Through a generous gift from the Lily Endowment, the Metropolis of Boston is coordinating a program aimed at enhancing the vitality of its parishes and helping them thrive. The program is known as the Thriving Congregations Initiative (TCI) and Saint Luke is an active participant.
TCI is a four year program. The objectives for each year are:
Year 1 - Understanding Social and Cultural Context
Year 2 - Clarifying Mission and Vision
Year 3 - Cultivating Authentic Orthodox Spiritual Practices
Year 4 - Sustaining Ministry
Each year has three phases:
Education - Fall
Application - Spring
Evaluation - Summer
This past fall, Father and Parish Council members attended the first TCI seminar, which was held at St. George. The fall seminar introduced us to the process by which we will understand the social and cultural context.
The steps in this process are to: memorialize the history of the church; understand the demographic makeup of the church and the community it serves; evaluate our ministries; and conduct parishioner interviews.
Our goal is to have these tasks completed in the spring prior to the spring seminar, which will be held in our own Pappas Hall on May 7.
At this time we’re looking for volunteers to be interviewed. Interviews can be done in-person, virtually, or over the phone. To represent a larger body of the parish we’d like to conduct two interviews from each of the follow categories:
Teenager (with parents permission)
College student
Young adult
Parent of a young family
Age range 40-49
Age range 50-59
Age range 60-69
Age range 70+
Call the Parish Office and volunteer to be part of this important step.
In order for the TCI to be successful a team of individuals is being formed to steward this initiative. Our goal is a team of 8 parishioners plus Father that will dedicate themselves to this valuable ministry. If a Parish Council member approaches you to serve on the TCI Team please consider being part of this wonderful endeavor.
Thank you to those who have already agreed to serve!
Lastly, the TCI’s timeline is aligned with the church’s 50th Anniversary in 2026. What a wonderful opportunity to build a strong and thriving parish as we walk the ‘Road to 50!’
