March 18, 2015

By Mary Lou Kilian
Editor

The hundreds of census takers preparing to take to the streets and roads of northern New York over the next couple of months are “the church in action,” said Bishop Terry R. LaValley in a video he recorded for the volunteers.

“The census will tell your local community that your local parish is vibrant,” he said, “that we are their neighbors and we are here to help with prayers and tangible support.”

“You will be the face of the church as you take the door-to-door census,” he said.

The diocesan census initiative, “Finding Your Home in Christ,” is one of the goals of the pastoral vision of the Ogdensburg.

Included within the priority “Building Parishes With Living Stones,” the census is to be completed by Aug. 1.
Its purposes include updating parish records, reconnecting with inactive Catholics, inviting people to the parish and conducting pastoral visits.

St. Joseph Sister Shirley Anne Brown, pastoral associate for the Roman Catholic Community of Morristown, Hammond and Rossie, is serving as point person for the initiative.

Sister Shirley Anne and her committee have provided parishes with suggestions on how to create parish leadership teams, invite volunteers and publicize the program in the community.

Necessary materials – the diocesan census form, name tags, “sorry we missed you” door hangers and prayer cards – have also been made available.

Sister Shirley Anne has been leading a series of deanery meetings required for pastors and two leaders in each parish.

Here they are learning about the expected time line for preparing and conducting the census as well as action steps after the visitation is completed.

Parish leaders are also given advice about how to choose their census takers, encouraging them to choose parishioners who will be “great ambassadors of Christ.”

Bishop LaValley points out that these volunteers will “be my representatives as they learn the needs of our active parishioners, reach out, listen to and invite back our inactive parishioners and welcome new faces to walk with your parish family in the journey of faith.”

He has asked the census takers to be “honest, speaking the truth with love and maintaining utmost confidentiality.”

They must also be “patient, unhurried, respectful, joyful and attentive,” the bishop said.

And, Bishop LaValley, said, they must be “hope-filled, knowing this is God’s work and His Spirit is our constant companion.”

The image of Jesus knocking on a door appears on materials for the “Finding Your Home in Christ” census initiative to be conducted in the coming months by all parishes in the diocese. The diocesan-wide census is one of the goals of the diocesan pastoral vision.