I have lived in San Francisco for 26 years (a transplant from the east coast) and have been a parishioner at St Ignatius for almost as long. We joined the parish under Father Gagan and experienced the seamless transition to Father Greg when our oldest son was preparing for confirmation. My children were altar servers, I’ve been a Eucharistic Minister, and my sons were part of the first parish CYO basketball teams, winning the championship in their inaugural year. I’ve helped with coffee hour, bingo, parish picnics, Easter egg hunts, among other events, volunteering whenever there was downtime in our family schedule between school, sports, and other events. While I enjoyed all these activities, I didn’t feel fully engaged, or that I was doing enough. I wasn’t participating as fully as I could or should. I had plenty of volunteer activities I enjoyed through school and other community organizations but wanted to invest more time and attention to my faith and to building connections within this wonderful community. While the opportunities were there, I wasn’t sure exactly how or where to jump in.
The answer came through a dear friend who reached out to discuss the Community Commission. We discussed the mission, structure, time commitment and expectations for the committee, and she shared her thoughts on why this committee has such an important impact on the SI community. When asked to serve, my answer was a resounding yes without hesitation. This is my first year on the commission, so I haven’t been through a full cycle of events, but I’m delighted with what we’ve been able to accomplish so far. Our committee is inclusive, thoughtful, passionate, respectful, and collaborative. We encourage each other to be creative and try new things. I believe we are fulfilling an important mission — to strengthen our community through the simple act of being together, sharing a meal, playing bingo, enjoying a conversation.
I encourage each of you to think about your own talents and how you might share them in service to this community. Please reach out to any of us to gain a better understanding of the important work taking place within each commission. And if someone reaches out to you, please be brave enough to say yes and explore the many ways you can contribute to our amazing St. Ignatius community.
Mary Taylor, parishioner and Community commission member