Many times, during our work on “envisioning” and “implementing” for the With One Heart Initiative, we found ourselves asking: “What drew us to Mother of God Church?” and “What keeps us coming back?” Although our answers varied based on our own backgrounds and experiences, one of the common themes was the opportunity to be engaged—in our faith, in our parish, and in our community. Our team sees engagement—in its many forms—as a means for deepening our relationship with Jesus Christ and enriching our parish life.
 
For our model of engagement, we are looking to parallel Bishop Iffert’s Campaign of Mercy for our diocese where we: Encounter, Reflect, and Engage/Invite.

• Encounter Christ through the Liturgy, the Eucharist, and one another
• Reflect on our Sunday experience with the Liturgy and our conversations with family and friends. And through our encounters and reflections… 
• Engage in opportunities to get involved both inside and outside the parish. Invite others to join us.

 
Under this priority, we have two goals:

• 75-80% of registered parishioners will be meaningfully engaged in at least one parish ministry or organization by March 2025.
• 90% of the people in the parish will invite someone to at least one parish event annually by April 2025.

 
Simply put—it is our goal and our hope that parishioners at Mother of God Church will be called to engage at some level.

To accomplish these goals, our Engagement Team seeks to:

• Support the work of our current ministries and committees within the parish;
• Assist with identifying new ministries, events, and projects; 
• Connect parishioners with ways to engage in parish life, no matter how big or small; and
• Provide information and contacts on the many opportunities for engagement and service in our broader Northern Kentucky community. 

 
One of our first steps was to ask you to enlighten us! We partnered with the Faith Formation Team to ask specific questions on your views of engagement in faith formation, ministry, and parish life at Mother of God. Thank you to all who participated in our survey. We are grateful to have received over 100 responses and will keep you in the loop by sharing the results and taking action based on your feedback.  
 
Our parish community has thrived for over 175 years through the engagement of those who came before us. We invite you to continue this legacy as a Next Generation Parish in whatever ways you wish—in prayer, in action, and in fellowship!  

The Engagement priority team is: Jacob Fisher, Cindy Hassan, Mary Ann Kelly, Bridget Otto, Gerry Otto, and Maggie Vinson.