Family of Parishes - SE 4
Pastoral Planning Updates
St. Margaret of York and St. Columban form the SE 4 Family of Parishes in Loveland, Ohio.
June 2025 - Parish Vitality Survey Results
Over 2500 people from all 57 Families of Parishes responded to the 2025 Parish Vitality Survey. The input received provides insights into the experience of parishioners, clergy and staff, pastoral and finance council members, pointing to areas of growth as well as elements of parish and Family life that will benefit from ongoing attention in the future.
Overall, there is good news to share:
People are more likely to recommend their Family of Parishes now than they were in 2023 when the previous survey was conducted.
Parishioner involvement has increased.
Respondents report some increase in communication about Beacons of Light and their Family of Parishes as well as some acknowledgement of the need for Beacons of Light for their parish and for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
January 2025 - Update from the Pathways Team
Beacons of Light Update
The St. Margaret of York/St. Columban Pathways Team continues to meet to discuss opportunities to share best practices in our Beacons of Light Family of Parishes. The committee developed a grid of ministries offered by both parishes and were pleasantly surprised to learn that between us we have 75 different ministries, 55 of which exist at both parishes. This gave us an opportunity to discern which groups could invite the other to their meetings and activities – strength in numbers. Our goal is successful collaboration between ministry groups where it makes sense, such as with our Knights of Columbus Assembly, Backpack Ministry, and Quilting Group.
Given the growth at both parishes and schools (currently at capacity), and our combined 4,000+ households, we will continue to discuss best ways to keep our parishes connected via the work of our ministries and lay leaders, recognizing that the concern over having fewer priests in the future is very much a reality. We also intend to respect the differences and unique gifts each parish brings to the Family.
Please reach out to one of the following team members if you have any questions or would like to send us insights, hopes, or opportunities for collaboration that would be beneficial to you or any ministry.
Fr. Ed Smith, Fr. Stephen Hughes, Joe Bobbey, Janet Driscoll, Jeff Eha, Jacilyn Jackson, Kathy McGaughey, Mary Beth Meyer, Mark Meyrose, Cathy Nagy
June 2024 - Update from the Pathways Team
https://resources.catholicaoc.org/offices/parish-vitality/parish-vitality-survey
The St. Columban/St. Margaret of York Pathways team consists of Fr. Ed, two staff members from each parish and two parishioners from each parish. The group has met twice this year to discuss thoughts on being in a family together when both parishes and schools are so large… and growing. We have been focusing on moving forward by sharing best practices, knowing we are NOT combining schools, Parish Councils, Finance Councils, etc. We have already been sharing events together like inviting SMOY parishioners to St. Columban’s quilting group, combining the High School Youth Groups into one larger group, and creating a Knights of Columbus Assembly that connects 4th Degree Knights from the Knight Councils at both parishes.
Our next meeting will focus on what ministries each parish could invite the other to be part of as well as more work on best practices between the two parishes, enhancing parish life by using the Beacons of Light as a tool to work towards our shared goals and mission as Catholic faith communities. If you have any questions or would like to send us insights, hopes, opportunities for collaboration that would be beneficial, etc. please email Cathy Nagy at cnagy@stcolumban.org or Kathy McGaughy at kmcgaughy@smoy.org.
Our Parishes
St. Margaret of York Campus
Mass & Confession in Our Family of Parishes
Mass
Monday
- 12:30pm - St. Columban
- 6:00pm - St. Margaret
Tuesday
- 9:00am - St. Columban
Wednesday:
- 8:30am - St. Margaret
- 7:00pm - St. Columban
Thursday
- 8:30am - St. Margaret
- 12:30pm - St. Columban
Friday:
- 8:30am - St. Margaret
Saturday:
- 8:15 am - St. Margaret
- 4:30 pm - St. Margaret & St. Columban
Sunday:
- 8:00am - St. Columban
- 8:30am* - St. Margaret
- 9:45am - St. Columban
- 11:00am - St. Margaret
- 11:30am - St. Columban
- 5:30pm - St. Margaret
* Mass is Livestreamed
Holy Day of Obligation
See Bulletin or Parish E-news
(Mass schedule is subject to occasional variances)
Confession Times
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at our scheduled time or by appointment.
Monday:
- 6:30pm until the last Confession is heard. - St. Margaret
Saturday:
- 8:45 - 9:15am - St. Margaret
- 3:00 - 4:00pm - St. Margaret & St. Columban
Beacons of Light is a pastoral planning initiative by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati aimed at revitalizing parish life by organizing parishes into “Families of Parishes” for better collaboration and resource sharing. Each Family of Parishes will tailor their approach based on their unique demographics, resources, and community needs. This individualized strategy ensures that each parish family can effectively address its specific circumstances while working towards the initiative’s overarching goals.
