St Mary - Potsdam, NY
St Patrick - Colton, NY

For weekday Mass Schedule please check the bulletin. 

The Living Stone Committee of our two parishes has met over the past few months to formulate ideas we might put into action to maintain and grow parish vibrancy in the areas for which parishioners were invited to give input. The highest priority was voted Hospitality, and the recommendations are listed below. The full committee report is available on our website at https://stmarystpatrick.net/living-stones-parish

Our thanks to the members of the committee for their work.

1.Create a framework for the approach to hospitality.

2.Get greeters for all entryways at St. Mary's and St. Patrick's and provide adequate training for all greeters.

3.Update the website and make it easy for a new person to get important information.

4.Consider forming a Communication Committee, with a coordinator (perhaps paid) to manage communication throughout the parishes.

5.Include youth as greeters.

6.Post a monthly calendar of events in the church foyer.

7.Develop welcome packets to be given out by greeters to new people before Masses. Also include welcome packets on tables in the vestibule.

8.Consider significant enhancement of communication throughout the parishes. Consider a comprehensive CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Should Flocknote be considered for St. Mary's and St. Patrick's?

9.Seek ways to involve new parishioners in parish life.

10.Create activities to help younger community members make friends with other younger parishioners.

11.Consider coffee hours after mass for people to get to know new church members.

12.Communicate once a month through e-mails, Facebook, and/or newsletters, some of the special events or faith activities that are occurring during that time.

13.Develop and print pew cards for inclusion in all pews. (See subcommittee report for details.)

14.Consider offering "introductory" training to help attract individuals considering various committees or minis-tries within the parishes. This could be used as individuals express an interest in becoming involved in vari-ous ministries and for new members joining the parish. (See subcommittee report for details.)

15.Create service opportunities that are open to the community that benefit the community; e.g.: someone who knows how to fix or build things, that person could teach younger/others.

16.Hospitality may require a Volunteer Coordinator.

17.Schedule fellowship potluck dinners once a quarter that are open to the community.

18.Welcome visitors to the parish: parents weekend, sporting events, etc. Father Rocker could welcome visitors at beginning of Mass.

Diocese of Ogdensburg  http://rcdony.org

Vatican  http://vatican.va