Thank you to the many hundreds of parishioners who came together on a beautiful Sunday morning to celebrate Mass together – the spirit and joy were palpable!
A special thank you to Anne Mears, our official photographer, and others, for these amazing photos that capture the essence of the day!
Please join us as we gather together as a community on the expansive lawn in front of St. Paul Church to celebrate our first Collaborative Outdoor Mass since 2019. Parishioners are invited to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating. A section of chairs will be set up and available for those who require them due to mobility issues. We ask all others to please bring their own lawn chairs/blankets for seating. After Mass, please join us in the parking lot behind the church for fellowship, food, and fun!
We will have a reduced Mass schedule on…
I am so happy to introduce you to Sister Colleen Gibson, SSJ, the new Coordinator of Pastoral Care for our Collaborative. Sister Colleen, whose primary office will be at the St. Paul Rectory Offices, will work in partnership with Kelly Meraw, our Director of Pastoral Care, on adult faith formation programs, service and outreach initiatives, and coordinating sacramental liturgies and services across the Collaborative. Below is a brief introduction – please join me in welcoming Sister Colleen to our Collaborative!
Sister Colleen Gibson, SSJ is a Sister of Saint Joseph from Philadelphia and recent graduate of the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. An award-winning writer, her work appears regularly in Give Us This Day and the National Catholic Reporter…
Please join us on Sunday, September 17 for our first post-Covid Collaborative Outdoor Mass and fellowship event! Putting to use everything we learned (and all the equipment we aquired!) celebrating outdoor Masses during Covid, we will gather as a Collaborative community on the expansive lawn in front of St. Paul Church for Mass – recreating what Fr. Jim calls “our own Tanglewood East!” After Mass we’ll come together in the parking lot behind the church for fellowship, food, and fun!
I am thrilled to let you know that we will be welcoming a new deacon to our St. John-St. Paul Collaborative community!
Rick Vatcher will be ordained a Permanent Deacon on September 9, and will be joining our Collaborative pastoral staff in a part-time capacity after that.
Below is a brief introduction – I know you will join me in welcoming him to the Collaborative!
I am thrilled to let you know that we are welcoming another new priest to our St. John-St. Paul Collaborative community! Fr. Lesley Keman Fonye, a priest from the Archdiocese of Bamenda, Cameroon, Africa, will arrive in the United States next week. Like Fr. Gabriel, he will be living at the St. Paul rectory and will be celebrating Masses, funerals, and sacraments with us for the next few years as he completes his studies at Boston College.
Below is a brief introduction – I know you will join me in welcoming him and making him feel at home here at the Collaborative and in Wellesley!
I am thrilled to let you know that we will be welcoming a new priest to our St. John-St. Paul Collaborative community this week! Fr. Gabriel Afumbom Tokoh, a priest from the Archdiocese of Bamenda, Cameroon, Africa, is currently in a Master’s Program in Leadership and Administration at Boston College. He has been living at a parish in Salem for the past year and commuting to B.C. for his studies, so his joining us in Wellesley will be a true blessing for our parishes and for Fr. Gabriel! He will be living at the St. Paul rectory and will be celebrating Masses, funerals, and sacraments with us for the next two years as he completes his studies.
Below is a brief introduction from Fr. Gabriel – I know you will join me in welcoming him and making him feel at home here at the Collaborative and in Wellesley!
As you know, our parishes collect non-perishable food items for local food pantries – the Wellesley Food Pantry at St. Paul and the St. Katharine Drexel Food Pantry at St. John. What you may not know is that food pantries face their greatest need in the summer. Why? Families with children who receive free/reduced-cost breakfast and lunch have to find a way to replace those meals during the summer break – so they turn to food pantries for help. At the same time, food pantry donations drop as folks who regularly support the pantries go away.
We have already seen a significant drop in both parish food pantry collections since Memorial Day…
Last weekend’s collection for St. Francis House was a huge success, exceeding expectations as always – both garages were overflowing with donations! It was a great response to the collection – in fact, it required two trips to transport two full
Beginning Friday, June 16, our parish offices will be closed on Fridays through Labor Day.
As always when the office is closed, in an emergency please call either office to leave a message in the Emergency voicemail box – your call will be returned as soon as possible.
As a reminder, our complete Collaborative Office Hours are…