This section of our website provides updates on the Beacons of Light initiative for the entire Archdiocese and offers resources to help you better understand its purpose and implementation.
General Beacons Updates
January 2025 | Parish Vitality Report
Archbishop Schnurr has released the 2025 Parish Vitality Report to bring everyone in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati up to date. In addition to facts, figures, stories and witness, there’s an opportunity for you to give feedback on your experience of parish life, which will be used in future planning for our Family of Parishes. View the report at https://pathway.catholicaoc.org/parish-vitality-report/
January 2024 | Sunday Mass Attendance Up 4.5% across the Archdiocese
Read MoreSunday Mass attendance increased in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati 4.5% from October 2022 to October 2023, continuing a rebound in participation since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 we saw more than a 52% return, another 6.5% in 2022, and 4.5% in 2023. While we remain down from our 2019 pre-pandemic attendance, three years of increase is a strong and encouraging trend for our archdiocese that will hopefully continue as Families of Parishes focus on the vision for the future and the “Why” at the root of the Beacons of Light project: “To proclaim the Gospel and make disciples in this particular time and place.” Participation in the Eucharist, and in particular Sunday Mass, is a foundational principle in Beacons of Light.
January 2024 | Letter to the Faithful - Love in Action
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In his October 2004 apostolic letter Mane Nobiscum Domine, Pope St. John Paul II wrote: “[B]y our mutual love and, in particular, by our concern for those in need we will be recognized as true followers of Christ (cf. Jn. 13:35; Mt. 25:31-46). This will be the criterion by which the authenticity of our Eucharistic celebrations is judged” (28). With these words, the Holy Father underscored the divine connection between the Body and Blood of Christ that we freely receive and what we do as a result.
Like two sides of the same coin, there is an inseparable relationship for our path to salvation between God’s gift of the Eucharist and our willingness to selflessly give of ourselves to others. To believe in a God that is love is also to assent that “each of us is truly called, together with Jesus, to be bread broken for the life of the world,” especially for the most vulnerable among us (Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis, 88).
The Catholic Church in the United States has embarked upon the third and final stage of our Eucharistic Revival: the Year of Mission. After having so joyfully and publicly welcomed the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to the archdiocese last year, we now remind ourselves of the mission to be Christ for others. The world needs us to shine as examples of God’s love and compassion. The unborn, mothers in need, immigrants, homeless, and so many other vulnerable people long for us to see them with the eyes of Jesus, who has a special place for the poor in His heart.
In the context of Beacons of Light, the Eucharistic Revival’s Year of Mission is well-expressed through the Love in Action principle. This principle encompasses our parish ministries of charity and social justice that organize our time, treasure and talents to respect human life from conception until natural death, serve those in need, welcome migrants, advocate for a more just and peaceful world, promote solidarity through global missions, create spaces of belonging for those with disabilities and care for God’s creation.
The Eucharist is also a source of unity. In these relentlessly polarized times, our Love in Action ministries present a unique and prophetic witness to how we as Catholics overcome ideological, racial and social differences to advance the life and dignity of everyone. Likewise, the Eucharistic Revival Year of Mission is a welcomed opportunity for us to remind ourselves and our communities of how powerfully this Sacrament motivates us to see all people as beloved members of one human family.
It is also fitting that the universal Church is celebrating the Jubilee Year 2025 with the theme Pilgrims of Hope. Motivated by the Eucharist to put our love into action in a divided and violent world, we all need a limitless source of hope. In his Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee, Pope Francis assures us that our Christian faith offers us in all circumstances hope in God, a hope that does not fade. “May it help us to recover the confident trust that we require,” the Holy Father prays, “in the Church and in society, in our interpersonal relationships, in international relations, and in our task of promoting the dignity of all persons and respect for God’s gift of creation” (Spes Non Confundit, 25).
Therefore, for this Eucharistic Revival Year of Mission during the Jubilee Year of Hope, I encourage all Families of Parishes, schools and other Catholic entities in the archdiocese to put a special emphasis on advancing Love in Action over the next five months. More details regarding ways to do this are available through the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Social Action at https://catholicaoc.org/yearofmission. We will conclude the Eucharistic Revival’s Year of Mission with a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains on the Feast of the Ascension, Sunday, June 1, 2025, to which all of you are invited.
Thank you for all you do to be ever transformed by the Body of Christ to put God’s love into action. By doing so, you are a pilgrim of hope for the local Church and all the world.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Dennis M. Schnurr
Archbishop of Cincinnati
