Special Edition
CHRIST THE KING
C AT H O L I C PA R I S H
A Letter From Our Pastor
Our Parish Vision and Values
Dear Parishioners,
I
1520 South Rockford
Tulsa, OK 74120
(918) 584-4788
www.ctktulsa.org
am pleased to inform you that the Parish
of Christ the King has finalized a parish
Vision Statement and Institutional Values. It
has taken us close to two years to arrive at
this point and has involved the collaboration
and insights of more than 300 parishioners
who gathered for Rectory Dinners as well
as members of the parish staff. Now that we
have completed that process, I wanted to
share with all of you – through this special
edition of our parish newsletter – the elements of our parish vision and values.
But first, why do we need a vision statement and values statement?
Those in the business world will likely
understand immediately the value and importance of such statements. Vision statements, in a way, can be thought of as roadmaps to the future. They give us direction on
where we’re headed and focus our attention
on the resources and ministries that will help
us be successful in our efforts.
Christ the King Parish just celebrated
its 95th anniversary. This is quite a milestone, and it causes us to pause and reflect
on what it took to get us here. Lots of hard
work, prayer, and selflessness was required
for our community to continue through the
last 95 years. The same will be required of us
during the next 95 years as well. Our vision
statement will aid us on this journey.
The values statement, like the mission
statement, is a declaration of what our community is and hopes to be. Our community
values help guide our decisions and actions.
By declaring these values in a formal man-
ner, we affirm how important they are to us
and allow us to more readily live them out in
word and deed.
I encourage you to review the vision
statement and value statement enclosed in
this newsletter. Read it for your own information, but more importantly, read it and
challenge yourself to live by it! Are the values described within this newsletter the
same values you believe in? Does the vision
of the Parish of Christ the King inspire your
vision for the future? I hope it does and I
hope we all make strides to live by this
guide in the coming years.
I also ask for your assistance in offering some recommendations for how we can
improve our parish ministry efforts to more
clearly articulate and express the parish vision and mission statement. Enclosed with
continued on page 8
Christ the King
Parish of Christ the King
Vision Statement
The Parish of Christ the King uses our God-given gifts and commitment to ministry excellence to
evangelize, cultivate and empower a Catholic faith community where people authentically encounter
the Lord in Word and Sacrament and are transformed to become living witnesses of God’s presence.
Vision Notes & Definitions
God-Given Gifts
The gifts entrusted to us from God
invite responsibility on our part; our
active participation in this responsibility is the practice of Christian
stewardship. This realization begs
the questions: What are my gifts?
How do I use my gifts? How should
I use them? At Christ the King, we
cultivate an attitude of stewardship demonstrated in our offerings
of time, talent and treasure. We
receive our gifts from God with a
sacred trust and offer them back to
Him with increase in the hope that
we will be faithful stewards of our
parish, our families, and our lives.
The awareness of our giftedness by
God is the constant source of our
gratitude as a community.
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Commitment to Ministry
Excellence
What we do at Christ the King, we
strive to do well. Excellence is a
tool of, and attraction for, evangelization. A respectful liturgy, a welcoming atmosphere, and a quality
ministry invite others to participate
in the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Our dedication to that Good News
is witnessed in the level of commitment we show to our particular ministerial roles. It is also witnessed by
the creative and professional way
in which we strive to carry out our
tasks both large and small. Our parishioners expect excellence, we are
capable of excellence, and to settle
for anything less is to fall short of
fulfilling our potential in the eyes of
God and what it means to be a good
steward of God’s gifts. Though not
giving in to perfectionism, the call
to excellence invites us to continually search out the “best practices”
and to modify or implement them
in our ministries.
Evangelize
To evangelize means to help others
become aware of God’s presence in
their lives. Only by first recognizing God’s presence in our own lives
may we be a light that reveals God’s
glory in the lives of others. God’s
saving presence is manifest in His
powerful presence, His love, and
His forgiveness. We carry out the
work of evangelization as we create opportunities in our ministries
for people to become aware of the
reality of God’s love, to receive it, to
understand it, and to respond to it.
Special Edition
Cultivate
The seeds of faith need to be nourished for effective
growth to take place. The first step in cultivating the
seeds of faith is to assist parishioners in understanding
what their life in Christ means. By offering a faith-based
“meaning” to the human experience, we strive to ensure that the gift of the divine encounter is not lost in
the busyness of life. Thus, the encounter with God in the
evangelizing ministries of the parish needs to be given
root through education, formation, and mentoring so
that the parishioners can better allow the reality of faith
to permeate every aspect of their lives. Through cultivation of faith, parishioners become capable and aware disciples of Jesus Christ who begin to look for opportunities
to share what they themselves have received.
To empower parishioners means to
help them discover their capabilities
and to channel their efforts in ways
that enrich and concretize their
faith through actual experiences of
ministry and outreach.
