Here at Our Lady of Lourdes, you are encouraged to participate in the opportunities we have to reach out to our parish and community beyond:
Bereavement/Grief support is available to individuals or families who are in need of support and of sharing the pain that death brings. Contact the Parish Office at 877-4404. Parishioners are also available. There is a Living With Loss Support Group that meets at Our Lady of Lourdes the first Monday of the month or the second Monday if first Monday is a holiday. Contact Sr. JoAn or the Parish Office for more information about this and other Grief Support Groups in the area.
Also each year, around All Soul's Day in early November, our parish community comes together to celebrate a Loved and Not Forgotten Mass. We especially remember parishioners and loved ones who have died during the year. Families are encouraged to bring mementos and light candles in their memory at this Mass.
Also each year, around All Soul's Day in early November, our parish community comes together to celebrate a Loved and Not Forgotten Mass. We especially remember parishioners and loved ones who have died during the year. Families are encouraged to bring mementos and light candles in their memory at this Mass.
This committee organizes a luncheon for family members, relatives and friends who are involved in a parish funeral. The committee calls parish members who are involved in a funeral. A team of volunteers sets up and serves the luncheon in the Enrichment Center. All are welcome to participate in this outreach ministry.
Volunteers of the parish help prepare and serve the lunches for those at the Good Samaritan Inn Soup Kitchen. We work every 1st Monday of the month, 9:00 a.m. – 2:15 p.m. Volunteers choose from any of the approximate 2 hour shifts.
Natural Family Planning offers natural methods for achieving and avoiding pregnancies based on the observation of naturally occurring signs of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Instructional classes are offered through St. Mary’s Hospital in Decatur, Illinois. For further information, call the Diocesan Office for Family and Youth Ministry at (217) 698-8500.
This commission organizes and implements Pro-Life activities in our Parish. These include Respect Life Month in October, attending Right to Life meetings, liaison for information from Office of Social Concerns concerning any pro-life issues through our bulletin and liaison for the New Life Pregnancy Center.
Our Lady of Lourdes Rosary Makers provides cord rosaries to missionaries and lay ministers here at home and abroad to give to those in need. Training is provided and rosaries are made at meetings announced in the church bulletin.
This ministry helps support our Sister Parish, St. James the Apostle in Guatemala by collecting money once a month after each of the masses on the third Sunday of the month.
This is a group of parishioners whose goal is the visitation of the sick, homebound, the hospitalized, nursing home residents and residents of Pershing Estates, Keystone Meadows and Keystone Gardens. Individual members may offer to visit anyone in need. Visitors bring the Eucharist to the hospitals and Assisted Living Centers on a regular basis and bring the Eucharist to the homebound as requested. Visits help aid the healing process, assist those in need to experience the loving care of our parish community, and provide an opportunity for receiving the Eucharist. Meetings are held the fourth Thursday of selected months from 9:15 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Enrichment Center. See church bulletin for dates. Special Projects include a Fall Luncheon for shut-ins, nursing home residents and special friends, a Christmas party for Pershing Estates Residents, and the mailing of Birthday cards and holiday cards made by school children. For more information to volunteer or receive visits, please contact Sr. JoAn or the Church Office.
Special Note: It is very helpful if parishioners, family members or friends of parishioners inform the Parish Office prior to entering the hospital to let us know that they are going to enter the hospital or are in the hospital. Anyone in need of a visit, at home or elsewhere, should call the Parish Office, at 877-4404.
Through different activities and personal contacts we strive to warmly receive those joining our faith community. We welcome anyone who wants to share our faith as "we call upon the Spirit to lead us in our journey of faith." New members to our parish will be contacted by someone in the parish. Our pastor sends welcoming letters to new families. If you would like to help in this service, call the contact person listed on the contact page.