Cara+Stolarczyk


 * Please post your project proposal below in the following format:**

Come to know yourself more deeply & Jesus more personally in Eucharistic Adoration
 * __Project Title:__ **

St. Anastasia Parish in Newtown Square, PA is blessed to have Eucharistic Adoration during the school year September – June on Monday through Friday from 9:30 AM to 9:00 PM EST and on Wednesdays from 9:30 AM to 9:00 PM EST during the Summer months.
 * __ Project Description: __**

Each year in late Summer, the coordinator for Eucharistic Adoration at St. Anastasia, (someone other than me), looks to renew the commitments of previous adorers to develop a personal relationship with Jesus and satisfy His thirst for souls by committing to spend 30-60 minutes each week during the school year at a time of their choosing. The coordinator looks to have a minimum of 2 people committed to each time slot and has a cadre of people “on call” if there is a need to identify a fill-in when someone cannot keep their time commitment to ensure Jesus is never left alone in the Chapel.

After solidifying the baseline schedule with existing adorers, the coordinator makes an appeal at the pulpit to encourage “new” parishioners to deepen their relationship with Jesus by spending time with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. While our parish is large enough to garner the minimum support needed to provide this amazing gift of Jesus’ true Presence at our parish, each year it tends to be many of the same people who spend time with Jesus, with little growth in the number of people who participate or the frequency in which they participate.

In looking at the list of current adorers, the majority of them are those who are retired, have grown children or children older than grade school age. We have a vibrant Parish Catholic School with 650 students, as well as an additional ~ 400 children who participate in our parish CCD program. We have approximately 3,200 registered families and 10,000 registered parishioners. I estimate that there are about 175-200 people who currently are signed up for a weekly 9 month commitment for Eucharistic Adoration or about 2% of registered participants. There is a great opportunity to foster increased love and devotion for this amazing gift Jesus gives freely to us.

This project will utilize a blended approach of both traditional methods and technological tools & channels to reach out to more people and encourage them to come to Jesus and open their hearts to Him as He longs for and has requested! I will use a digital storytelling tool to create a short video piece to 1) increase awareness of Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist, His love for us and desire for personal relationship with each one of us and 2) to minimize fear of the unknown re: what is Adoration, where it is located and what does one “do” during Adoration etc… to encourage people to set aside time in their busy schedules to enter into conversation with Him. We will also help to minimize barriers for individuals to participate in Adoration and open up this amazing gift to more people by repositioning how and when people can make a commitment to spend time with Jesus.


 * __ Project Goals: __**
 * Encourage an increased number of parishioners across generations to come to know Jesus more personally and discover their best selves by setting aside quiet time in their busy schedules to converse with Jesus face to face in our Eucharistic Adoration Chapel at St. Anastasia.
 * Engender a welcoming and non-threatening atmosphere to encourage people to stop by the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel to check it out. This is in response to Christ’s cry of “I Thirst” for souls. He wants us to bring people to Him. Hopefully this project will inspire people to come to Him, dialogue with Him and get to know Him and themselves which in turn will build up and fortify the Body of Christ.

Parishioners at St. Anastasia Parish in Newtown Square, PA span across 5 generations, including: Builders (pre 1946), Baby Boomers (1946-1960), Generation X – (1961-1979), Millennials (1980-1999) and iGeneration (2000 to current day). There is variation within and across these age cohorts in terms of their individual understanding and experience of Jesus’ true presence – Body, Blood, Soul & Divinity in the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. Therefore, this project is designed to encourage an increased participation in making time to set aside quiet 1:1 time with Jesus in Adoration across generations. This includes both those who currently do not spend any time in Eucharistic Adoration as well increasing the time and frequency of visits from those who currently visit Jesus in Adoration to console His heart and to grow in personal relationship with Him.
 * __ Audience Description: __**

The intent of the digital storytelling component of this plan is to reach critical audiences such as parents of school age children and touch their hearts to consider the importance of making time for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. This personalized invitation will hopefully gently provide a call to action so more parishioners will engage in personal encounters and converse with Christ in Eucharistic Adoration.