Empower
Christ the King strives to provide opportunities to channel parishioners’ faith and enthusiasm in directions that
will offer them the opportunity to put their faith into
practice. Oftentimes, we are not even aware of our true
capabilities until we are called to accomplish a particular task. To empower parishioners means to help them
discover their capabilities and to channel their efforts in
ways that enrich and concretize their faith through actual experiences of ministry and outreach. This requires
that the parish provide both opportunities for ministry
involvement, as well as the development of leadership
roles for parishioners. To be empowered is a sign that a
disciple’s faith has matured to such a level that they are
now capable of making a courageous and positive contribution to the mission of the Church.
Catholic
We are a Catholic community because we are in full communion with the Universal Church founded by Jesus
Christ. We adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church
as taught by the pope and the bishop of the local Church
(Diocese of Tulsa). Everything we do in the parish is to
fulfill the mind and the intention of the Church universal.
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Christ the King
Vision Notes & Definitions
continued from page 3
Faith
By faith, we are to trust in the
mysteries revealed to us by
Christ and taught to us by the
Catholic Church. Faith is ultimately our trusting adherence
to the person of Jesus Christ
who calls us to be members of
his body and ambassadors of
his presence to the world. Faith,
then, means to follow closely, trustingly and obediently
where Jesus leads us.
Community
We recognize that, together, we make up the Body of Christ through our baptism and that we are intimately bound together
with one another and with the Lord on the Christian journey of discipleship. As such, the pain or injury of one member of
the community becomes the sufferings of everyone — the joys of one become the celebration of all. Thus, we consciously see
ourselves not as individuals but as the Family of God, the Body of Christ. We build up our community by our works of communication to establish one heart and one mind, as well as by our works of prayer and apostolic service. As a community,
we are particularly attentive to our responsibility to bring others into our communion of faith and life through the ministry
of Catholic education at Marquette Catholic School.
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Special Edition
Vision Notes & Definitions
continued from page 4
Authentic Encounter
The world is filled with various inauthentic encounters with God whether it is emotional manipulation, misplaced intellectualism, or self-serving spiritual trends. CTK is only focused on the authentic and apostolic encounter with God handed down to
us in both the Word and the Sacraments.
The Word refers to God’s self-revelation (self-communication) to the world. This self-revelation is expressed in complimentary and real ways.
• First, the Word of God is primarily a person, Jesus Christ.
• Second, the Word of God is expressed in Holy Scripture
and the Tradition of the Church.
• Third, from Christ Jesus and Holy Scripture, we at CTK
represent the Word of God, the Good News, the Gospel to the entire world through how we live our Christian life. We communicate God’s presence in all that we
do – the decisions we make, the policies we formulate,
the priorities we establish. With St. Paul, we exclaim,
“Whatever you do, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus”.
The Sacraments are visible signs of invisible grace. As
Catholics, we are privileged to have access to the grace
of Jesus Christ through the Sacraments which provide
us with a real and tangible encounter with the grace of
God for our salvation. The Holy Eucharist is the source
and summit of the Catholic life and is the most intimate
and meaningful encounter a person can have with God as
Christ freely offers his Precious Body and Precious Blood
to us in the Mass. Proper preparation for the reception of
the sacraments is an important factor in properly disposing
parishioners to authentically encounter the grace of God
through these faith-filled celebrations.
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Christ the King
Vision Notes & Definitions
continued from page 5
Transformed
Living Witnesses
One sees today a proliferation of religious movements whose
goal is to make people feel good the way they are rather than
helping them to grow and become the best version of themselves (e.g., the version God intends). As Catholics, we believe
that we are called to constant conversion and repentance so
that we may grow ever more fully into the likeness of God
in whose image we are created. Our ministries at Christ the
King seek to make parishioners aware of what the Gospel asks
of them and of the practical implications for growth-filled
change it presents to their lives. With the assistance and support of this community of faith, we encourage one another to
say “yes” to the grace of God and cooperate with the transformation of faith the Lord desires for each of us.
Faith is not just about our personal enrichment, and it does not
only affect our individual lives. While it is necessary and primary to receive the gift of faith, it is also necessary to actively
witness it and so pass it on to others. The dynamic of faith is
not complete until we have fulfilled the command of St. Paul
when he said, “The gift you have received, give as a gift.” At
the Parish of Christ the King, parishioners are encouraged to
express their discipleship in ways that make their faith visible
in their personal lives, their family life, the marketplace, and
the forum of public policy. They are also encouraged to witness
their faith through apostolic involvements in works of charity,
parish ministries, and other opportunities for expressing discipleship in witness of the Gospel and for the good of others.
Parish Values
Respect: To see people and their situations through the eyes of faith.
Hospitality: To receive each person as Christ himself.
