Pastoral Planning Committee

§         Provide Advice and Counsel to Father Dennis as Pastor of both parishes.

§         Finalize Planning Approach and Timeline.

§         Review Parish Membership, Financials, Faith Formation Needs…….

§         Meet Periodically with the Diocesan Pastoral Planning Committee

§         Develop Final Plan Recommendation

§         Present Final Plan to Both Parishes

§         Present Final Plan to the Diocese

§         Membership:  Three Members From Each Parish and Father Dennis

Approach

Success will require the talents, skills and work of as many members of each parish as possible.  In addition to forming the Pastoral Planning Committee, a number of ongoing working committees need to be established.  Every committee will be co-chaired by a parishioner from each parish. All seven committees will have responsibility for reviewing and assessing every aspect of their particular area of parish life as it presently exists in both parishes.  The committees will also make recommendations to the Pastoral Planning Committee with regard to areas where improvement is needed. The following committees need to be established:

Evangelization Committee

Worship Committee

Faith Formation Committee

Community Life Committee

Service (Justice and Charity) Committee

Stewardship (Finance, Buildings, Property) Committee

Leadership Committee

The work of evangelization is the call to awaken, nurture, and develop the hunger for God in one another and to journey with each other as we grow in our relationship with God as Catholic Christians.” (Romans 10, Lumen Gentium, Vatican II)

ü      Adults and children are given opportunities for evangelization formation.

ü      Newcomers are welcomed into the parish.

ü      Efforts are made to reach out to the alienated, the inactive and the unchurched

ü      Opportunities are provided for small groups to gather and share faith as it relates to everyday life

ü      The parish has a plan for regular personal visits with parishioners

ü      Parish renewals, evenings of prayer and/or retreat days are planned to enliven and deepen the faith of the people

ü      The public image of the parish is one of hospitality, invitation and compassion, where no one is excluded

ü      The parish takes steps to influence the values and decisions of the larger community through prophetic action and works of justice and outreach

ü      There is a sense of Christian joy about the good news of Jesus; it is evident in homilies, in worship, in parish activities and in outreach efforts.

Evidence                (list the ways in which your parish currently implements specific items on the checklist)

Example: We sponsor a Lenten renewal program every three years

Challenges           (a list of areas that need attention)

Example: We have no outreach to inactive Catholics, even though 68% of our registered parishioners no longer attend Mass regularly.

“The Sunday Eucharist needs to be a high priority in the life of the community.  This demands a commitment of time, energy, and resources to assure that the Sunday Eucharist is and remains the focal point of the community.  For it is here that the community comes to celebrate its life of faith; it is here where the Church is renewed to continue its mission.”

(Sunday Eucharist: Source and Summit of Parish Life)

ü      The Sunday Eucharist is a priority in the life of the parish and is celebrated with full and active participation of the parishioners.

ü      The number of Masses celebrated in each weekend is adequate for the needs of the community.

ü      Competent individuals are responsible for every aspect of liturgical celebrations.

ü      Parishioners serve in many liturgical roles at the liturgy.

ü      Liturgical ministers are well trained and effective in their ministries.

ü      Preaching is directly related to the scriptures and to the real life experience of the people.

ü      The worship space is able to accommodate the rites of the Church in a dignified and liturgically suitable manner.

ü      Liturgical art and environment are marked by noble simplicity.

ü      Worship aides are contemporary and in good condition.

ü      Quality in music, including instruments, musicians and hymn selection enables the assembly to participate in sung prayer.

ü      All the sacraments are celebrated regularly, with attention given to make them true expressions of the life of the parish.

ü      The special liturgical seasons are celebrated well: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, Easter…

ü      Liturgy the Word with Children is celebrated with young members of the parish

ü      Devotional prayer is encourage but does not interfere with the primary sacramental celebrations of the parish.

Evidence                (list the ways in which your parish currently implements specific items on the checklist)

Example: We have seventeen parishioners who are lectors and thirteen of them attended a diocesan workshop last fall.

Challenges           (a list of areas that need attention)

Example: Some of our substitute organists are not strong musicians and the hymns drag so the people don’t sing.

“Catechesis encompasses the totality of the Church’s efforts to make disciples, to help people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God so that believing they might have life in his name, and to educate and instruct them in this life, thus building up the body of Christ.”

(Catechism of the Catholic Church)

ü      The parish catechetical leader has appropriate education, ability, and experience to provide catechist formation and effective administration of religious education efforts.

ü      Skilled and knowledgeable persons staff all aspects of the parish faith formation efforts: catechesis, RCIA, sacramental preparation.  They are witnesses to the Gospel, active in the parish life, and faithful to the teachings of the Church.

ü      Adequate funds, resources, staff and space are allocated to carry out the catechetical efforts of the parish.

ü      Religious formation or catechesis is planned and evaluated for all in the parish: adults, youth and children.

ü      Strengthening marriages and nurturing the life of families are priorities for the parish.

ü      Assistance is provided to help parents understand their roles as ministers to their children in the formation of Christian values.

ü      Catechetical efforts present the essential message of Catholic Christianity using methods and methodologies which speak to the total development of the believers and lead to faith commitment in action.

ü      Sacramental preparation for Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation and Marriage is parish based and intergenerational whenever possible.

Evidence                (list the ways in which your parish currently implements specific items on the checklist)

Example: We include parents in all sessions that prepare children for the sacraments

Challenges           (a list of areas that need attention)

Example: The parish does not have adequate space to accommodate the number of children attending religious education classes.

“All are called to recognize and foster within the community the call to develop relationships with one another and to reach out with hospitality to the stranger.”   (John 13; Gaudium Et Spes 32)

ü      The parish recognizes itself as a Christian community, rather than a purely social or civic organization

ü      Communication among parish leaders and with parishioners is adequate and consistent.

