What it is
Saint Maria Goretti’s Next Generation Parish initiative seeks to build Faith, Community and Welcoming spaces to draw the faithful into a greater spiritual life, call back those who have fallen away, and seek to draw new members into the Body of Christ. Through invitation, holiness and opportunity, we hope to provide a place of encounter with Jesus Christ through the Eucharist, prayer, sacramental life, joyful witness and service to others.
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In a culture marked by declining church attendance and a seeming indifference toward spiritual realities, we choose to look to the future with hope. Not a hope founded on our own talents and abilities or even the depths of our pocketbooks but rather the goodness of God and the love of Christ. The next generation of St. Maria Goretti parish will not be something entirely new or separated from our past. On the contrary, it will and must be built on the strong foundation of the Faith of the Church and the faith of our parishioners.
“surely I know the plans I have for you… plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11
Parish Initiatives
Based on 686 responses from the “Disciple Maker Index Survey” conducted in March of 2022, we developed teams to put 3 parish initiatives in motion over the next 3 years
Invitation
expand & deepen parish life by building up the Body of Christ
Through witness and personal invitation, we seek to ignite a passion for participation in all aspects of parish life, inspiring current parishioners to deeper conversion and service, calling back those who have fallen away, and seeking to draw new members into the Body of Christ
Initiatives to Date
- Personal greeting at the opening of Mass
- Christmas and Easter handouts
- Media Ministry
Team leads:
Janna Kerr | jlkerr8@gmail.com
Steve Steklenski | stklnsk@yahoo.com
Janna Kerr
Invitation Team Co-LeadJanna and her husband, Peter, joined St. Maria Goretti in 2011. They have three children who attend Mater Dei Catholic School. Janna runs her own health coaching company, At the Well Coaching, and serves Christian moms across the country. She enjoys using her project management skills to keep her home and business running smoothly. Janna serves on the Pastoral Council, sings with the SMG choir, and with Steve Steklenski, serves as the co-lead of the Invitation priority. Janna’s hope for the Implementation Team and the Next Generation Parish process is that more hearts will be drawn to Jesus. She looks forward to building up the Church as we call forth the unique gifts and talents of our parishioners.
Steve Steklenski
Invitation Team Co-LeadSteve and his wife, Angela, have been parishioners at St. Maria Goretti for over the last 20 years. Steve has been a long serving member of the parish Finance Council. Steve has spent the last 20 years as a management consultant helping global 50 companies transform their technology and business capabilities to remain competitive.
Steve takes inspiration from St. Ignatious’ call to serve others and see God in all things. As a co-lead for the Invitation priority, Steve’s hope is that St. Maria Goretti will continue to welcome and attract members whose gifts will help build up our worship community.
Michelle Rampulla
Invitation TeamMichelle and her husband, Drew, joined the SMG family in 2002, raising their 2 children in the SMG community.
Michelle has worked as an Occupational Therapist since 1998, assisting people with mental illnesses with building lives of meaning.
In her role on the Invitation Team, Michelle hopes to create occasions for others to find their place in the SMG family. Our church community truly offers opportunities for spiritual growth, social engagement and emotional wellness. As Saint Pope John Paul II said, “It is not enough to discover Christ, you must bring Him to others.”
Donna Dougherty
Invitation TeamDonna and her husband Joe have been parishioners since 1991. They have two daughters and four grandchildren who all live in Delaware County. Donna has been active in the SMG choir, the decorating team, the outdoor gardens, and the Pre-Jordan team.
Donna was an educator for 40 years. She began her career in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, then began a pre-school when her children were young. Later, she continued her career in the Spring-Ford and Central Bucks school districts. Additionally, she wrote and taught graduate classes and has presented many staff development programs across the country. After retirement, she continued to consult and implement staff development programs and work with student teachers as a coach and mentor.
Donna’s hope for the Invitation Team is to encourage parishioners to find joy in becoming more active in the parish. By being a member of the Pre-Jordan team, Donna has met many new families. Watching new babies being baptized is a source of faith and rejoicing for Donna. Likewise, preparing the church for various liturgical events and celebrations brings her closer to God and strengthens her faith. Every choir rehearsal and chance to sing at Mass is a beautiful prayer that brings her even closer to Jesus. The other members of the choir deepen her love of the Lord and bring friendships that are God-centered. She wishes every member of our parish to have those opportunities in whichever ministries they find joy, love, and faith.
HOLINESS
support spiritual growth & encourage deeper encounter
At the core of the next generation of our parish will be the continued pursuit of holiness, our response to our Heavenly Father’s command to “be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).
Although holiness is an interior disposition, often overlooked and impossible to truly assess or measure, the fruits of its presence in individuals and a parish cannot be missed. A parish with the holiness of its members as its guiding principle will be a model of faith, a beacon of hope, and a source of charity for the community and the whole Church. Our goal is to help our parish become these things more fully by nourishing the relationship of parishioners with Jesus Christ through prayer, formation and the sacramental life.