Faithfulness: To be active participants in the mission of the Gospel by fulfilling
our commitments of baptism and life vocation.
Compassion: To respond to the needs of others with a generous, sacrificial love.
Value Notes and Definitions
Respect – In Latin, respect literally means to look again, to look
back at (respectus, from re – again, specere – to look). At Christ
the King, we are called to look at others through the eyes
of faith and to see people not only on a human level, but
above all as Christ would see them. We cannot see someone
as Christ would see them without it changing how we treat
that person — for example, how we view the young, the
elderly, the distressed, the discontent, and so forth. It also
affects how we reference that person in our conversations
with one another. We consciously overcome our first impressions and decide to look again with the eyes of Christ.
Hospitality – If in respect we see people as Christ sees them,
then in hospitality we receive people as Christ himself.
When we see people struggling with a small child or arriving late to Mass, we embrace them in a community warmed
by hospitality. In this way, we will love and embrace each
person within the parish community and in turn our entire
community will be enriched. Hospitality reaches perfection
when the stranger becomes a friend and there is no longer a
distinction between the host and the guest. The goal of hospitality is for everyone to be a member of the community.
continued on next page
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Special Edition
Values
continued from page 6
Faithfulness – We are faithful to Christ and his Church, and in
that fidelity we are all called to be active members of the Body
of Christ. Each part has its role — there are no spare parts in
the Body of Christ. Within the greater call of the Church’s Gospel mission, each part of the Body of Christ has his or her particular mission. Being faithful means that we trust God and
allow God to be in control of our lives, our decisions, our families, and our professional work. It also means that we live out
our life commitments to God and each other, and that we seek
to strengthen those vocations in our midst – especially the vocations to the priesthood and religious life, marriage and family.
Faithfulness calls us to be true to ourselves and to our God.
Compassion – This word has been reduced in our culture to
little more than a shallow emotion. However, compassion literally means to suffer with - taken from the late Latin word compassio, which means “fellow feeling”, and from compati, which
means “to suffer with”. These are taken from the Latin com(which means “with) and pati (which means “to bear, suffer).
If hospitality is the reception of those we see with the eyes of
faith, then compassion is the proactive response to those we
see with the eyes of faith. Compassion was the quality that
motivated Christ to go to the suffering and the downtrodden
and care for them. As a parish, when we see others suffer, we
actively respond by being Christians – little Christs – who care
for the distress of others as though it were our own. In doing
so, we encounter the Lord who is present in the least of his
brothers and sisters.
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CHRIST THE KING CHURCH
MARQUETTE SCHOOL
Non-Profit Org.
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TULSA, OK
1520 South Rockford│Tulsa, OK 74120
(918) 584-4788
www.christthekingtulsa.org
Return Service Requested
Weekend Mass:
Saturday, 5:00 p.m. Vigil
Sunday, 8:00, 9:30, 11:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m.
Daily Mass:
Tuesday - Friday, 8:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Holy Days:
8:15 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Reconciliation:
Saturday, 3:30 - 4:30 p.m.
(or by appointment)
Eucharistic Adoration:
Mary Queen of Peace Chapel,
Wednesday, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.,
Thursdays, Noon - 5:00 p.m. and
6:00 - 9:00 p.m., Fridays, 4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Our Parish Vision and Values
this newsletter is a Parish Ministry Feedback form, which
will allow you an opportunity to let us know how we are
doing in providing for your spiritual growth both personally and as a community. It has been a year since we
conducted our parish survey and we have worked hard to
implement the needed ministries you desire. Your response
now will help us to further refine those ministries. Thank
you in advance for your cooperation. You can return the
completed form to the parish office or you can place it in
the “Ministry Feedback” box in the entryway of the church.
I believe that the creation of a vision statement and values statement also aligns well with the spirituality of Stewardship. As you know, Stewardship is taking responsibility
for the gifts we have been given and using them for God’s
glory. What a gift we have been given in the Parish of Christ
the King! It is our responsibility to cultivate our parish in all
its ministries, help it develop and grow, and ensure that all
who worship with us are given the tools and support they
need to live meaningful Catholic lives. Creating a vision
for our community, in many ways, is like setting the path
of Stewardship for our future. It ensures that if we live by
continued from front cover
these principles, our community will continue to flourish
for years to come.
Are you ready to take the next step in Discipleship?
In our 95 years as a parish, Christ the King has been a
beacon of Catholic life and faith to the people of Tulsa. We
are rich in tradition and unafraid to take new steps in faith.
We are a close-knit community, generous in our stewardship of time, talent, and treasure.
Thank you for all you do to make our parish a great
community of faith! May those who come after us be
blessed with the same enthusiasm for Christ and desire to
continue the mission of the Gospel. With the implementation of our parish vision and values statements, the future
of our parish becomes brighter for everyone.
In Christ,
Msgr. Daniel Mueggenborg, Pastor