The parish coat of arms was redesigned in 2015.  The red color is for St. Paul's matryrdom.  The black/white crosslets echo the coat of arms of the Cleveland Diocese in which our parish is established. The gold color is for the resurrection.  The sword is an element from the common symbology of St. Paul, which echos the "sword of the spirit" from his letter to the Epesians (6:17).  At the top is a burst of light in which is written in Greek, "I am Jesus," recalling the appearance of Christ to Saul on the way to Damascus leading to his conversion. Surrounding the shield is a shortened version of the parish mission statement in Latin:  
FORMANS IN CHRISTO PRO MISSIO - "Formed in Christ for Mission

Pray the Saint Paul Prayer

"Forming Disciples of Christ

in Community

and Proclaiming the Gospel"

There are three parts to the mission:

Formation:  At the end of Mark's Gospel Jesus commands the Apostles to go and make disciples.  We follow that command by making and forming disciples of Christ. This formation is ongoing and lifelong.  We are wrong to think we are ever finished learning or growing in faith.  Jesus Himself calls us to grow in holiness because our goal is heaven.  Due to sin and weakness, we are not ready, but through Christ forming us to be like Him, we will become true disciples. This formation happens primarily through the celebration of the Church's Sacraments, but also through ongoing catechesis and study of the faith.  In addition we are formed through the service and love we show our neighbor.  

Community:  By necessity, this formation is done not merely individually, but communally.  Jesus founded a church to be in communion with Him. Therefore, our community is always "in Christ" because we are formed as one body with Jesus Christ as the Head and Shepherd. We grow in union with each other primarily through the celebration of the Church's Sacraments, but this is meant to be lived in everyday life. Reception of Holy Communion at Mass must lead us to a communion of love with our brothers and sisters in Christ. This is lived out in parishioners' home and school and work.  It is further shown in the different parish groups all working toward the same mission.

Proclamation: Essential to the Mission is going out. At the end of Mass, the dismissal sends us to proclaim the Gospel and lead everyone to the saving love of Jesus Christ. We want to make more disciples. This is shown through the preaching of God's Word especially at Mass but also in other liturgical celebrations, parish missions, and performing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy in our local community. In addition, we proclaim the Lord through community events and welcoming all people to encountering Jesus Christ and His Church.

In 2015 our parish commissioned a painting to       celebrate the legacy of the parish and to help visually recognize our church.  Louise Udovich painted this beautiful piece emphasizing the light of Christ that comes to us through the Church.  This, of course, is important to those under the patronage of St. Paul because of his encounter with the blinding light that brought him to conversion.  This piece is unique to St. Paul's because the church in the background is a compilation of front facades of the old and current church.  It also incorporates a look inside as it shows the unique sanctuary of our parish church. 

St. Paul himself is depicted as walking toward the viewer because the saint was definitely in your face with his preaching. Yet his hand is open in greeting and welcome as he announces the truth of Jesus  
Christ crucified. The viewer can see that he is walking as well. Paul never stood still for long. He made many journeys establishing churches in many cities of the ancient world. He holds the traditional symbols of Paul, the swordand the book. The prison cell with open chains reminds us of Paul's suffering in prison as he awaited his martyrdom at the same time he preached how he had been freed because of Christ.

This image is on our parish prayer cards and is displayed prominently on the East side of the Parish Hall building for the neighborhood to see that St. Paul parish is "Formed in Christ for Mission."