AL+UM
December 2023
Missionary Alumni Priest’s Team Welcomes New Parishioners in New Ways
Sending a current bulletin to a new parishioner’s home just wasn’t cutting it.
Fr. Mark Bernhard and his parish leadership team at Notre Dame Catholic Church in the Village of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, realized they needed to revamp their approach to welcoming new folks to church. They desired to make a first impression that “ultimately leads to a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ.”
The newly formed Welcome Team discovered that what new parishioners needed the most was an opportunity to meet each other and a personalized housewarming gift that spoke of Notre Dame’s Catholic identity.
To that end, they held their first new parishioner brunch on October 15, where new families got to meet one another and parish staff.
Next was to deliver welcome baskets containing bread, salt, honey and oil. “The idea was to take some of the traditional housewarming gifts and connect them to the Church’s biblical heritage,” said Fr. Mark. The items connect to Scripture verses (Acts 2:46, Col 6:4, Prov 16:24, Lk 10:34, respectively) and are accompanied by the parish’s magazine and a handwritten note.
They hope to expand their ministry this summer to include not just new parishioners, but any new residents within their parish boundaries. They’ve received positive support from the Clarendon Hills officials, who implemented their own welcome basket program after hearing about what Notre Dame was doing.
“We are a parish where we’re convinced that Jesus changes lives … so we want as many people as possible to encounter him, to experience transformation and renewal,” Fr. Mark said in his welcome message.
Fr. Mark Bernhard served with FOCUS from 2009 to 2011 at the University of Nebraska-Omaha before heading to seminary. He was ordained in 2017 and has been pastor at Notre Dame since 2021. He now lives mission through his priesthood. He grew up on a pig farm, which gave him lots of access to good bacon and allowed him to truly live in the New Covenant.
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Wondering How to Inspire and Lead Parish Volunteers?
Join us for our January monthly formation.
Kick off the new year in your parish by growing in your ability to work with volunteers. Led by Anne Stevenson, whose work focuses on volunteer systems development, this formation will help you identify where your parish volunteer structure needs fine-tuning—and what to do about it. This is open to pastors, parish leaders and volunteers simply looking to learn.
City on a Hill Is Looking for a Development Director!
City on a Hill is a Catholic apostolate headquartered in Kansas City. Their mission is to inspire young adult Catholics to be saints through formation, sports leagues, sacramental events and mission-oriented service. They serve more than 2,500 young adults each year through the Kansas City metro area.
As the Development Director, you’ll build a major gifts fundraising strategy and coordinate all giving efforts for City on a Hill. You’ll help coordinate donor appreciation events and design reports that communicate the fruits of fundraising. Working alongside a dedicated staff, you’ll get to foster Catholic culture across the city.
Learn more and apply now!
Visit our job board at connect.focus.org/jobs to apply and to see employers who are specifically looking for FOCUS Alumni to fill their open positions or reach out to Career Services Manager Elli Schmidt at [email protected].
FOCUS Alumni Is Coming to a Location Near You!
Join FOCUS Alumni missionaries in your city this winter. Details about these events will be sent directly to alumni living in the area. Moved recently? Email the event contact if you’re near one of the cities below. Otherwise fill out this contact form to stay updated about future events in your area.
- January 1 – 5: SEEK24, St. Louis, MO, [email protected]
- Ongoing (Tuesdays): Lifelong U Virtual Group, [email protected]
Pray for Us and Let Us Pray for You!
The FOCUS Alumni team wants to unite our FOCUS family in prayer for one another. Please submit any prayer requests you have here. We pray for these intentions every Monday as a team. Save the link for future re-use!
Our team’s intention this month is for our priests and for families as they inspire their sons by the way they live their Catholic faith in the home. Please pray with us!
About Us
Our mission is to fan the flame of lifelong mission in the hearts of our alumni in this apostolic age.
The FOCUS Alumni Relations team exists to provide you, our alumni, with inspirational content in emails and social media. We desire to build alumni communities in various cities, connect alumni with job listings, and develop resources to support the living of Catholic mission in the world.
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What does AL+UM mean?
AL+UM (Altum) comes from “Duc in Altum”, which means to“Set out into the deep.” This call, to set out into the deep, is the call of every person seeking after Christ. You are on a different mission now than when you were on campus, yet as you cast your nets, the Lord will certainly bless you with a great catch if you continue to trust in Him.
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