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What is Christ the King Parish?
Christ the King Parish
is a community of Roman Catholic believers who come together regularly to
celebrate the Eucharist.
Christ the King Parish is a structure that serves to teach the good
news of Jesus Christ. It teaches that our God is loving and forgiving.
Christ the King Parish
is a place where the community of believers is nourished with the Word of
God and the Bread of Life. Sunday worship is the highlight of the week for
our Catholic population. It is a time to praise and thank God. It is a time
to receive the graces necessary to follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ
and ultimately to obtain eternal glory.
Christ the King Parish is a gathering place for God’s people and the
source of hope and life for families, couples, and individuals living here
in Camden County.
We desire that Christ the King Parish will be a
beacon of Christ’s love and a compelling force that will lead others to a
deeper belief in Jesus Christ. We believe “if the people do not have a
vision, they will die.” Proverbs 29:18
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King Parish are rooted in the belief that God’s love is available to all of
us. Jesus proclaimed two great commandments:
The ongoing challenge for all of God’s people is to believe in this love
as God’s unconditional, unearned gift to us. Living with and accepting this
love makes us lovable and free to love others in the way that God made love
visible by sending His only Son to live among us and die for us.
As Christians, we hold these beliefs sacred. These beliefs are central to
our lives and should become the pattern of our daily living. As Christians
we must strive to seriously accept these commandments as our own and then to
generously and sacrificially offer ourselves to God and others.
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| The Eucharist is central to the
life of Christ the King Parish. It is our primary act of worship around
which the whole of our parish life is structured and wherein is found the
vitality to nourish and sustain our faith community. |
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In accord with both the spirit and the letter of the Second Vatican
Council, the Eucharistic Liturgy is the source and summit of the Christian
life, the heart of our life as God’s holy people. Our awareness of the
presence of God revolves around our regular and full participation in the
liturgy. Jesus said that whoever receives His body and blood is in union
with Him (John 6: 56). This is what we seek. Mass celebrates the presence of
Jesus Christ with us. We want to discover a deeper intimacy with the Lord by
our full participation in the Mass. This deeper intimacy sustains us and
nourishes us to take Christ into the rest of the Christ the King community
and into the world.
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| The Mission of Christ the King
Parish is to be an evangelizing parish; a parish that brings the Good News
of Jesus Christ to every woman, man, and child living in our parish
community. |
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As a community, we carry on the mission of Jesus, welcoming, healing,
forgiving, and serving. Through the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and
Eucharist, we welcome new members into the Body of Christ. We embody the
hospitality and compassion that Elizabeth embodied for Mary, the Mother of
Jesus.
In times of hurt, brokenness, and sadness, we bring compassion, love, and
forgiveness. Through the sacraments of Penance and the anointing of the
Sick, we are reconciled and healed. We become a special sign of God’s love
by celebrating the sacrament of Matrimony that joins a man and woman
together for life. We live faithfully and practice unselfish love in good
times and bad times, joys and sorrows, sickness and health.
Families, couples, and individuals look to our parish when they are
looking for spiritual values and deeper meaning in their lives. They look to
our parish when they desire understanding and compassion. They look to our
parish at critical and hurting times in their lives. They come with hurting
hearts and empty souls. They look for meaningful ritual that is never devoid
of the Gospel message. They believe their hearts and centers will find no
rest until they rest in God.
In the parish leadership, families and individuals find listening hearts
and in the Liturgy they find strength for living. Worship reflects and
relives the Lord’s healing, compassionate, and loving presence. We are
formed and transformed into the likeness of Him whom we receive. We become
one Body and one Spirit in Christ.
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The Pastoral Council and Finance Council are a response to
the call of the Second Vatican Council inviting the laity to shared
decision-making on a parish level. The members accept responsibility in
collaboration with the pastor and the pastoral staff to carry out the
evangelizing mission of Christ the King Parish.
The Parish Pastoral Council and the Finance Council are advisory
bodies to the Pastor regarding the spiritual and operational needs of the
parish community. Their task is to work collaboratively with the parish
administration. These councils have the task of evaluating the spiritual and
temporal needs of the parish community. They discern priorities among those
needs and propose ways to best respond. At the same time both councils are
involved in a feedback loop with the various boards and committees
commissioned to carry out the ministries within the Christian community. The
work of the councils is crucial to the continuation of the missionary
activity of Jesus.
The pastor and the Pastoral Council, along with the Finance
Council, have the collective mission of supporting one another. They
share a common goal of forming a stronger Catholic Christian identity that
sees Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. It is this cooperative and
collective human effort graced by the Holy Spirit that makes Christ’s
presence come alive in the community.
