Transform.
Grow.
Glorify.
Following Jesus isn't always easy. And yet, the decision to be a disciple is the easiest and most rewarding one we can make.
As a disciple, we are often asked to go beyond what we think is possible, to do what we think is improbable, and to be someone bold and courageous, stepping beyond our comfort zones, in order to grow in love of God and love of our neighbor: transforming ourselves, growing His Kingdom and glorifying God in the process.
What is Glorify
Setting a God-sized vision for the future
Glorify is a bold step of faith. Unlike typical capital and fundraising campaigns, which focus on hitting financial targets, Glorify is a faith-raising initiative aimed at achieving God-sized missionary goals.
Glorify is an invitation to reflect on the stewardship of the church and mission God has entrusted to each of us and how we, as individuals and families, can grow in our commitment to that mission.
Glorify is a call to action to reflect on how far we've come as a church, to dream of how we can grow, and to intentionally commit to supporting our mission to be a church of disciples who make disciples that love God, love others, and serve the poor.
Road Traveled
Proclaiming the Good News for
over 181 years
It’s hard to believe but our community began with just 10 families!
St. John the Evangelist was founded in 1837 as a small church founded by German immigrant John Hack. Having outgrown the humble cabin that was once our first church building, our Day Chapel (completed in 1925) became the house of worship to 115 parish families, while our current school (built in 1969) started with an enrollment of 166 students. Today, that same little log cabin is home to the Diocese's first Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration chapel, ensuring that 24 hours a day, 7 days a week Jesus is worshipped on our campus, our school which has seen periods of growth and renovation, is now forming and educating close to 400 students, shaping them to one day Go forth to be disciples and make disciples. Even more exciting, our humble 10 family community has grown to almost 1400 families, more than doubling in size within the last decade and with new parishioners joining every week!
Over the past ten years, our main church (dedicated in 2008) has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors, parishioners, and pilgrims, all seeking to come to know the Lord Jesus better. None of this would have been possible had it not be for the generosity and missionary boldness of the SJE family both past and present.
Watch
Road Ahead
Let's do more.
Together.
Unfortunately, the reality in the Church today, across all denominations in the United States, is a drop in attendance and engagement, especially among youth and young adults; however, by God's grace, SJE is continuing to show signs of growth and active participation among all age groups.
Our parishioner engagement in Faith Formation initiatives, such as Alpha and Small Groups, our social outreach projects and missions, such as our contributions to local soup kitchens and food pantries, not to mention the friendship and support we extend to orphanages in the Dominican Republic and through our sponsorship of children with Compassion International, and our rising school enrollment and performance, are but a few of the wonderful things that are happening here because we, as a parish, have decided to respond Yes to the call to be disciples who make disciples that love God, love others and serve the poor.
Just in the last few years we’ve received local, and even regional attention, for our innovative Evangelization programs and engaging Sunday Experience. We're regularly approached to mentor other parishes, a responsibility that we take seriously, freely sharing what makes SJE a vibrant Catholic community, with the hope that God's Kingdom will continue to take root in churches and hearts across the region, nation, and world.
Yet despite all this progress, we can still get better. Living our mission out to be disciples and make disciples for Jesus Christ requires us to never stop dreaming, doing and growing.
By this is my Father glorified,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
John 15:8
Looking to the future, we’ve got a lot of dreams for our Church, among them:
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A complete overhaul of our church’s sound system. Allowing our powerful homilies and inspiring music to be heard, crystal clear, anywhere, by anyone.
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A complete renovation of two of our existing properties, the Life House and Emmaus House. Transforming them from old houses into state of the art meeting spaces, ready to serve a wide variety of our community needs, giving a fun and engaging home to our Youth group, and alleviating the demand for space that many of our Alpha, Small Groups, Oasis after-school program and other ministries face.
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Expanding our food pantry to better serve the needs of our local community and abroad.
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Not waiting for people to come to us but to go to them by improving upon our multimedia output with the addition of a media studio that will be equipped to produce exciting, educational and fun video and audio programming, ensuring that the message of the Gospel reaches those in our pews and across the internet.
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Paying down the debt on our beautiful church building.
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Remodeling our award-winning school’s classrooms.
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Maintaining our campus, from our lush grounds to our historic buildings, and resurfacing our parking lot.
These are but a few of the initiatives that we hope to grow as we build upon the powerful legacy of St. John the Evangelist, and ensure that our parish remains a City on a Hill in NWI, glorifying Christ in word and deed for years to come.
Deeper in faith. Higher in giving.
Give, and it will be given to you.
A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Luke 6:38
Discern Giving
All is
gift
Our financial resources are used to advance the mission of our church. To be disciples and make disciples is an invitation into a deeper relationship with Jesus and share that relationship (that gift) with others. We take this process very seriously. All we have is a gift from God so how we steward that gift is extremely critical.
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Of course, our ministerial capacity is directly proportional to our giving. We have a clear vision of how God is leading us to minister and your faithful giving will allow us to do more than we could ever accomplish alone.
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We ask you to have a conversation with God about your giving. Take some time to reflect on the steps below. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out to our Parish Team.
4 Steps to Discerning
One
Pray
Glorify is an invitation to have a conversation with God about your giving, so give yourself time to listen and hear from God.
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The Lord is asking each of us to come before Him with open hearts and pray. Ask the Lord to show you what He wants your generosity to look like.
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Prayer is different for each of us. Find what works for you and spend time with the Lord: visit the Adoration Chapel, pray the Rosary, or reflect on your giving while praying the Scriptures, whatever works for you. The important thing is that you ask God what He desires from you. It can be as simple as this:
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Lord, show me how to give in a new way that stretches and builds my faith and trust in you. I want to be responsive to your leading so that you will be glorified and our church family may experience your blessings through our generosity and love.
Two
Have a conversation
If you are married discuss with your spouse what God is leading you toward.
If you have children, no matter how young they are, involve them in the giving discernment process. This is a great opportunity to teach them generosity and faith.
Three
Read and Reflect
Spend time reading scripture. Pray over these Bible verses on giving and generosity, and take note of what you learn:
As you read and pray the Holy Spirit will be speaking to you. Take time to reflect on what God is saying to you.
Four
Decide and Entrust
Once you've taken the time to discern your giving, it's time to make a decision, embrace that moment: write it down and entrust your gift to God.
How to Give
Once you've decided to give, here are some questions to reflect on:
1. What percent of your income do you give monthly? Maybe it’s 3%, 10% or zero.
2. Now, challenge yourself to give 1% more. So if you give 3% of your income, bump it up to 4%. If
you’re currently not giving, commit to at least 1%.
3. Use the calculator to the right to determine your level of giving and how you can grow in generosity. Move the scale to the right to determine how much you are willing to increase your monthly giving.
Intention Sunday
Once you determine your level of giving you'll be invite to bring your blank Intention Card to Mass on the weekend of September 15 & 16th. We'll fill out the cards together as a parish in the context of our Sunday prayer.
Glorify Dates
August 11-12th
August 25-26th
September 15-16th
Glorify campaign rollout and reception at all Masses
Four-week Glorify homily series begins
Intention Sunday