GOOD SHEPHERD NEIGHBORS

Questions and Inquiries, Contact:

Pat Beckett, Parish Office, 893-1837
beckettp@gs.ptdiocese.org

MISSION:

The Good Shepherd Neighbors Ministry seeks to connect Good Shepherd parishioners in their geographic neighborhoods in order to encourage community building, support and service within the neighborhood. 

Volunteer neighborhood mentors welcome new parishioners within the assigned neighborhood boundaries to the parish.  Welcoming can include a variety of outreach activities, including, but not limited to: phone calls, invitations to parish events, visits, postcards and planned neighborhood events for all Good Shepherd parishioners in the neighborhood. 

As well as serving as the initial contact for newcomers, Neighborhood Mentors also serve as contacts for all parishioners in their assigned neighborhood and are encouraged to foster community and encourage more active participation in the parish.  This second focus seeks to engage the many inactive registered Catholic families in the parish and draw them into parish life.  Both welcoming newcomers and reaching out to inactive families are ways to evangelize within the parish.

QUALITIES OF NEIGHBORHOOD MENTORS

-registered, active parishioners at Good Shepherd
-commitment and willingness to invest time and energy into welcoming new parishioners and building community within their neighborhood
-good listener and affirming to others
-willingness to meet people where they are in their spiritual journey
-encouraging and optimistic
-faith filled and commited to their own spiritual growth
-ability to work well with others and collaborate with Parish Staff and other ministries
-ability to refer people as needed to parish priests for questions/concerns

CREATION OF NEIGHBORHOODS          

Neighborhoods are created based on the Neighborhood Mentor’s location.  Each mentor is assigned a geographic area that is generated through the parish database.  For purposes of assigning newcomers, these areas will be larger and more flexible so that newcomers don’t fall through the cracks if they are just outside a boundary.  For purposes of reaching out to all parishioners, the geographic lines will be drawn to include about 25 families.  Neighborhoods will be expanded as requested by the mentors as they determine how many families want to be involved.

COORDINATION

Pat Beckett at the Parish Office will create the neighborhoods using the parish database.  As newcomers are registered, Bill Beckett will notify the Neighborhood Mentors of any new parishioners that have moved into their neighborhood.  The neighborhood list will include name, address, phone number, e-mail and date registered in the parish.