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As an evangelizing parish,
committed to becoming a parish of Small Christian Communities,
Christ the King Parish helps people to find Christ in every human
situation.
The Second Vatican Council affirmed that the call to holiness is
universal. All are called to see a vital linkage between believing in God
and living their lives; between Sunday worship and the other six days of the
week. The challenge is to experience and feel God’s Spirit dwelling and
acting in all aspects of our lives. God is in all things. We are to weave
the human with the holy; the secular with the sacred; the faith life with
the mundane life. Whether married, single, or widowed, all of us can give
ourselves totally to God through our devotion to our families, friends, and
careers. In both work and family environments, all are called to live sacred
lives. God’s grace is everywhere and we are immersed in God and immersed in
the world. We are not alone in our journeys of faith. God is ever present in
us and in all our activities whether we are praying or doing the simple
tasks of washing the dishes, sweeping the floor or booting up the computer.
Faith Sharing is an evangelizing moment. As witnesses to the deep faith
life of others, individuals who struggle to make sense of life in the light
of the Christian tradition hear graced individuals proclaim their belief and
trust in an all loving God. A struggle shared in community strengthens the
belief of all .
The sharing of our faith enhances our ability to have a deeper experience
of God in the everyday crises of life. In sharing our faith stories, we
discover the signs of God’s
loving care all around us. Even in our struggles, God is always revealing
Himself to us. Sharing our stories in the context of the great God story
brings a richer assurance that God’s purifying and strengthening presence is
active in us. In this wakefulness our inner selves grow stronger in the
Lord. Our conviction that God is everywhere is deepened and we come to see
the presence of God in all concrete circumstances of our lives. In this way,
God gradually becomes central in our stories and in our lives.
Small Christian Communities are relational in nature. They are about
relationships with God, self, others. They are safe and trusting
environments for us to share our successes and struggles in our
relationships and in our faith journeys. We share our stories along with our
experiences of the movement and presence of God in our lives. In this way
our lives of faith become living and conscious. Faith sharing can make the
difficult terrain of daily living with its challenges and crosses a little
easier and more meaningful in the light of the demands of the Gospel. We
encourage our parishioners to take full advantage of the nurturing
environment of a Small Christian Community where we experience a rich
variety of God-seeking individuals who want to connect with the Spirit who
dwells within all of us. Here we acquire a deep connection between all
aspects of life. We make this invitation to you because we trust the Spirit
is calling us to become a community of Small Christian Communities where
faith and life become one.
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- Christ the King Parish is committed to
leadership training
and spiritual support for the life and growth of Small Christian
Communities.
A wide base of genuine caring and skillful leadership needs to be
developed if our parish is to become a community of Small
Christian Communities. We need to support and train our facilitators so
that they can help the group members grow spiritually and emotionally as
faith-filled people of God.
Training sessions are an ideal opportunity for those seeking to develop
their skills and seeking to know Jesus better. Facilitator skills are
necessary so that the Small Christian Communities run smoothly, stay
on task and so that the members can be heard. Facilitators are more
effective when they have empathic listening, team building, and conflict
management skills. Through training, the facilitators have opportunities to
maximize their personal learning and practice small group skills. We stress
learning by doing. We incorporate both theory and practice while dealing
with real life situations. This encourages a combination of commitment,
talent, hard work, and skill. Facilitators learn best when there are
opportunities for critique that includes an affirmation of their gifts and
talents. They receive feedback on alternative ways of dealing with
situations that may arise in the context of a Small Christian Community
experience. In that caring environment, training, healing, and forgiveness
are experienced and God is found.
are the first teachers of their children in the
ways of faith and the home is the first school for the moral
education and value formation of the child.
Parents must love and nurture their children in spiritual, as well as
emotional and physical ways. At the same time they should recognize we are
all children and students standing together on the threshold of roads not
yet traveled. Parents and children must make the spiritual journey together.
This kind of bonding makes all the difference in parish life and Sunday
worship. Parents model well when they pray and when they go to church on
Sunday. They model well when they participate in Sacramental preparation
sessions and participate in Small Christian Communities where the Word of
God is broken open and reflected upon. They model well when they
thank God for all He has done for them in sending His Son Jesus Christ, who
lived, died, and rose again for all humankind.
Parents desire to raise children with a sense of decency, kindness, and
integrity. Parents inspire them to have a healthy sense of themselves; a
sense of responsibility; a sense of God; and a sense of self-esteem. All
parents want their children to be happy and to be able to envision and hope
for a better future and to take responsibility for creating that future.
