Gate of Heaven Parish Life and Ministry:
Liturgical and Spiritual Life Committee: active with current staff members
Music Ministry: Music Director and Organist – In addition to our adult choir, we have an active youth choir. The youth choir has been on hiatus during the Covid-19 era.
Schedule for Mass, Sacraments, Devotions:
Masses: Mondays at 7pm. (Rosary recited at 6:30 pm before mass). Wednesdays at 9am; Saturdays at 5pm & Sundays at 9:00am
Reconciliation: Saturdays from 2-3:30pm during even numbered months (rotates location with Our Lady of Victory, Harvey’s Lake)
Baptisms: Usually on weekends after Mass, made by individual appointment.
Parish Pastoral Council
A joint Council with members from both GOH & OLV Parishes meets quarterly or as needed. There are joint chairs, one from each parish.
Parish Finance Council
Each parish is financially separate, so GOH has its own Finance Council that meets biannually or as needed to discuss any financial needs of the parish.
RCIA and Adult Faith Formation: The RCIA Program is under the direction of Deacon John C. Jorda. Additionally, there are several parishioners from GOH & OLV who are also a part of our RCIA Team.
Parish Religious Education for Children and Youth:
Our CCD Program typically has 120-130 children grades K-8. They meet on Sunday mornings after the 9am Mass. This year, due to Covid, we successfully transitioned to a virtual format. First Communion and Confirmation students are prepared yearly. Our Director of Religious Education and Assistant DRE run a very successful program.
Youth and Young Adult Ministry:
Have not had a program in the past two years. Prior years have been combined with other Back Mountain Churches. Most recent past years were only OLV & GOH. Moving forward in this time of transition from the pandemic, we will be holding a vacation Bible School in June 2021. A week of service for students in grades 7th thru 12th will be held at the end of this July. Students will serve the community at different work sites. They will also plan, develop, and implement a Carnival for a Cause to be held in August at Gate of Heaven. The teen leadership from Gate of Heaven and Our Lady of Victory will be meeting to decide on upcoming social events and also spiritual and faith formation during the summer months.
Marriage Support and Enrichment:
No specific programs, but current Pastor does counsel many couples.
Parish Service and Social Concerns:
Carol Carroll, from GOH is our lead for all Social Concerns for both Parishes. She is the Pastor’s Missions Liaison. She also co-ordinates our yearly programs with area Homeless Men’s Groups. She is contact for all parishioners who have needs that can be helped by the Church.
Welcome/Hospitality/Fellowship:
We have a joint Hospitality Committee that is led by OLV parishioner. They are currently planning our Annual Parish Picnic at Frances Slocum State Park in July. In past years (Pre-Covid), they organized our Greeters at both Churches and also put together Welcome packets for new families.
Women’s and Men’s Organization
We have a very active combined Altar & Rosary Society with members of both parishes participating. The Guardian of the Redeemer Men’s Group has been meeting virtually but hopes to return to their regular monthly meeting schedule soon.
Our Lady of Victory Parish Life and Ministry
** All of our programs have been altered due to COVID-19. We are currently trying to bring things back in place after a 16-month hiatus.
Liturgical and Spiritual Life Committee: active with current staff members
Music Ministry : Director of the Adult Choir that sings on Sundays at 10:30am and for all Sacraments and Holy Days.
Schedule for Mass, Sacraments, Devotions:
Masses: Tuesdays & Fridays at 9am; Saturdays at 4pm & Sundays at 7:00 &10:30am
Reconciliation: Saturdays from 2-3:30pm during even numbered months (rotates location with Gate of Heaven in Dallas)
Baptisms: Usually on weekends after Mass, made by individual appointment
Fatima Devotions: Every 13th of the month from May through October
Flame of Love Devotions: Tuesdays at 7pm
Divine Mercy Devotions: Fridays after 9am Mass
Parish Pastoral Council
A joint Council with members from both OLV & GOH Parishes meets quarterly or as needed. There are joint chairs, one from each parish.
Parish Finance Council
Each parish is financially separate, so OLV has its own Finance Council that meets biannually or as needed to discuss any financial needs of the parish.
RCIA and Adult Faith Formation:
The RCIA Program is under the direction of Deacon John C. Jorda. Additionally, there are several parishioners from GOH & OLV who are also a part of our RCIA Team.
Parish Religious Education for Children and Youth
Our CCD Program typically has 60-70 children grades K-8. They meet on Sunday mornings before the 10:30am Mass. This year, due to Covid, we successfully transitioned to a virtual format. First Communion and Confirmation students are prepared yearly.
Youth and Young Adult Ministry
Have not had a program in the past two years. Prior years have been combined with other Back Mountain Churches. Most recent past years were only OLV & GOH. Moving forward in this time of transition from the pandemic, we will be holding a vacation Bible School in June 2021.A week of service for students in grades 7th thru 12th will be held at the end of this July. Students will serve the community at different work sites. They will also plan, develop, and implement a Carnival for a Cause to be held in August at Gate of Heaven. The teen leadership from Gate of Heaven and Our Lady of Victory will be meeting to decide on upcoming social events and also spiritual and faith formation during the summer months.
Marriage Support and Enrichment:
No specific programs, but current Pastor does counsel many couples.
Parish Service and Social Concerns
We have a strong leader for all Social Concerns for both Parishes. She is the Pastor’s Missions Liaison.. She also co-ordinates our yearly programs with area Homeless Men’s Groups. She is contact for all parishioners who have needs that can be helped by the Church.
Welcome/Hospitality/Fellowship
We have a joint Hospitality Committee that is led by OLV parishioner. They are currently planning our Annual Parish Picnic at Frances Slocum State Park in July. In past years (Pre-Covid), they organized our Greeters at both Churches and also put together Welcome packets for new families.
Women’s and Men’s Organization
We have a very active combined Altar & Rosary Society with members of both parishes participating. The Guardian of the Redeemer Men’s Group has been meeting virtually, but hopes to return to their regular monthly meeting schedule soon.
General Observations: As all churches have experienced a tumultuous past 15 months of upheaval, we look forward to the return of “normal” to our parish. We are grateful to the faithful who returned to Masses as soon as they were re-instated last summer, but we also can’t wait to welcome with open arms all those who have not yet returned. We have seen an increase in parishioners at Masses since restrictions have been lessened over the past weeks. We have tried our best to keep all the faithful served with our weekly livestream of Sunday Masses and special Masses and Devotions. We are still doing a weekly “Drive-Up Communion” for those who are not ready to return to Mass but participate in the live-streamed Masses. We are developing a new Mass schedule to add another Mass effective July 1. Our main focus at this point in time is just bringing the faithful back to our physical church.