out of the Church): Significant numbers of people are leaving the Catholic Church. Why is this happening? One way to find out is to let people tell their own stories. (Oct, 2011)
  5. Managing Volunteers – Why So Difficult? We suggest that a Community Life group be added to the parish structure, as well as a staff person who is good at fostering relationships. (Jan. 2004)
  6. Aging With Grace: Those 70 and over are a blessing to any parish community. They have the experience, wisdom and time to be engaged in parish acitivities and programs.  (Mar. 2024)
  7. Young Adults: Planning social activities, group discussions and service projects for those in their twenties and thirties would pique their interest and provide outlets for their service. (Mar. 2010)
  8. The Role of Women: “The Church is woman, and if we cannot understand what a woman is, what is the theology of women, we will never understand the Church.” (Pope Francis.) (Feb. 2024)
  9. Serving Others: A big event happens on a Saturday when one thousand parishioners of all ages and backgrounds gather to offer help to those in need, returning for a Mass and meal. (Dec. 2012)
  10. Unplugging: A young person asked, “Help me unplug.” If there is an addiction, it is not to technology but to a habit of mind that does not include a space and time for solitude.  (June, 2011)
  11. Community Counts: People long for a place where they belong, feel connected, share customs and rituals together, are accepted and supported for who they are, all are welcomed. (July/Aug. 2023)
  12. Proclaiming Jesus With Joy: “Ideologies are cold, all of them.  The Gospel has the warmth of joy, it makes you smile because it touches the soul with the Good News.  (Dec. 2023)

If you have trouble finding any of these Newsletters or would like to receive some other one, please send a reply to this email and I will make sure you receive it.