Sr. Caroline, my DDBC 2013 coach, has in the signature of all of her emails the following quote from Socrates, //“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”// I have found this to be very wise advice, particularly given I do not have a paid position at my parish, nor am I in charge of the Eucharistic Adoration program at large and therefore do not have decision rights to proceed with my recommendations. I need to partner with others who are in these roles to obtain the necessary approvals, maximize the existing efforts and supplement them with additional efforts that leverage technology to communicate in a way with younger generations that resonates with them, while making the amazing opportunity to spend time with Jesus more “doable” by breaking down the time commitments into smaller parts.
 * __ Projected Timeline: __**

As you will see from my projected timeline and project plan below, I am leveraging the existing “processes” & opportunities for fostering Eucharistic Adoration as well as related Eucharistic celebrations on the Church calendar and at our parish to seam together a blended & collaborative approach for encouraging more people to participate in Adoration. Using these as a springboard, I am then proposing weaving in simple ways to infuse technology to enhance and grow this marvelous ministry and gift at our parish, with the hope that small successes in using technology will wet their appetites for more usage across a greater number of ministries.

__August 23rd – September 20th:__ Coordinator of Eucharistic Adoration receives confirmation and updates from existing Adorers re: their desired time commitments with Jesus. Physical sign up board is available in vestibule of Chapel with open spaces highlighted for people to fill in the empty spots.

__September 5th:__ Participate in DDBC Summer 2013 Capstone Project Webinar to clarify project guidelines, rubrics and timeline to possible project for focus with the appropriate scope & timing.

__September 5th – October 3rd:__ Review different ministry opportunities where I could lend support and fulfill my Capstone Project requirements. Consult with different individuals and determine best fit giving project timing and scope.

__Week of September 9th:__ Contact Coordinator of Eucharistic Adoration to confirm my own time commitment for Eucharistic Adoration and inquire about current process and progress to secure more Adorers. Discuss ideas for encouraging new Adorers to participate. Thorough concurrent brainstorming and movement of the Holy Spirit, both myself and her niece had similar ideas for “breaking down” the large 9 month commitments into smaller bit sized opportunities that would seem more “doable” for many, especially families with young children. Her niece suggested using Sign-Up Genius, a free on-line tool for creating and managing group sign ups, to ensure resources are identified and eliminate duplication of efforts. People sign up for certain blocks of time and are provided with email reminders to remind them of their commitment.

__September 16th-30th:__ Create one page Leader’s Guide and two sided Participant Materials for use in Children’s Eucharistic Adoration with CCD students using Microsoft PowerPoint. Submit draft to Director of Religious Education, obtain edits, make revisions and finalize.

__September 21st – 22nd:__ Coordinator of Eucharistic Adoration makes appeal at weekend masses to invite additional parishioners to make a commitment to spend time with Jesus.

__September 23rd – October 19th:__ Coordinator of Eucharistic Adoration follows up via phone with those “new” parishioners who expressed interest in making a commitment to spend time with Jesus. The physical sign up board is made available in the main Church so people are encouraged to sign up.

__September 21st- October 3rd:__ 1) Obtain buy in and approvals from Coordinator of Eucharistic Adoration to create a short digital storytelling piece to accompany appeal to school families via EBell/Constant Contact & CCD distribution lists. She in turn sought approval of pastor to create links/communications to send via EBell and post on parish website/in bulletin.

2) Approach Pastor and Assistant Pastor about having them make a connection at Parish School Mass on 10/4 to Annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour happening simultaneously at 10 AM that day to unite our prayers with those of their brothers and sisters around the world. Use this as an opportunity to encourage children to invite their families to the Parish 40 Hours Devotion and Adoration to increase awareness of and experience of Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist.

