MISSION OF THE PARISH TODAY

The decree below of the parish boundaries was refashioned in 1960.  Today, it must be admitted that people in the area attend the Church which seems to most reflect their ethnic and cultural background.  The African-American community has found a special home in St. Thomas More Parish.  A majority of the membership lives in Prince George's County.  Our numbers are small, but our faith is strong, our hearts are loving, and our hands are ready for service.
 
 
 
 

SAINT THOMAS MORE MISSION STATEMENT

While we are largely an African-American community, we are also a people of God with varied backgrounds and cultures, varied life experiences and educational levels who are called together to be ONE:  to share one FAITH, one LORD, one BAPTISM in the Body of Christ, as St. Thomas More Family, in Southeast Washington, DC.  As a community of faith we have learned, and are still learning, to surrender to God's powerful LOVE.

In order to honor our past history, we must understand it and move from the place where our ancestors and predecessors ended their work.  It is demanded of each generation that it faithfully meets the challenges of its age.  Doing this will require a prayerful assessment of the spiritual, cultural, educational and social needs of this Parish Family, in our faith community in this present world.  We will prayerfully listen, evaluate, and proceed to work, according to the insights we gain from the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
 

Within the life of every Catholic Parish there comes a time when it achieves maturity.  Out of the richness of our past, with its joys and sorrows, we must step forward into a new age (Acts 2:42,47b).  This process brings with it the duty and privilege to share with others the richness of its visions.  "For without a vision the people will perish" (Hos. 4:6).  Guided by our vision, we, a pilgrim people on the way to the fullness of the risen life, must witness to Christ here in our ebveryday lives and here in Southeast, Southwest, and Prince George's County.

Nurtured by the Spirit, we gather together in celebration so that we may know Christ, and in knowing Him we may bring life to the world we touch.  Our faith must be a living faith.  It is the driving force of our whole life as "Church".

We can only celebrate that which we know and understand, and to do this we must be educated in our faith.  (Cardinal Arinze, pictured here, emphasized this point and catechesis when he preached at St. Thomas More.)  Through our continued education, we must learn who we are and what we are to become in God's plan.  In our outreach (evangelization) we are to be the eyes, hands, feet, and heart of Jesus, loving the world.  Ours is a shared responsibility of discipleship in that all parishioners share the responsibility of parish life, support, and renewal.

Finally, our union in prayer and service reflects the Spirit that unites us.  Because we share that Spirit through baptism, we are the BODY OF CHRIST, a temple to the glory of God.  "You form a building which rises on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.  Through him the whole structure is fitted together and takes shape as a holy temple in the Lord; in him you are being built into this temple, to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:20-22).