Dear Friends,

I would like to thank the parish staff, the Woman’s Ministry, and our volunteers for their planning and leadership in making the Parish Barbecue a major success. The barbecue was delicious, and parishioners enjoyed their meal, and good friendship. The barbecue was a perfect way to begin our parish program year.

Thank You,

Msgr. Ryan

Dear Friends,
The Diocese of Bridgeport is celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the founding of the Diocese. The Diocese was founded on August 6th,1953. Bishop Caggiano will celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving on Saturday, October 21, 2023, at 11:00 am at St. Augustine Cathedral.

Please pray for the many good works of the Diocese.

Peace,

Msgr. Ryan

Dear Friends,
As we begin September, I would like to share with you some exciting news. For the past year, the Pastors of Stratford have been working with Bishop Frank to create a model of ministry so that our five Stratford parishes might collaborate on serving and ministering to our parishioners.

In the coming weeks we will be introducing you to a new “Discipleship Director” who will be leading us in our collaborative mission. The dynamic of the vision will show you a hopeful vision for the future of our Catholic Community.. I will be sharing more information in the coming weeks.

Peace,

Msgr. Ryan

Dear Friends,

As the new program year, I ask you to reflect upon the challenges facing the Catholic Church in Stratford.

1. How do we invite back people to mass? Our numbers of those in attendance average 250 people each weekend. We were at a level of 600 attending mass before the pandemic.
2. Our finances are in a very poor position. We are averaging $2000 below budget each week. We are presently being supported by governmental funds from the pandemic. The funding will be completed this year.
3. Religious Education: our registration for this year has been slow. The number of children attending class in the 5 Stratford parishes has dropped. In 2017 there were 850 students enrolled and in 2023 there were 405 students. Jesus said “Let the children come to me”.

Please join me in a time of prayer and discernment.

Peace,

Msgr. Ryan

Dear Friends,

Starting September 2nd, we will be making some changes to our weekend Clergy. Fr. Roger will not be here on the 1st weekend of the month. Fr. Gene Szantyr a retired priest of the Diocese and former Pastor of St. Andrew parish in Bridgeport will be joining us for a weekend mass. The priests will rotate through the weekend mass schedule. I am happy for the assistance. This will be helpful in renewing our Religious Education Program and having classes on Sunday.

Peace,

Msgr. Ryan