Improvements and Accomplishments

Improvements and Accomplishments

Over the past few weeks, several parish and collaborative projects have been accomplished that you should know about.

To improve your ease of access to the most current information about our parishes, for months we have been planning and preparing an upgrade to our parish websites, and just before Christmas our new websites were launched! I say " websites" (plural) because, based on advice from the Collaborative Pastoral Council, we have established parish-specific websites that are interconnected with pages for our whole collaborative. The easiest way to access all the information is through the collaborative address: www.pwc.church (short for Plainville-Wrentham Catholic). The new St. Mary website is www.wrenthamcatholic.org, and the new St. Martha website is www.plainvillecatholic.org (or you can continue to use www.saintmarthaschurch.org); the old web address for St. Mary will be retired in a few months. Both parish-specific sites also allow you to access other information about the collaborative using the tabs near the top of the screen. We are very grateful for the planning and hard work of our web committee: Phil Hoagland, Diana Zeller, and Linda Olsen who spearheaded the effort, as well as the many parishioners who contributed or proofread content - thank you all!

Three property projects were completed recently, just in time to be hidden by that weekend snowstorm! At St. Martha Pastoral Center, Fred Lewicki donated his services to excavate the leaky main water line from the street for replacement. Also, the center's roof shingles were finally giving up after decades of service, so it was re-shingled at a low price under the direction of Soule & Sons. Outside St. Mary church, the rebuilding of St. Mary shrine was completed with a brick patio by Dreamscape Landscaping, who reduced their own price and incorporated product donated by the Lewicki's. This patio includes the engraved bricks people donated in support of the ramp and shrine projects. Future requests for donating engraved bricks can be made through St. Mary office, and once enough have been received they will be added to the patio.

Such projects are often expensive, but your sacrificial giving to the Grand Annual and commitment to the Offertory throughout the year, together with the efforts of parishioners and staff, make our parish stronger and more beautiful! Last year I arranged for property studies to make sure we are aware of other maintenance projects that need attention in both parishes. I will soon be forming a Collaborative Building & Grounds Commission to advise me and both Parish Finance Councils on which projects need more immediate attention. In this way, we are all working together to be good stewards of our parishes for future years and generations.