Dear Parishioners,
In our parish bulletin last week I shared with you a new stage in our Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Process: Listening Sessions. If you did not see it, please go to our parish website annunziata.org to view it.
Annunziata Parishioners are encouraged to sign up for either Tuesday, October 25 from 6-8 p.m. OR Thursday, October 27 from 6-8 p.m. at https://allthingsnew.archstl.org/ The Listening Sessions will take place here at the Parish. Once you have registered, please go to and review Annunziata Parish Workbook.
Should you have any difficulties registering for a Listening Session, please contact the Parish Office at 314-993-4422 during regular office hours.
All Things New Parish Listening Sessions
A number of questions being asked, along with the responses from our Office of Strategic Planning, are below in the FAQ’s. Please take the time to look them over in preparation for the Listening Session you will attend.
Listening Sessions FAQ’s
What are the listening sessions and how do I attend one at my parish?
The Archdiocese of St. Louis will host over 350 Listening Sessions throughout our 178 parishes between October 8th & November 19th, 2022. Parishioners are invited to register for their parish’s listening session beginning mid-September at https://allthingsnew/archstl.org/ Parishioners must register in order to attend a Listening Session. Registration will close once the designated room’s seating capacity is reached. There will not be additional opportunities for Listening Sessions other than the ones scheduled for each parish. Each Listening Session will be facilitated by volunteer parishioners from a different parish. These trained facilitators will share pre-recorded messages from Archbishop Rozanski and Fr. Chris Martin, Vicar for Strategic Planning, with an overview of All Things New, a planning area overview and multiple DRAFT model options to consider for the respective planning area. A brief time will be allowed for small group discussion and facilitated large group feedback.
How can I prepare for a listening session?
The Archdiocese of St. Louis has created Parish Workbooks as a supplementary resource to help parishioners prepare for the Listening Sessions. The workbooks are meant to equip pastors and parishioners with data about the Archdiocese of St. Louis, their local planning area, and their specific parish. The data contained in the Parish Workbook was created by the Pastoral Planning Committee and validated by Pastors and Key Parish Leaders over the past several months. The workbooks incorporate data gathered over the past twenty years from parishes across the Archdiocese.
The Archdiocese is releasing the Parish Workbooks for each of our 178 parishes several weeks in advance of the Listening Sessions so parishioners have adequate time to review the information and fully inform themselves in preparation for their parish’s scheduled Listening Sessions. Each Parish Workbook is posted for anyone to view on allthingsnew.archstl.org
What if I cannot attend a listening session?
After the final Listening Session in each planning area, the Archdiocese will make public the content presented at all the parish’s Listening Sessions in that planning area and will offer an additional opportunity for parishioners to provide open-ended feedback through an online survey. The survey will remain open until December 31, 2022. Parishioner feedback to the models is critical, as it will be used to help shape the future of the Archdiocese.
If I cannot make a listening session at my own parish, can I go to another parish’s listening session?
Each Listening Session will have information unique to the parish hosting it and the planning area in which it is located, so it is best to go to your parish’s Listening Session.
Do I have to go to both listening sessions if my parish has two listening sessions?
The same information is presented at both Listening Sessions at the same parish, so you are invited to attend one of them.
What is a planning area?
A Planning Area is a number of parishes and schools in a geographic region which will be considered together to develop proposed structural options for the future. There are 15 Planning Areas in the Archdiocese.
What is a model?
A Model is an option as to how parishes in your Planning Area could be structured. The Models are “unfinished” because they need parishioner and community insight and feedback. The purpose of the Listening Sessions is to gather input on these proposed options so that a recommendation can be presented to Archbishop Rozanski for his discernment.
Will I find out if my parish is going to close at the listening sessions?
No. You will be presented with different DRAFT models for your planning area which may show merger options. No decisions will be made about specific closures or mergers until after all the Listening Sessions and additional feedback opportunities.
Please continue to pray for the gift of true discernment so that we may continue to do the Will of God in all things.