Five Years as Our Lady of the Lake Looking Back and Looking Forward

As we begin the new year, we also begin planning for another important milestone, the 5-year anniversary of Our Lady of the Lake Parish. We’ll begin our year-long celebration in February, and look forward to sharing each month with parishioners new and old, visitors, friends and the community. We can’t help but look back at how far we’ve come, reflecting on the challenges we’ve faced together and the many good things that have happened along the way.

Our school has grown in wonderful ways, with new families, new programs and offerings, and new technology. We’ve been so fortunate to maintain small classes and personal attention, while also welcoming these wonderful new students who have enriched our school and our community. We have also been delighted to welcome our new teachers, and the array of resources they bring, from the early childhood program to languages and the arts. Quality Catholic education remains a vital mission of Our Lady of the Lake Parish. We are proud to be maintaining our more than 80-year history, and to be able to provide such a valuable resource to the community.

Our parish has also grown and flourished in new ways. We have explored exciting ideas, like the possible launch of a Grameen Bank initiative, the introduction of community Prayer Walks, support of the new Euclid-Collinwood community building network, our first community concert on the rectory lawn, even a new Welcoming Ministry, that lets us reach out to new parishioners and visitors, and help them feel at home here at Our Lady of the Lake.

There’s so much more to do. Our Hunger Ministry, prayer groups, Genesis for our senior members and youth ministry for our young ones, all these and more form the heart of our parish, and we look forward to seeing them grow in the coming year. Thanks to our thoughtful and engaged Parish Council, we have been able to focus on four core mission areas that will guide us in the months to come: Family Ministry, Faith Formation, Celebration of the Sacraments, and Community. These are all areas in which we can continue to be an anchor and a resource in our community, grow in faith together, and welcome and support our families and our neighbors.

This is going to be an exciting year at Our Lady of the Lake. We look forward to making the journey together.

Sarah Gyorki

Fr. Joe Fortuna

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Volume 6, Issue 1, Posted 5:27 PM, 01.26.2015