Children must be taught how to relate and how to empathize with others. They
must be taught how to love and how to forgive for that is what God is about.
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provide religious education and formation for all children within our
parish. Religious Education and Youth Ministry Programs support a
sustained partnership between the home and Church.
Christ the King Religious Education Program is in place to help
parents and guardians in their challenging vocations to provide religious
education. Catechists desire that our young people will grow up with an
awareness and respect for God and all of His creation. The children are
their focus. At the same time, the Religious Education Program and
Sacramental Preparation Programs are merely supplemental to what
parents and guardians are already doing for the young people of the parish.
We promote a sustained partnership between the home and the Religious
Education Program. It is only with parental involvement that the real
goal of religious education, the passing on the faith to our children,
becomes possible.
Catechists and Youth Ministry Advisors are people who understand the
message of Jesus and the teachings of the Church. They are open to all
training in effective catechetical methods so that they can engage children
and young people in Christian learning opportunities.
- Christ the King Regional Grammar School, subsidized by Christ
the King Parish and St. Pius X Parish, makes a positive difference to our
total Catholic Christian Community. It enriches the lives of hundreds of
our young people with a high quality education and strong moral values
that are needed to become productive and caring children of God.
Christ the King Regional Grammar School is both Christ-centered and
child-centered. The school is a community of faith where each child prays
daily and where the Gospel values permeate the total environment. The school
is committed to developing and encouraging positive character traits in the
students. It places emphasis on students developing a healthy respect for
themselves and a sense of responsibility for their own lives and behavior.
The school is
built on the standards of conscience formation and Christian values as well
as academic excellence. The children are exposed to a growing and
age-appropriate contact with the Word of God.
Two vital and energizing bodies that work in collaboration with the
School Administration and School Faculty are the School Board and the PTA.
The School Board is a group of interested parents and parishioners who work
with the PTA advising the pastor and principal on school matters. The PTA is
a group of interested parents who work in a supportive role with the pastor,
principal and faculty for the betterment of our school. Our desire is to
promote a strong partnership between the home, school, and parishes that
supports and utilizes the Christian formation that characterizes Christ
the King Regional Grammar School.
- Training for Ministries
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Those in leadership roles engage in ongoing formation and spiritual
support. We encourage training for the Liturgical Committee, Choir,
Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers, Ministers of Hospitality, Small Christian
Community Facilitators, Youth Ministry Advisors, Catechists, Teachers,
R.C.I.A. team, Pre-Cana team, and Marriage Enrichment team. |
As we move toward the third millennium, lay leadership has become the
by-word in our parish. There is an ever-increasing need for collaborative
leadership. Christian leaders in our community value a collaborative
approach to ministry. They are discovering the power of involving others.
Today, none of us can effectively minister on our own or in isolation from
the rest of the community. We are aware of the magnitude of the gifts of
others and we recognize that all are called to let their light shine before
others. We accept the great responsibility of supporting members of our
parish in discovering and developing their distinctive gifts for the good of
all. At the same time, we promote and provide training and direction so that
all who exercise leadership roles are able to communicate clearly,
effectively, and persuasively. Effective leaders attend to their personal
and spiritual development and increase their relational skills. The training
and formational sessions for all in leadership roles are tailored for the
various ministries. There is a strong commitment to life-long learning and
training. The way leaders speak and listen has an enormous impact on the way
they are received. Along with the theological training ,
there are ongoing opportunities to use
speaking and listening exercises as core elements in
all our training for leadership roles in parish ministry.
Ongoing Conversion
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Mystery of Illness, Suffering, Death and Resurrection |
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As a Catholic Christian Community we believe that
the way a person deals with suffering can offer others the encouragement
they need to face their own challenges in a positive and creative way. |
As a Catholic Christian Community, we continually search for the
meaning of suffering and death. We know that human suffering is one of the
most perplexing experiences of life. Human suffering is tragic. There is
simply no way to explain it. We wonder how it can exist in a world created
by a loving God. Jesus never pretended otherwise. Jesus looked at suffering
as a great tragedy that needed healing. We must never forget that Jesus did
not see suffering as a total loss.
Sometimes suffering softens us and makes us sensitive to the world’s
great agonies and hurts. It can be a door of opportunity. It can provide a
unique opportunity to unite us with Christ on the cross. It challenges a
deep personal identification with Jesus who took His place among the
suffering of the world. The cross of Jesus shows us that God does not deny
or shy away from suffering. Instead, He embraces it as part of
the process of life. Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection changes forever the
way we look at pain and suffering; it changes the way we look at death; it
changes the way we look at life; it changes the way we look at this world
and at one another.
