St. Thomas More Catholic Church 215 Thomas More Dr. Elgin, IL 60123 847-888-1682 Fax:  847-888-3198

Dear Parishioners,

         It has been reported that statistically the largest Christian group in the United States is Roman Catholic.  The  second  largest group is former Catholics.   This is an unfortunate statistic.   We must remember that  membership is not based on parish registration, but on Baptism into our Church.   Once you are baptized Catholic, you are a Catholic for life, even if you never enter a Catholic church again during your lifetime. We take everyone, as the saying goes, “good, bad and indifferent."  

          When  we talk  about  evangelization  in  the  Church  today, we  need to  consider  these  marginalized Catholic people. Of  special  interest to us  are those who once  walked  faithfully with  the  community of believers, but no longer do so.  There are a number of outreach programs available today for non-practicing Catholics.  I recently heard of  a program called “Landings”.  Landings is a reconciliation program that reaches out to inactive Catholics.  A Landings group is made up of about six to eight active parishioners who join together to welcome two or three returning Catholics. These parishioners provide a landing place, a safe spot for returning Catholics to touch down.  This group of every day Catholics share faith journeys, prayer, and discussions of Catholic spirituality.  We would like to reach out to the non-practicing Catholics in our parish. At next weekend’s Masses, cards will be put in the pews to gather names of those who might be interested in this program.  If you know of someone, please let us know by filling out this card.

            Our diocese is beginning a program entitled “Why Catholic?” in Lent 2006.   Materials for this program were compiled by Renew International.  Our diocese has used programs written by this team in the past.  This new program is an attempt to help Catholics understand their faith better.  Often Catholics feel weak when it comes to standing up for their beliefs.  Other heavily Bible-based denominations seem to do a better job.  The “Why Catholic?” program will begin  in  the  Spring  of  2006  and  will  continue for the  next  four  semesters.  Parish leaders and priests are attending an initial introductory meeting on April 20 in Rockford.  You will be hearing much more about this in the months ahead.

 Sincerely,
 Father Geoff