Initiatives to Date
- Providing the Hallow prayer app during Lent & Easter
- Easter prayer cards
- Weekly column on prayer in the bulletin.
- Forming a team of volunteers dedicated to reaching out to our parishioners in an effort to invite everyone into a deeper participation in the sacramental and communal life of the parish.
- Planning a regular schedule of faith formation opportunities to enrich and deepen the spiritual lives of our parishioners.
Team lead: Luke Ertel | lertel001@gmail.com
Luke Ertel
Holiness Team LeadLuke was born and raised in rural Indiana and moved to the Philadelphia area in 2012 after graduating from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He and his wife Sara have been parishioners at St. Maria Goretti since moving to Hatfield Borough in 2015. Their three Children Thea, Rowan and Nova can often be seen running around the Church grounds with their friends following the 9:30 Mass. Since 2012 Luke has worked as the Director of Catholic Formation and Evangelization at St. Francis Xavier School (Pre-k – 8) in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia. During that time, he also obtained a master’s degree in Pastoral Theology from St. Joseph’s College in Maine. Luke served on the Envisioning Team and is now acting as the leader for the Implementation Team’s holiness priority. His hope for the Next Generation Parish process is to see St. Maria Goretti Parish build on its strong foundation and become a model parish of true Chrisian discipleship where he and his family can continue to deepen their relationship with Christ and their fellow parishioners.
Bill Wynne
Holiness TeamBill has been a member of Saint Maria Goretti Parish since 1998 when he and his wife Mary moved to Harleysville Pa. Mary passed away unexpectedly in 2018. His son Andrew is a graduate of St. John’s University in NYC. His daughter Julia is currently a Senior at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh Pa.
Bill is a 2008 Graduate of The Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Lay Ministry program. He has taught in the SMG prep program and participated in the parish TMIY Program. Currently Bill is involved with The Big People Church School. Additionally, Bill is a Board Member of The Cornerstone Forum, a group dedicated to the Catholic Legacy of Rene Girard. Bill continues in a 30-year career in various roles focused on Business Transformation leveraging SAP software.
Bill’s hope for The Implementation Team is to focus on building Holy Communions. We need something different in a world filled with Un-Holy Communions. Christ did not give us a self-help manual or a multi-step program he gave us an example to follow.
Bruce Pollock
Holiness TeamBruce and his wife Patricia have been parishioners of St. Maria Goretti for 10 years. They have two children and two grandchildren.
Currently Retired, I’ve spent all my career in business consulting, identifying and starting new businesses, assisting companies in identifying products and services that would support them in growing their businesses.
From the faith-based side of my life, in my previous parish, I contributed in the following ways:
- Member of the pastoral council
- Volunteered as an accounting clerk managing the parish payables and receivables for 5 years
- Greeter
- Cantor
- Choir member
- Finance Council for over 20 years under 3 different pastors
- Eucharistic Minister
- Member of numerous other committees based on the needs of the parish
Within SMG, currently serving as:
- Choir member
- Cantor
- Sacristan
- Eucharistic Minister
- Member of the Live Stream Team
- Serving as a member of the current Envisioning/Implementation – Pursuing Holiness Team
Other outside services
- Founded and was the 1st President of the Stowe Optimist Club
- Volunteered for 23 years as the chairman of West Pottsgrove Township’s Civil Service Commission
- Past President and Current Member of Pottstown/Stowe Lions Club serving for 47 years
- Current privileged board trustee and past president of AltruVision, a Lions Eye Bank based out of Philadelphia for 40 years.
- Volunteering as a tour guide and artifact manager with the Mid Atlantic Air Museum
Bruce’s hope as a member of the Envisioning/Implementation Team is to bring daily prayer into more homes and the lives of our parishioners helping them realize that prayer is an essential practice of our faith and that it is at the core of our relationship with God.
BUILDING
assure availability of parish facilities to support growth
Over 90% of respondents said our parish facilities are inadequate. The team will be seeking to provide a warm, welcoming space needed for our robust Catholic community to flourish.
Initiatives to Date
- Visited local faith communities to identify best practices in recent construction projects
- Worked diligently with The Catholic Foundation & an Architectural firm to present to you a vision for the future
Read more about the New Parish Center
The New Parish Center at St. Maria Goretti will include:
- Large social hall with a functional commercial kitchen and storage
- Large meeting room that can be connected to the social hall for large events
- Maintenance workshop
- Youth ministry center with courtyard
- Small meeting rooms for ministry activities, social activities and faith formation
- Parish offices
- Basement space for storage
- Center courtyard containing the relocated Blessed Mother grotto
- Elevator
- Covered walkway connecting to the church
See the model of the New Parish Center on display in the Narthex
Team Lead: Kim Staudt | kimstaudt@me.com
Kim Staudt
Building Team LeadKim and his wife Maureen have been parishioners for over 30 years. Kim serves as Chair of the Parish’s Finance Council and a member of Pastoral Council. He has been an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist since 2001. He served on the boards of Catholic Social Services and Catholic Housing and Community Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for 10 years beginning in 2011. He is active in the TMIY program and serves as chair of the Beer Garden Team for Gorettifest. Kim and Maureen are also greeters for the 7:30 Mass.
