|
Diocese
Preparing for Pastoral Planning
By Msgr. Vincent J. Grimalia, V.G.
In a Pastoral Letter published in
July of 2004, Bishop Martino sketched a
general outline for a pastoral plan for the
Diocese of Scranton that he hopes to be
developed over the coming years. He made an
urgent request: “I also ask you to pray as
we begin to plan for the spiritual and
pastoral renewal of our Diocese …The
spiritual and pastoral renewal of the
Diocese of Scranton will mean that we need
to look at every one of our structures,
i.e., our parishes, schools, institutions,
buildings and programs. Are these entities
the right ones for the 21st
century? Are these entities currently
prepared to announce the Good News of Jesus
Christ as Jesus intends them to do?”
The Bishop called for a year of
prayer, and explained the need for uniform
directives for Parish Finance Councils,
Parish Pastoral Councils, formation for
clergy and people to serve on these
councils, the development of an instrument
for parish self study and a process for
pastoral planning.
This fall, uniform Directives for
Parish Finance Councils were developed and
the first training sessions were conducted
for more than 800 people and priests of the
Diocese of Scranton. A second finance
training session will be scheduled in the
spring to assist members of finance councils
to develop parish budgets.
The Diocese is about to enter into
another phase of preparing for the pastoral
plan described by Bishop Martino last year.
Recently, Dr. Robert Miller of the Pastoral
Planning Office of the Archdiocese of
Philadelphia shared his experiences and
facilitated a series of meetings with Bishop
Martino, Bishop Dougherty, Diocesan vicars
and leaders of various Diocesan offices.
Dr. Miller has served for 15 years
as director of pastoral planning for the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and is a
consultant to dioceses through the country.
He is also a member of his own parish
pastoral council and has practical
experiences with its operations. This
meeting was the beginning of a new
conversation on pastoral planning in the
Diocese of Scranton. Others will follow.
Dr. Miller made an important
distinction between pastoral planning that
is focused on the mission of the Church and
operational decisions that are driven by a
variety of immediate needs or emergency
situations, e.g., shortage of clergy,
financial and facilities concerns,
population issues, etc. He said it is
important to define and explain the
conditions for parish restructuring that
will be based on operational decisions,
noting that there will always be situations
where these kinds of decisions will have to
be made by Diocesan and local
administrators. But, he emphasized, these
operational decisions must never be confused
with pastoral planning.
His description of pastoral
planning is “a prayerful and participative
process through which a parish characterizes
itself as a particular community of faith by
developing its own parish mission statement;
assessing its strengths and resources,
limitations and needs; making
recommendations to the pastor concerning
establishment of priorities and goals; and
devising ways to accomplishing its
mission.”
Pastoral planning helps to answer
the questions: Who are we as a parish? What
are we called to be and to do? How can we
best fulfill our mission? How can we better
express and foster communion?
The parish must reflect the
universal mission of the Church. By adapting
the Diocesan Mission Statement, it will
develop a parish mission statement that
speaks to the local culture and concerns of
the community and the parish.
The Diocesan Mission Statement,
which was inspired by Acts 2:42-47, notes that we “share in the mission
which Jesus Christ has entrusted to the One,
Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church … and
are called to witness by grace to the
Kingdom of God so as to promote a culture of
life, justice and peace. ”
The Diocesan Mission Statement
focuses on the Eucharist as the source and
summit of life and evangelization as the
mission that is the Church.
The Diocesan Mission Statement and
the Parish Mission Statement will focus the
functioning of the Parish Finance Council,
the Parish Pastoral Council and Parish
Pastoral Planning. It will raise and answer
questions of identity, communion and
mission. It will help a parish answer how it
will accomplish its mission through an
analysis of its resources: spiritual, human,
financial, facilities, etc.
Pastoral planning, according to
Dr. Miller, “encourages the fullest
collaboration of clergy, religious and laity
… Pastoral planning increases clarity
about the mission and priorities of the
parish, affects the way in which the
resources of the parish are used, and
encourages the participation and support of
the parish members. Ideally, pastoral
planning is an ongoing activity within each
parish.”
Pastoral planning and Parish
Pastoral Council must be rooted in prayer
and include study and reflection on relevant
Church documents. The Parish Pastoral
Council will work in cooperation and
collaboration with the Parish Finance
Council.
Bishop Martino has requested that
a period of prayer at the beginning of a
Parish Pastoral Council meeting be followed
by time designated for study or reflection.
Dr. Miller likewise echoed the importance of
being rooted in prayer and commitment to
ongoing study. These two activities will
keep the focus on the mission of the Church,
Diocese and parish. If a person cannot make
a commitment to prayer and study, their
membership on the Council will either be
less effective than it could be, or could
seriously compromise the functioning of the
council or the pastoral planning process.
Rooted in prayer and focused
through study of Church documents and
reflection on the mission statement, a
Parish Pastoral Council will be prepared to
conduct a parish self study.
As Dr. Miller explained, this is
“a means of gathering information about
the parish and its resources, analyzing the
information, evaluating how the parish is
carrying out its mission and recommending
actions which will strengthen and renew the
parish.”
Eventually, through this process,
each parish in the Diocese of Scranton will
experience renewal.
Parish self study will focus on
the parish as communion and mission. It will
study various themes: Unity, Holiness,
Catholicity, Apostolicity, Word, Worship,
Community, Service, Witness, Stewardship,
Vocations, etc.
The Diocesan Mission Statement
also directs our attention to promote a
culture of life, justice and peace. It will
be important for a Parish Pastoral Council
to learn how to analyze local culture, so
that the parish can appropriately evangelize
the culture and people of the community.
Without an understanding of the local
culture, evangelization will be too generic,
and lacking specificity will not effectively
evangelize the local community culture.
Dr. Miller shared his experience
that leadership on both the Diocesan and
local levels are critical to the success of
the process. Diocesan leadership will define
the general principles for pastoral
planning, and identify situations where
parish restructuring will occur through
operational decision rather than as a result
of pastoral planning.
Dr. Miller stressed repeatedly the
importance of making a proper distinction,
definition and description of pastoral
planning as contrasted with operational
decisions for restructuring because of
emergency situations or other factors. He
noted that when operational decisions are
made for restructuring it is important to
explain who made the decision, what was the
basis for the decision, and what is not
negotiable.
The Parish Mission Statement and
parish self study will lead to pastoral
planning because important questions will be
raised during the parish self study: What is
the purpose of a particular parish in this
area? What do we need to be Church here?
What do we need to accomplish the mission of
the Church? What help does our parish need
for pastoral planning?
Dr. Miller recommended that the
principles of adult learning and group
facilitators be used in training members of
the Parish Pastoral Councils. Pastors and
members of their council will need to study
Church documents and learn how to practice a
new style of leadership and relationship.
This will take time, patience, prayer and
training. Without this commitment,
successful pastoral planning will not occur.
There will be “bumps in the road,” he
noted, but it will all be worth it as the
Diocese and parishes prayerfully and
intentionally work toward renewal and
restructuring for more effective pastoral
councils and pastoral planning.
|
