For Attendance Only
When a person requests to be a confirmation sponsor or Godparent, the Church requires that we check to see if they are a practicing Catholic, a requirement of both. Because it is impossible for us to know all of you, this is how we determine if we can sign the sponsor certificate. First, we check to see if you are involved in any parish ministry or activity. If you are, we sign the paper. If you are not, then we check to see if you have any children and if they are enrolled in St. Paul School or our Religious Education Program. We believe that if you care enough about the religious education of your child to register them, you are probably a Catholic in good standing. If you are not involved in any ministry, and do not have children enrolled in Religious Ed or Saint Paul School, then, and only then, we check to see if you use envelopes. Checking the envelopes is a good way to see if you ever come to Church. This is important, so please read it carefully…. When we say we check the envelopes, we are not saying that we check how much you give. Rather, we are saying if you handed in an envelope, you probably come to Mass. We have several families that, for whatever reason do not put contributions in the envelope. They simply write for attendance only. That’s fine with us. These sponsor certificates are a source of great stress for our parish staff. People call up and berate the staff when we have no record of them having any involvement in our parish life but still want a sponsor certificate. Please help people understand that the amount a person contributes to our parish does not figure in any way into our decision to issue a sponsor certificate. As the Church requires, we take our responsibility of helping parents choose practicing Catholics for these important roles very seriously. It goes without saying that it would be very improper for us to attest to the fact that they are a practicing Catholic when we have no way of knowing that they are.

Meetings with Catechists
I have been meeting with our Catechists (the unsung heroes) of our Religious Education Program. They have the important task of educating our children in their faith. I hope that you are as grateful as I am for their hard work and sacrifices. I believe we could still use a couple more Catechists. Please call the Religious Education Office if you are willing or able to assist us in preparing the next generation of Catholics. The need is great.

Enhancements to 9th Grade Confirmation Program
This year we will be rolling out an enhanced 9th Grade Confirmation Program. Next year the 10th grade will also be enhanced. What does enhanced mean you ask ? This summer Fr. Peter and I spent a lot of time trying to improve the quality of the content in our program. In other words, we wrote our own lesson plans. The Catechists have doubled their time commitment in the program because now not only will they be teaching the classes, but in between they will be attending classes to go over the material with either Fr. Peter or myself. The service hours will be reconfigured and we will provide service days on which the students can perform their community service together. After each class there will be an online quiz to make sure the students learned the material, and at the end of the year, students will have to pass a final exam in order to go on to 10th grade. With the help of the South Kensington Fire Department in October, we are going to take the whole class for a hike up Ragged Mountain for Mass. My Mom always used to say anything worth doing is worth doing well. We are committed to helping the children of our parish grow in their understanding of our faith and love of the Lord. We promise.

State of the School Meeting
The success of any school, but especially a small Catholic School, depends on the sacrifices of everyone involved. In order to know when and where to make your contribution you have to be informed. This year, on Thursday, September 5th at 6:30pm, we will be having our annual State of the School meeting. Both a number of the staff, the administration and myself will be bringing our parents and constituents up to date on important issues for our school. If you have children in our school, please do your best to attend this important annual meeting. If your grandchildren attend St. Paul’s, please help encourage one or both of their parents to attend.

Staff Retreat
Once again, we held a working retreat for the staff of the Parish Center and St Paul School. On last Wednesday afternoon the School staff met to discuss the enrollment and recruitment process for our school. Last year 140 families expressed interest in our school and from those inquiries we received 60+ new students. The parish staff met to review procedures and discuss ways to enhance our “customer service” to the members of our parish.
On Thursday, we reviewed and assessed last year’s goals and objectives and then wrote new objectives for the coming year. Wednesday evening we prayed together and enjoyed relaxing community time together on Enders Island.

Let them know.
In order for us to visit you or your loved ones on any of the campuses of the Hospital of Central Connecticut, it is ESSENTIAL that you let the hospital know that you are a member of St. Paul’s Church. Please make it a point to do so. The friars can’t walk around the hospital yelling, “Anyone from St Paul’s here?” They would throw us out. Sadly, many times I learn that I walked right by the room of one of our parishioners without knowing. We visit the Hospital on Tuesdays and Thursdays.