In order to Unleash the Gospel to Livonia and Redford, our Family of Parishes needs a robust, active ministry. Often forgotten, however, is how smoothly run “behind the scenes” operations make such ministry possible – making sure the lights stay on, properly allocating finances – in other words, the administrative side of the Church.
I would like to inform you that after months of a recruiting process, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, together with Fr. Socorro and Fr. Paulo, and the hiring committee has chosen Doug Buday as our Mission Support Director. In today’s bulletin he is introducing himself to you and next weekend you will have a chance to meet him in person after each Mass. May God bless Doug and his ministry for the Mother of Divine Love Family of Parishes!
From Doug Boday (New Mission Support Director):
It is with a warm and humble heart that I walk into my new role here at Mother of Divine Love Family of Parishes. It is by the grace of the Holy Spirit that I have been chosen by Fr. Socorro, Fr. Paulo, Fr. Tom and the hiring committee to fill this important role within the Archdiocese of Detroit (AOD) family of parishes plan.
It states in the AOD Family of Parishes Playbook, “The goal of Mission Support with a Family of Parishes is to provide timely and efficient support for the In Solidum Moderator so they will not be bogged down with the tedious detail involved in financial and administrative matters… Mission Support encompasses but is not limited to: Finance, Accounting, Human Resources, Information Technology and Facility Maintenance… Family Mission Support Director reports to and is supervised by the In Solidum Moderator (Fr. Socorro)… will be a single point of contact for the In Solidum Moderator and other priests within the family…
As we roll out this playbook it will take a cooperative effort by all of us to be the light of God’s love and joy to others as we operate in the Family of Parishes model. My first week here I have met many of the staff family that support our works in bringing Christ to our communities. We are all blessed to have such a dedicated team here.
I left my position at Corpus Christi Parish in Northwest Detroit as the Director of Operations to join Mother of Divine Love Family of Parishes. Working at Corpus Christi has given me the experience to learn how a parish operates within the AOD, and the challenges faced daily by the Priests, staff, and volunteers as we work the Family of Parish playbook.
My wife and I raised our six children in Charlevoix Michigan and were parishioners at St. Mary Parish until moving to Farmington Hills. Four of our children and four of our grandchildren live in the Detroit area, our daughter lives in the Chicago area and our other son lives in Las Vegas.
I served on the leadership team and finance council at Corpus Christi and St. Scholastica Parish. And served as President of St. Mary’s School Board for five years and as a member of the Pastoral and Finance Councils.
Over the coming months, I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible and entrusting the works we have ahead to God. My initial schedule is Monday at St. John XXIII, Tuesday at Our Lady of Loretto, Wednesday at St. Genevieve – St Maurice, Thursday at St. Valentine with my main office at St. Valentine Parish offices. Thank you again for entrusting me with this work. Peace and Joy, your brother in Christ- Doug Buday