The cross has inspired believers down through the centuries to deal with
their sufferings in a positive and creative fashion. The cross for Jesus and
for many of His followers through the centuries became the royal road to the
Resurrection.
This vision can help all of us to see suffering not as something
desirable but rather as something that has been a part of God’s plan from
the beginning when He created an unfair and unjust world. We are called to
be like Job who lost fame and gain but always trusted in the Lord. He always
knew that God had not abandoned him and that God was not far away. This
vision keeps Christians realistic about the struggle needed to achieve
wellness and wholeness in the midst of an imperfect world that has much
suffering and pain.
- The R.C.I.A., a dimension of the evangelizing parish, provides
a process for welcoming new members into the faith community.
The R.C.I.A.– Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults
– is the restored order of the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism,
Confirmation, and Eucharist for those adults who enter the process of
conversion or full communion into the Catholic Church. The Rite of
Christian Initiation of Adults at Christ the King Parish is a process.
It is a faith journey designed to help adults get in touch with Christ in
their lives and to initiate them into living in Christ as a member of our
faith community.
R.C.I.A. is not an isolated event. Rather, it involves the total
community in welcoming new members into our Church family. It is an
opportunity for the parishioners of Christ the King Parish to witness their
Catholic faith by their example of Christian living and their welcoming
hospitality. The R.C.I.A. is all inclusive of parish life. It
embraces worship, pastoral care, counseling, education, and ministry.
- The Pastoral Care, Intercessory Prayer Line, Bereavement, Social
Action, St. Vincent de Paul, Seniors, and Hospitality teams are
vital parts of our parish outreach ministry. These groups of parishioners
reach out to one another, the sick, dying, lonely, and those in need
bringing comfort, care, and compassion to the homebound and the
hospitalized.
These ministers provide friendship for the lonely and comfort for those
who long for company that seldom comes. These ministers make present the
caring love of God.
Through them God's love and care become freshly present in our community.
They feel proud and privileged to bring their own presence and the presence
of Christ in the Eucharist to those hungering for the Lord. Through the
Pastoral Care, Intercessory Prayer Line, Bereavement, Social Action, St.
Vincent de Paul, Seniors, and Hospitality teams, Christ comes quietly
and humbly into the hearts of both the visitors and the visited. A pastoral
visit or a daily prayer remembrance can bring spiritual refreshment and
encouragement; it can bring relief from
stress and pain; it can bring God into another’s life. The Pastoral
Care, Intercessory Prayer Line, Bereavement, Social Action, St. Vincent de
Paul, Seniors, and Hospitality teams are making an impact in our parish
with their deep and profound witness to love and care. At the same time, in
the process of caring for others, Jesus ministers and cares for all.
- EUCHARISTIC ADORATION
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As a Catholic Christian Community we promote Eucharistic
Adoration. Praying and acknowledging God as the source of all
goodness and virtue in our lives and within our parish strengthens the
whole community. |
Moved by the Holy Spirit, our Parish Pastoral Council unanimously
affirmed the addition of a special chapel where people can pray quietly in
the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. To this end, a small chapel was
provided where we can sit silently in Jesus’ Presence and soak up spiritual
energy. The opportunity is made available for us to have a constant vigil of
quiet prayer before our Lord. By sitting and gazing into the eyes of the
Master, disciples are created and nurtured. The soul is opened to God’s
closeness in times of joy and in times of crisis and given a new sense of
meaning and clarity to a life connected to God. Sitting in Jesus’ Presence
connects the Divinity that is within all of mankind. True healing comes from
the inside out because God’s Spirit is within. The body is the temple of the
living God. Prayer, silence, and solitude empower and free the Spirit. Jesus
waits for everyone in the great sacrament of His love. Man’s great desire
for God never ceases to bring forth a connection to Him. The Eucharistic
Chapel provides the Hospitality; God provides the grace.
Summary
These spiritual principles constitute a VISION for the spiritual
life of our Parish, our families, our schools, and our total community that
we envision becoming a community of Small Christian Communities. We
encourage full and active participation in the Eucharistic Celebration which
sustains and vitalizes us as we evolve into an evangelizing people. We
should do everything to apply the spiritual principles which constitute our
Vision within our lives. We should do this, not just for our sakes,
but for the sake of our children and the adults of the 21st Century.
We are grateful to Almighty God for the abundant blessings He has
bestowed on Christ the King Parish. We are grateful to the priests, sisters,
and parishioners who came before us. With strong faith and extraordinary
vision they made great sacrifices to build our parish church and community.
Today we build on this great foundation as we seek to ensure that our parish
will be able to serve the spiritual needs of future generations. |
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