PARISH TOWN HALL MEETING

Updates on Follow Up Action Items

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Fr. Saju!

Paulo Coelho said, “Love is only a word, until someone arrives to give it meaning.” The same could be said about faith and commitment. We have many great ideas that emerged from the Parish Town Hall meeting last month. Now, it is time to give it meaning by implementing them. I worked with the pastoral council and staff in categorizing them and coming up with an action plan. Please go over each of them and let us know if you are able to volunteer or help in any of them. If you would like to be involved in any of these ministries please call the parish office at (408) 294-8953 or email Therese Lehane at
tlehane@stmartin.org.

  • Phone Check Ups and Reach Out to Parishioners: Phones are a perfect tool to reach out personally and connect with parishioners. The goal is to let families know that we are thinking about them and we’re all in this together. Trained volunteers will be assigned to specifically call an assigned list of parishioners, let them know that we care, talk to them for a little while, and ask if they need anything. The ideal scenario is to call each parish family at least once a month. I would like to invite anyone who would like to be a part of this ministry to please let us know. We are looking for at least 10 volunteers. This ministry will be done from home.
  • Hospitality/Food Angels for the Sick in Our Parish: Unlike the Food Box program, this is aimed at any parishioner who is sick with Covid or any other illness and needs help with prepared food and/or help with shopping for groceries for them. We are looking for 10 volunteers for this ministry. Sign up will be made available to prepare food.
  • Prayer Ministry and Prayer Requests: A group of volunteers will meet through Zoom and also will pray individually for the various prayer requests made by the parishioners and others. There will be a prayer request submission form in the parish website. Prayer requests also could be made by calling or emailing the parish office. We are looking for 7-10 volunteers.
  • Peace and Justice Ministry: St. Martin of Tours’ Peace and Justice Ministry is revitalizing itself under the joint leadership of Mary O’Meara and Debra Weed. We are also looking for other members who are interested in this ministry. If you would like to become involved, please contact: Mary O’Meara (meandpj@comcast.net) or Debra Weed (debra.weed@gmail.com)
  • Notifying the Parishioners about Deaths in the Parish and Sickness of Parishioners: This will be done through parish e-bulletin that goes out every week. We have already started it from this week. We will also add those names to the prayers of the faithful at weekend Masses. However, please remember, we can only publish those names permitted by the family of the deceased and sick person.
  • Parish Photo Directory: It is finalized and ready for print. Printing has been delayed due to COVID-19. The company has notified us that the directory will be mailed to us by mid October. The Directory will have names and contact information permitted to be published by each family. All those who participated in the program will be given a copy of the directory.
  • Strengthening St. Vincent De Paul: Vincent De Paul is one of the outreach arms of the parish. We support them by second collections each month and by generous donations from parishioners. We will continue to do the same.

I look forward to your cooperation and willingness to volunteer in making our dreams a reality.

Yours in Christ,
Fr. Saju Joseph