A Big Thank You to the Faith Community of St. James!

Over the past few months, during the most difficult of times, the faith community of St. James has shown its strength and resilience over and over again. You’ve demonstrated in so many wonderful and creative ways how you love one another. It is inspiring!

Behind the scenes, we have had generous volunteers doing incredible and creative things for our community, including but not limited to:

Weaving palm fronds so they weren’t wasted;

Sewing over 500 face masks for those who are in need of one;

Writing cards and letters to our retired priests, those in local retirement homes and the home bound;

Delivering fun surprises to our teens at their homes;

Being present and praying with vulnerable folks through window visits;

Washing and ironing the linens that both Fr. David and Fr. Steven use when they celebrate private Masses in the church;

Checking in on fellow parishioners and helping them with essential tasks;

Filming and editing weekly Masses so that we can celebrate Mass online;

Running a Food Drive for the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry;

Donating food, supplies and money for all of these worthy endeavors, as well as for PADS and other local charities;

Praying for one another and for our priests;

Giving of their time to be a part of our Reopening Leadership Team, Setup Team and Greeter/Usher Team and the team responsible for putting together our parish mailings;

Sending encouraging and supportive notes to the parish staff;

Participating in an Anniversary parade for Fr. David earlier this month and later today, for Fr. Sebahar;

and countless other unseen, but wonderful acts of service, kindness and generosity.

Thank you! You are AMAZING! We are St. James Strong!

The Multi-Step Process of Reopening at St. James

As we look forward to the Reopening of the parish and offices on Monday, July 6th, we are taking the very first step in a multi-step process at the parish.

The team will continue to meet in the weeks and months ahead to do the necessary work to achieve the following goals:

Outreach and additional options for parishioners who are not able or ready to return to weekend Masses;

Expansion of the modified Mass schedule and capacity for some of our celebrations, while maintaining the required diocesan directives;

Developing a plan for Parish Ministries to have the ability for a safe return to usage of St. James Facilities on days when it is available.

We humbly ask for your prayers as we pursue these goals, ever mindful of the need to do our best to ensure the health and safety of all our parishioners and guests.

St. James the Apostle School and Religious Education Program recently received the news from the Diocese that they will be able to reopen for the academic year. Just as the parish was given a set of specific directives to incorporate for the health and safety of parishioners, the School and RE Program are being given the same. They are in the process of working on their plans to submit in order to be certified by the Diocese of Joliet to reopen.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us: reopen@stjamesge.org

The Recruitment of Reopening Volunteers Continues

We thank all those who have come forward to volunteer as Reopening Volunteers. We will continue to schedule training sessions as new volunteers arise. If you are interested in getting involved, it isn’t too late!

Though we want all to be cautious in their decision as to whether or not to assist, dependent upon one’s risk factors, we are not turning away those who may be in a high risk age group, but are healthy and want to help! To get involved or to find out more, please email reopen@stjamesge.org and you will receive further instructions as to when you may attend training.

Join Us TODAY at 6:00 P.M. for a Parade to Celebrate Fr. Sebahar’s 62nd Anniversary of Ordination!

All are invited to join us as we wish Fr. Sebahar a happy 62nd Anniversary of Ordination to the Priesthood on Wednesday, June 24th at 6:00 P.M. In the interest of creating a safe pattern of traffic, we will line up our procession of cars beginning at 5:50 P.M at Parkview Elementary School, 250 S Park Blvd.

At about 5:57 P.M. we will start our procession by turning right onto Park Blvd. and then right onto Fawell Blvd.. From there we will swing a quick right into the church parking lot. (Please be sure to honor all traffic signals along the way). We will drive past the front doors of the church where all may greet Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament (as the tabernacle remains there at this time) and then Fr. Sebahar who will be standing under the canopy.

We ask that everyone please remain in your cars, but take a moment to honk your horn, wave, roll down the passenger side window and express your gratitude to Fr. Sebahar for his ministry to our parish. Let’s all join together to make this an unforgettable show of love and support for Fr. Sebahar, even in the midst of a pandemic!