Parishes are communities of faith, of action, of hope. They are where the gospel is proclaimed and celebrated, where believers are formed and sent forth to renew the earth. Parishes are the place where God's people meet Jesus in word and sacrament and come in touch with the source of the churches life - from Communities of Salt and Light. A 1993 pastoral letter of the Bishops of the United States. No parish ever achieves the fullness of the Bishops lofty statement of purpose.
Every parish is a work in progress.
With this Parish Handbook you have a comprehensive description of St. John the Baptist Parish in Boston, New York in the fall of 1995. A parish, like any community, is a living growing thing. I invite each person who reads this booklet to discover how your personal, God given gifts, can add to the life of St. John's parish. There was a time when people talked of Father so and so's parish. Today we realize that the parish is the spiritual family for us all.