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_{By Anthony D. Alonzo | Northwest Indiana Catholic} 

New entries into the story of a faith family are made every Sunday at Mass, in service at the parish food pantry and soup kitchen and at social gatherings such as a winter dance. At Ss. Monica and Luke, a core group of seniors share the wisdom of years expressed in words and in their remarkable energy.

Parishioners entered the parish at 7th Avenue and Rhode Island Street, catching the eyes of their longtime friends and neighbors and those who have long since moved from the Steel City. “Sunday best” still includes formalwear for the gentlemen, while many of the ladies wear stylish dresses and matching hats.

This month thePathways toward a Thriving Parish Project will launch with 75 parishes across the U.S.  There’s still time for your parish to participate in this one-of-a-kind project funded by a Lilly Endowment grant, if you act now.

The goal of the Pathways toward a Thriving Parish Project is to guide your parish in creating your own paths toward a thriving, vital community of faith that is living its mission in today’s world today.

We have designed the Project to equip your parish leadership with the knowledge and skills for responding to the challenges of our day and thriving as a community that lives the mission of Jesus Christ in our world today. There is no one way to make this happen, no one path to follow, no one way to be a thriving, vital community of faith. There are many paths to thriving. And the Pathways toward a Thriving Parish will guide your parish in creating and implementing these pathways toward thriving and flourishing as a parish community.

There are two ways your parish can participate. All of the in-person team training (cohort or conference) and online follow-up meetings with our Pastoral Facilitators are free to parishes.

First, your parish can join one of our eight regional cohorts of parishes. Your parish team will participate in three Saturday workshops in 2025-26 that will guide your parish in designing and implementing your pathways toward thriving and flourishing as a parish community. The first workshop begins in May 2025.

1. California-North Regional
2. Minneapolis Regional
3. Mississippi Regional
4. New Orleans Regional
5. Phoenix Regional
6. Washington DC Regional
7. Wilmington, DE Regional
8. Virginia Regional

Second, your parish can join one of our three-day national conferences in Baltimore or Chicago. The Conference will guide your team in learning the knowledge and skills for designing and implementing your pathways toward thriving and flourishing as a parish community. The grant allows us to provide free housing and meals, and a travel allotment, for up to four people from your parish to participate in the Conference.

• Baltimore Conference: June 17-19 at the Maritime Center BWI Airport, Baltimore.
• Chicago Conference: June 24-26 at the Hilton Garden Inn Chicago O’Hare.

If you want to participate in the Thriving Project – in a regional cohort or a conference – please contact John Roberto ASAP at jroberto@ncclcatholic.org.

We still have room for your parish if you act now. Don’t miss this opportunity.

St. Louis Public Radio | By Andrea Y. Henderson

St. Alphonsus Liguori Catholic Church’s stained glass windows desperately need repair. The church recently received a $500,000 grant to help restore, clean, re-lead and reseal the large, multipaned structures.

The predominantly African American Catholic church in north St. Louis at Grand and Cook avenues was one of 30 Black churches nationwide awarded funding from a $8.5 million grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation through its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.