__October 3rd:__ Submit Capstone Project Proposal to my coach Sr. Caroline Cerveny

__October 4:__ 11th Annual Worldwide Children’s Eucharistic Holy Hour broadcast live on EWTN at 10 AM EST from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in D.C. to over 140 nations where children will be united in prayer in front of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Our parish children will be at Mass at St. Anastasia at this time, celebrating First Friday, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi and inducting in the new Student Council members. Attend Mass with children at St. Anastasia, watch recording of EWTN broadcast and search for materials for possible use in digital story: @http://www.childrenoftheeucharist.org/

__ October 6 – October 8: __ Parish 40 Hours Devotion with guest homilist, previous St. Anastasia Parish Parochial Vicar & Assistant Pastor, Father Mike Speziale. Participate in services. Take photos of Adoration Chapel & 40 Hours Devotion as appropriate to use in digital story.

__October 5th – October 23rd:__ Determine what messages/emotions I want to evoke to tell the mini digital story to encourage people to try out Eucharistic Adoration, identify content for use in story, i.e. pictures, artwork, music, quotes etc…, create storyboards & obtain approvals on content from stakeholders, determine the optimal tool to use to create the digital story and create it.

__October 15th& Running Thru April, 2014:__ Children’s Eucharistic Adoration for CCD students. Here I lead one section of a Grade (K-6) in prayer for 30 minutes in our Chapel with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Venue for fostering interest in Eucharistic Adoration and having the children serve as draw to bring parents to Jesus’ feet. Have them be on the lookout for upcoming digital story re: Adoration.

__October 23rd – November 8th:__ Disseminate digital story link and Sign-Up Genius link via Parish Website, School E-Bell & CCD email distribution list, working with various stakeholders to create communications with the links, launch them or post them to the parish website.

__By November 14th:__ Submit Completed Capstone Project to my coach Sr. Caroline Cerveny, including identifying follow-up plans for further pulling thru and building upon this work, including exploring ways to include extended network connections beyond the St. Anastasia Parish community to share my work for others to benefit from repurposing as appropriate.

__By December 1st:__ 1) Submit 500 word essay summarizing DDBC experience and how I plan to apply learnings to my ministry; 2) Write an article for publication that tells the story of my project so it can be replicated in other parish settings and publish on DDBC wiki 3) Submit headshot photo to Sr. Caroline for future use by DDBC.


 * __ Technology To Be Utilized: __**
 * To create the digital story:
 * IPhone to take digital photos of our Adoration Chapel and 40 Hours Devotion as appropriate
 * Free creative common photos and artwork via Istock photos and other similar resources available via the Internet
 * Microsoft Word or PPT to create storyboards
 * Digital Storytelling Tool such as Animoto, Movie Maker, Prezi or some similar tool to create a link to a short ~ 3 minute digital story to move engage people and garner interest in making a small commitment to keep Jesus company in Eucharistic Adoration - TBD
 * To create the on-line sign ups to fill empty Adoration spots and/or bolster existing ones:
 * Sign Up Genius - []
 * To disseminate the digital story:
 * St. Anastasia Parish Website: []
 * St. Anastasia School EBell via Constant Contact to all parish school families
 * St. Anastasia CCD email distribution list to all parish CCD families

I expect to make a small personal investment, (under $100), in use of a low cost digital storytelling tool such as upgraded Animoto service, Movie Maker or Prezi to create the digital story.
 * __ Projected Budget: __**

Yes. Please see milestones marked **above in “Project Timeline” section to see details re: steps taken.**
 * __ Do you need Departmental or Administrator approval? If yes, please indicate the steps you have taken: __**


 * Proposal Deadline: October 3, 2013 **


 * __ Note __ : Projects should be carried out in a two-month period following the Proposal deadline. All projects should be completed by November 14, 2013. **


 * __Cara Stolarczyk Essay:__**




 * __Cara Stolarczyk Article:__**