Dear St. Margaret of Scotland Parish,
In his spiritual masterpiece Introduction to the Devout Life, St. Francis de Sales writes, “This poor life is only a journey to the happy life to come. We must not be angry with each other on the way, rather we must march on as a band of brothers and sisters united in meekness, peace, and love.” This statement describes our own faith journey—how each of us from the moment of our conception bears the imprint of God’s life and love, and by our baptism we have been called to follow Jesus Christ as a member of his Church. We, therefore, are members of a faith tradition and heritage that began in Delaware in 1868 with the foundation of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington and continues today at St. Margaret of Scotland Parish. Our parish was formally established on May 22, 1999, the Solemnity of Pentecost, and the Church was dedicated and consecrated on November 16, 2007. Our 25th Anniversary year will be celebrated from November 16, 2024, through November 16, 2025.
To maintain the heritage and tradition that God has given us, I held several “listening sessions” during my first year as Pastor in January and February 2022 to begin gathering the thoughts of parishioners around our strengths, challenges, and future directions. It was during Lent 2022 that I set out to bring together a cross section of a diverse group of parishioners that represent our parish. The process we engaged in took six months of meetings to envision the future of our parish and to create a Five-Year Pastoral Plan. The Pastoral Planning committee members were:
Melissa Abbott Kevin Lilly Deepa Rosario
Matthew Azevedo Chuck Maduako Ted & Kim Wagner
Chrissy Bonis Maureen McDonald Susan Worton
Terry Dzik Sue Morgan Fr. Ed Ogden, OSFS, Chair
Kathy Lee Joe Pascarella
Ed Lyons Donald Potts
I would like to express my gratitude to the Pastoral Planning Team for their prayers, discernment, and hard work. Finally, as we prepare to embark on our Pastoral Plan today, I make the words of St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians my own: “I give thanks to God at all times for you, praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your partnership for the Gospel from the beginning until now. And I am confident of this, that the One who began this good work in us will bring it to completion until the day of the Lord Jesus” (Phil 1: 3-6).
Now, St. Margaret of Scotland Parish, let us walk “forward together” in meekness, peace, and love as disciples and friends of the resurrected and living Christ.
In the Spirit of our Patrons,
(Rev.) Edward F. Ogden, OSFS, VF
Pastor
Goal 1: Evangelization—Give a greater number of people an appreciation of what we do, what we can do, and how we can draw more people to Christ.