ü      There is a good spirit of working together among parish groups and organizations.

ü      All parish organizations and activities are broadly inclusive.

ü      Programming for parish organizations consistently offers prayer, information, education, entertainment and hospitality.

ü      There is an annual review of the purpose, effectiveness, and need for each parish organization.

ü      An effort is made to provide for the special needs of those who might feel excluded from parish life at some point: young people, single adults, minorities, the separated and divorce, single parents, the widowed, the physically or mentally challenged, the homebound, the elderly.

ü      The prayer and activity of the parish are outwardly directed, never totally focused on its own life.

ü      The parish collaborates with neighboring parishes as appropriate to enhance the mission of the Church.

ü      The parish promotes ecumenical relationships and activities.

Evidence                (list the ways in which your parish currently implements specific items on the checklist)

Example: We have implemented the Weekly Visitors who take communion to the homebound .

Challenges           (a list of areas that need attention)

Example: Our parish facilities are not equipped with restrooms accessible to the disabled.

“The central message is simple: our faith is profoundly social.  We cannot be truly ‘catholic’ unless we hear and heed the Church’s call to serve those in need and work for justice and peace.  We see the parish dimension of social ministry not as an added burden, but as part of what keeps a parish alive and makes it truly Catholic.  It is an essential part of parish life.”    Communities of Salt and Light, US Bishops

ü      The parish focuses on the needs of the human community, beginning with its own members and extending to the poor and marginalized in the local area, the nation, and the world.

ü      The parish makes every effort to accommodate persons with special needs.

ü      Organizations within the parish systematically address human needs by sponsoring projects such as food pantries, shelters for the homeless and job assistance for the unemployed, or by supporting other parishes or agencies which have these services.

ü      Programs that minister to the sick, the bereaved and the homebound are ongoing.

ü      The parish participates in local, national, and international helping efforts.

ü      An organized program of instruction dealing with current issues in the light of Catholic social teaching has been implemented.

ü      Formation efforts at all levels integrate Catholic social teaching.

ü      Participation in political action, voting in the local and national elections, involvement in policy making at the local, state and national levels is encouraged.

ü      Racial and ethnic harmony, peacemaking and non-violence, respect for life at all stages and the practice of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy are priority areas for study and action in the parish.

ü      Opportunities for collaborative ecumenical activity in the local area are sought out.

ü      The parish coordinator of social ministry has adequate education and experience for the position.

Evidence                (list the ways in which your parish currently implements specific items on the checklist)

Example: We work with the Unitarians to operate a food pantry.

Challenges           (a list of areas that need attention)

Example: Our parish religious formation program does not include social justice teachings nor provide opportunities for our young people to be involved in witness and service activities.

As Christian stewards, we receive God’s gifts gratefully, cultivate them responsibly, share them lovingly in justice with others, and return them with increase to the Lord.”        To Be a Christian Steward, US Bishops

ü      The parish provides opportunities for parishioners to experience their giftedness and to recognize the gratuitous nature of God’s blessings.

ü      Formation efforts help parishioners understand their baptismal responsibility to steward their gifts, including the gift of faith and the life of the Church.

ü      Parishioners demonstrate their understanding of Christian stewardship by their willing support of the parish and diocesan needs.

ü      The resources of the parish are sufficient to accomplish its mission and the goals and objectives from that mission.

ü      Regular efforts are made to discover parishioners’ talents and invite their use in parish service.

ü      Parishioners who offer their gifts in service to the parish mission are given adequate training, encouragement, and supervision.

ü      The parish is not overly dependent on extraordinary fundraisers such as bingo or tickets to support ordinary budget.

ü      The parish keeps up payments on its debt, if there is one.

ü      Parish facilities are appropriately maintained and adequate for the needs of the parish.

ü      Members of the finance council are persons with interest and experience in budgeting, facilities management and fundraising and development efforts.

ü      The parish regularly shares a portion of its income with the poor.

Evidence                (list the ways in which your parish currently implements specific items on the checklist)

Example: We tithe 10% of our annual parish festival income to support a poor parish in another part of the world.

Challenges           (a list of areas that need attention)

Example: We spend most of our council meetings worrying about fundraising.

“Pastoral council members ought to be individuals of faith who are capable of leading the parish in the discernment, expression and fulfillment of its mission. Ideally, they are people of vision, open to the workings of the Holy Spirit in and through themselves, while having a deep respect and openness for the workings of the Spirit in others.”   Revisioning the Parish Pastoral Council

ü      The pastor and parish staff and pastoral council according to their appropriate roles share responsibility for visioning, planning, empowering and evaluating.

ü      The pastoral concerns of the parish are assessed, evaluated and responded to by the parish pastoral council in collaboration with the pastor and parish staff.

ü      Decisions are made by consensus after a process of discernment, study, and discussion.

ü      Ongoing formation and training of parish leaders is provided for and is informed by diocesan, national and universal church teachings.

ü      Parish leaders delegate responsibility for implementing pastoral activates to competent persons, offering them support, resources, and regular oversight.

ü      Parish personnel are recruited and remunerated according to professional standards and formal job descriptions.

ü      The pastor regularly evaluates parish personnel.

ü      Willingness to share staff with other parishes is considered a viable means of ensuring competency in ministerial leadership.

Evidence                (list the ways in which your parish currently implements specific items on the checklist)

Example: We have hired a parish nurse who will minister in four parishes in the area.

Challenges           (a list of areas that need attention)

Example: We do not have job descriptions for our janitor, secretary, or church organist.

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