The VOICE

St. Francis Xavier Parish Newsletter

In the early years of St. Francis Xavier Parish, the title of the weekly bulletin was The Voice. It was a very small publication that informed the fledgling community of events, news and brief messages from the pastor.

As our parish grew, so did the number of newsworthy items that needed to be shared with parishioners. Thus, over the course of these last hundred-odd years, the weekly bulletin has grown to its current 20 pages of information and formation. It has become the vehicle for gathering people together; requesting prayer for the sick, the deceased and the bereaved; and helping many with employment needs. Peace Corner was added several years ago, and we are the better for its challenges to be aware of the gospel mandates for peace and justice. Our pastor, John Hoffman, continues the long-standing tradition of sharing his insights with us each week and we are encouraged in our understanding of the Scriptures with the reflections written by staff members. However, somewhere back in time, the bulletin was no longer called The VOICE.

In 1996, a group of parishioners, led by then-staff-member Tom Carroll, discerned a need for another way to communicate on a more in-depth level with the parishioners, educating them about various aspects of parish life so as to better strengthen dialogue among all the members of the parish. And so, The VOICE was reborn and served the parish well for 11 years.

In 2008, it seemed appropriate to revisit, re-vision and recreate The VOICE and a new mission statement was articulated for this publication: to invite all who read it into deeper relationship with the members of this faith community, with the Church, with the world’s people, with creation, and with God. To accomplish this, a new team was installed to work on its publication. Published three times each year, The VOICE is filled with articles for all ages and has a seasonal look that we hope will invite you to open and read its pages. The current issue and the archive of past issues can be accessed through the right side bar.

Submissions of written prayer, poetry, photography artwork and other creative expressions of faith are invited and welcomed for consideration. All submissions are subject to editorial approval. You will be contacted only if your submission is chosen for publication. Please forward submissions by email to:
 
VOICE@sfx-lg.org.

We would love to hear from you!

Susan Dehn Matthews, Pastoral Associate/Editor