From our Parish Mission Statement: "As a community of diverse people, we assist each other in discovering the meaning of life through personal commitment to Jesus Christ and His teachings. We gather together in Eucharist to celebrate God's love for each other.."
We, the parishioners of St. Anthony parish, endeavor to build the Kingdom of God in our own midst through the promotion of a Christian covenant, responsible policy, and fair and just use of space. We acknowledge our total facilities to be a gift from God. As gift, we respect God's space by being caretakers who exercise responsible stewardship in our usage. Our total facilities and property are shared and use by all parishioners at various times. We must look at God's Word for guidance in promoting this policy.
The Good News proclaims to us: "is not the bread we bless a sharing in the body of Christ? Because the loaf of bread is one, we, many though we are, one body, for we all partake of the one loaf (1 Cor 10:17)."
Our Sacred Scriptures call us to unity and oneness. With that in mind, we seek to promote clear and open communication by listening and hearing the many voices that comprise our faith community, while striving to maintain the common good. We seek to share our facilities by understanding the diverse needs that exist here at St. Anthony parish. We ultimately seek in our policies not to tear down that which unifies us, our Catholic faith and traditions.
The Christian use of space shares some common ground with a secular notion of space sharing. Fairness, justice and practicality are goals we have in common. As a Christian community, however, our faith calls us to a deeper vision, beyond even these ideals to our Catholic spiritual tradition. Catholic tradition has a centuries long history of prioritizing aspects of our faith community
Our mission statement reflects the heart of our faith and rests in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our sacramental life reflects the very center of this Gospel. The administration of the seven sacraments, with the Eucharist as the crowning glory of our worship, takes precedence over all else. The proclamation of the Gospel occurs during the celebration of our Sacraments. The faith formation of our Catholic members occur also in non liturgical settings, eg. parish faith education and our parochial school. Following the sacramental life and faith formation of our parish, the administrative ministries of councils and committees exist to promote total parish life. The parish school education events followed by parish social events and various group activities are next in prioritizing. They exist to promote student development and total parish community building for all ages. Finally, the recreational events provide secular needs to our parish community. All these activities are integral parts of the life of our faith community, but have different levels of importance in carrying out our mission statement.
St.Anthony Parish, 314 S 4th St. Renton, WA 98055; 425-255-3132