St. Elizabeth Church
Laetare Sunday
Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 30, 2025
FATHER JIM'S JOTS
Greetings!
This past Thursday we held a Parish Council meeting. I would like to share the topics and information that was discussed below.
Update on Commonwealth Catholic Charities (CCC) Affordable Housing Building Project.
We have received confirmation from CCC that the project is set to move forward and groundbreaking will take place within the next two months. There will be a groundbreaking ceremony that St. Elizabeth Parish will collaborate with CCC to execute. It was planned for the complex to be named "St. Elizabeth Apartments" but to avoid confusion of ownership, the team has decided to adopt a new name that has not been chosen at this moment.
Update on Haiti Collection Envelopes:
For the past few years, we have been giving a $750 monthly contribution to our twinning partner Beyond Borders. (For those who are interested in learning more about the work that Beyond Borders does, please see the information on the info sessions on April 2nd in this Bulletin.) It has been approved to have a once monthly collection for our Haiti fund that is starting to be depleted. Envelopes will be available with the Hospitality Ministers and the collection will be held on the 3rd Sunday of every month starting after Easter.
Update on the New Parish Center Building Project:
Our next meeting with the Diocesan Building and Renovations Commission (BARC) is scheduled for April 10th. The costs of the building have increased; the current expected cost is 2.2 million and we will have 2.4 million provided that outstanding pledges from the Capital Campaign are paid on. As long as our current schedule remains the same, we expect to have contracts signed and permits issued over the summer and break ground for construction in September of this year.
Update on Jazz Festival:
There was a unanimous decision by the Parish Council to not hold a Jazz Festival this year. This decision was made because CCC will start construction in the lot behind the church no later than end of June and we will break ground for the Parish Center in September. Parish Council has suggested to hold only the raffle that usually accompanies the festival, but what that will look like has not yet been decided upon. We are looking forward to having a Jazz Festival in 2026 once the building construction is completed.
Lenten Blessings,
Fr. Jim, Pastor
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Labels: Fr. Jim's Jots, Laetare Sunday 2025