History: With over 100 years of history, the foundation of St. Mary Parish is built upon deep faith in Jesus Christ and a commitment to serve as a Catholic spiritual home in the community, while the parish envisions its future in building God’s kingdom on earth. (23)
Civic Community: Chardon is a treasured gem in the hearts of many as a place of beauty and intimate community in which St. Mary Parish provides solace and faith-filled stability. (19)
Parish Family: St. Mary Parish can provide for the need of meaningful Christian relationships where families can join together in connecting faith and life. (58)
Generation after generation of families have devoted faith, hope and love in their Catholic way of life at St. Mary Parish. The first parishioners came together over 100 years ago and invested their time, their money, and their labor in building up what has become a fundamental institution in the Chardon community. Their labor of love provided a strong foundation upon which parishioners hope to continue to build an ever-growing vibrant parish community. Many parishioners at the listening sessions expressed a vision of parish that will be identified by love for one another and a place where families are supported in their efforts of living out the Gospel message. Their vision is supported by words of St. Pope John Paul II:
The individual is lost and disoriented, but there always remains in the human heart the desire to experience and cultivate caring and personal relationships. The response to such a desire can come from the parish, when, with the lay faithful's participation, it adheres to its fundamental vocation and mission, that is, to be a "place" in the world for the community of believers to gather together as a "sign" and "instrument" of the vocation of all to communion, in a word, to be a house of welcome to all and a place of service to all, or, as Pope John XXIII was fond of saying, to be the "village fountain" to which all would have recourse in their thirst (Christifideles Laici, Pope John Paul II, 1988).
The “village fountain” is a fitting image for a parish in the Chardon community. It can be known as the place where friends and neighbors feel certain that they will find friendship, support, and care.
Listed below are the various comments from the Listening Sessions on “community.” Some comments will be repeated and appear under multiple themes.
100+year anniversary – a lot of institutional knowledge out there
1960’s built the church and school
1990 built the new church
A new home/rectory for the priests
A segment in newsletter about history of St. Mary’s with photos
A strong community/foundation
Actual written (booklet form) continuing history of our church
Appeared to be grounded in prayer
Bring Jesus back into family life
Chardon – a small town but regardless of the event (big or small) people come out to help and get things done
Chardon is a fantastic place to live! Our parish fits right in with that!
Chardon is a great community and supports St. Mary
Chardon is a very welcoming community
Chardon shooting – our parish and LifeTeen was rock solid and supporting kids and program at that time.
Church began in 1909. Not well received by other residents in town in the beginning. First Masses held in homes, using Madison priest.
Clustering and how parishes come together
Combine St. Patrick’s and St. Mary’s
Combine with other neighboring parishes for ministry activity
Communication is key – keep the parishioner informed through a variety of avenues.
Community churches do something together to connect community
Creative ways to integrate parish life and family life
Directory
Divisions between public and parochial.
Down to earth, hard-working people. Real and authentic people.
Faith and family
Family perspective – it’s part of our history to care for each other. Prayer is important but we also need to Do! To act when someone needs care. That has been a large part of our history.
First on Park Ave, then moved to North St. Small wooden structure; “new” church built across the street. Then expansion and newest church built around 2000.
Forward planning of physical plant (rectory). Everything in one area.
Friendly community
Get personal
Happy with the parish – it’s our family!
History has been here for such a long time, transformation of physical changes and location
How did this church come to be? How/why did it grow? Especially in a time of consolidation of other churches.
Age – vibrancy
Community activities
Community Eucharistic processions.
Community events for entertainment targeting different age groups, demographics
More activities for families to interact
More community outreach like Trunk or Treat, Purse Bash (PTO) to bring in more of the community to grow church
I’m new – I come from a small town, the kids here are very respectful – in Mass, community, families at Mass are great to see. It’s a great community!
Impact of Chardon shooting – 10 years ago.
Increased community
It’s an old parish, families of Geauga started it. Our family has been a part since before 1952.
It’s in Chardon which is very lovely town and location and the parish is a beautiful facility.
Knowledge of Chardon – what makes it unique
Create a church identity
Lots of parishioners have grown in this parish from grade school to senior living so there is steady community in the parish.
Maybe a collection of ideas of what works at other Catholic churches – can we do similar things here?
Maybe a mailing that highlights parishioners (diverse: old and young) saying why they attend Mass
Modesty in dress codes
More fun people than years ago!
More visibility in community
More young people with families
Need a face of St. Mary’s
New rectory – move forward
Not just about being Catholic that makes the church community. We are Christians raised in the Catholic faith.
Online and easy way to register for events, like this event. Word of mouth, paper (bulletin), email, Facebook
Our parish is like a big family, we come together really well.
Our parish is open-minded.
Parish Council would have representation from each subgroup; e.g. lifeteen, seniors, school parents, etc.
Peace on earth
People want church to be important in their lives
Question – how many young families are there in the parish? Are young families joining the parish?
Questions on who founded St. Mary’s and more of its history – especially the 3 churches that have evolved to the present location.
Recognizing people’s birthdays and anniversaries
Rich Culture! “Control the culture, control the people”. The Secular world has taken the culture.
Chardon Schools and St. Mary have a positive relationship
Started by Catherine Nulty
Strong attendance at weekday Masses shows this is a faith-filled community
Old history was not a positive within the “community” of Geauga County. Has since found strong community within the parish. Seen a strong focus on teaching the fundamentals or foundations of the faith. People don’t know their faith and thus it is easy to “walk away” from what you don’t know or don’t understand.
Parishioners are hungry for stability and traditional teachings
That sense of community, the fervor of the men in the parish, the women’s prayer group.
That when our liberal government tries to either control or shut down our church that we stand strong against the mob.
The intimacy of our parish, even through COVID, we need to hang on to this.
The parish has grown.
The parish has struggled over the years in meeting everyone’s needs.
The parish is multi-generational (many families who have been members for generations)
The parish is very close-knit. Very solid parish.
The parish was a farm parish – now it is a city (community) parish
The role St. Mary Played in support of the events of Chardon school shooting
The values learned at the church and school translate to the broader global community
There are a lot of good families and good programs.
There is a family-feel that brought us to the school and parish.
There is a stable population in Chardon
There were larger families back in the day.
Thriving community
Church to be a place to go to have non-judgment, healing, acceptance and growth
We all want to be a part of the community
We are accepting of diverse points of view
We are faithful to our church; we may not all agree on everything, but that’s how families grow. You cannot leave simply because you don’t like something; truth can be hard to take, but that doesn’t mean you give up. We want virtue, not the easy way.
We are rooted in families.
We are the church of St. Mary – named after the Blessed Mother
We began as a small church across the street in the gym. Now we have the current church and how it has grown!
We have a very strong sense of community in Chardon at large with St. Mary’s being a part of that
We have always been spiritual-based. There is a historical document written by Bill Jackson that tells our parish story.
What draws people to bonding
When people leave the parish they want to come back. It’s home!
When the church (now the gym) was built, the men built it as a box with the vision it would be a gym and another new church would be built
You have a lot of great people to work with
Community – create a sense of community
tree lighting in Chardon on the same day as early childhood expo
Energy, passion, not just faith only events
Our parish is more than 100 years old – so it is ready to take new steps forward
Parishioners are looking for relationships and activities to participate
Expand into the community
Fellowship growth after Mass (like our non-Catholic churches)
Good core group
The parish has a solid group, but some need to be brought back to church
To have Eucharistic processions – not just on our grounds but to walk around the square