Kim serves as the co-lead of the Facilities Priority with Bill Doucet. Kim’s goal for the Implementation Team and the Next Generation Parish process is to provide a state-of-the-art building connected to the Church that will facilitate spiritual growth of our parishioners and foster their participation in prayer, education, evangelization, and socialization ministries.
Kim serves as Board Chair of Communities in Schools of Pennsylvania, a not-for profit organization that operates dropout prevention and stay in school programs in public schools in central and western Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Montgomery County Agricultural Extension Council of Penn State University and the Pennsylvania Advisory Board of Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health.
Kim is a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA). He has retired from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PWC), one of the Big 4 accounting firms, after serving 33 years, including 22 as a Partner. He specialized in audits of Fortune 500 Companies in the energy and utilities sector and audits of colleges, universities, and other not-for-profit organizations.
Tom Coughlin
Building TeamTom has been a Saint Maria Goretti Parish member for about 20 years. He originally grew up in Northeast Philadelphia in Saint Martin of Tours Parish (he remembers Father Chung and Father Roncase when they were young and didn’t have grey hair, as they were both stationed there). He is a graduate of Souderton Area High School and Lansdale School of Business. He is a Facility Manager with the Souderton Area School District, where he’s been employed for 25 years.
Tom is a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH) and is an officer at several levels in the organization. He is also a member of the Knights of Columbus (K of C), the Sons of the American Legion and his high school alumni association.
At Saint Maria Goretti Tom has been a member of the Gorettifest Committee for many years and a member of the livestream team since it was implemented during COVID. He served on the Envisioning Team for the Next Generation Parish initiative and serves on the Implementation team – focusing on the Facilities Priority of the initiative. It is Tom’s hope that through the Next Generation process that many great things will continue to happen here at SMG, in particular that the vision for our new state of the art parish center comes to fruition in time for our 75th anniversary. With this new building SMG can continue to do great things for our local Church and the community today, tomorrow and well into the future for the Next Generation of Catholics.
Matthew Sirianni
Building TeamMatthew and his wife Christina were married at St. Maria Goretti twenty years ago this coming May. Christina has been a member of the Parish for over thirty years. They have two children that attend Lansdale Catholic High School. Matthew has been working as a construction Estimator for twenty five years in the greater Philadelphia area working on a variety of healthcare and higher education projects. He has been working for P. Agnes Builders in Philadelphia for over twenty years.
He has been a member of the of the Parish Finance council for the last four years and a member of the SMG choir for the last thirty years. As a member of the building committee, Matthew’s focus is on helping to create a warm and inviting atmosphere for parishioners to gather and share their faith with one another while utilizing his extensive experience in construction management to help create the most cost-effective building possible.
William Doucet
Building TeamWilliam (Bill) and his wife Sharon have been parishioners since 2015, along with their two adult sons. In regard to the Implementation Team, Bill is part of the Building Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the Design, Funding and Construction of the new Ministry Center. Bill envisions the new Parish Ministry Center as crucial to the growth and spiritual development of current and future members of SMG.
Professionally, Bill and his wife are the owners of Hoffmann Tool & Die in Souderton, providing Machine Shop Service to company’s locally and across the country. A few of the parts Hoffmann Tool has made, are currently on the Mars Curiosity Rover. Recently the Business is expanding it’s reach into the Solar and Electric Vehicle conversion markets. Prior to Business Ownership, Bill worked in various Engineering and Sales roles, utilizing his Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Villanova, and his Undergraduate Degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Within the Parish Volunteer community, Bill has been part of the Finance Council for several years. A few of projects that Bill has taken the lead on include some of the following: Upgrading the AC in the Church to Modern Heat pumps, allow the Parish to move away from Oil Heat, which allowed for a cost avoidance of approximately $20k per year. During Covid, Bill took the initiative to Learn, Design then help with the implementation of the Camera System used for Streaming Masses at SMG. He also selected and installed the Security Camera Systems currently used on the SMG Campus. He is a member of TMIY (That Man is You, Men’s Group), believing that the role of a catholic husband, father and mentor are gifts from God that need nurturing with likeminded men. Along with Sharon, he has been part of Teams of Our Lady, a worldwide group dedicated to the strengthening and growth of catholic marriages, since 1997.
