CALLED TO BE CHURCH
ON MONDAY, JANUARY 8, 2007 THE CORE TEAMS OF THE SIX PARISHES IN OUR
LOCAL PLANNING GROUP MET TO BEGIN THE
18-MONTH PROCESS OF DISCERNING HOW
BEST TO INVIGORATE THE
FOCUSED ON THE QUESTION POSED BY
JESUS, “WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?” THE
PARTICIPANTS WERE ASKED TO CONSIDER A NUMBER
OF AREAS. THOSE AREAS AND THE RESPONSES ELICITED, ARE
SUMMARIZED BELOW.
Bishop Hubbard issued the following
commission to the 39 Local Planning Groups and 17 Deaneries of our Diocese:
Commission
Prayerfully
discern how we will invigorate the mission and ministry of Jesus in the Roman
Catholic Diocese
of
Method
● Local Planning Groups will meet monthly to
develop a plan with specific recommendations for the local church
● The Core Team must seek input consistently
from At-Large participants and parishioners and be attentive to
on-going communication with same
● The Core Team will arrive at decisions
through general consensus. Voting is not an acceptable method for this
process
● Each Deanery should develop recommendations
that recognize the special needs or circumstances of the deanery and,
at the same time, complement those of the
Local Planning Groups.
● Local Planning Groups will submit their
recommendations and a specific plan and timeline for implementation in
June, 2008. Also, each deanery will submit its
complementary recommendations to the Bishop by
Those gathered discussed the
following questions:
What is your understanding of this charge?
a. All of our parishes are about the mission and
ministry of Jesus. We are all one.
b. We need to recognize our commonalities and
find ways to continue them in whatever changes we make.
c. We need to joyfully recognize the energy that
we have together now and use that energy for the good of the area.
d. We need to commit ourselves to worship God in
truth, evangelize and teach. We need to
proclaim the Gospel of
Christ and serve our brothers and sisters.
e. We must respect and trust each other. We need to respect the Bishop in giving us
this charge; it is not a top-down process.
f. Contrary to the Bishop’s message, it is
top-down. The process is set down for
us.
g. Offering fewer daily masses will create
larger groups attending that will generate more energy.
What gifts and talents do we need within this gathered community to
achieve our goals?
a. Honesty with each other
b. Openness
c. Willingness to share thoughts and opinions
d. Listening
e. Willingness to compromise
f. Patience
g. Respect for differences
h. Empathy
i. Recognizing that we have artificial
boundaries
j. Empowerment
k. Faith
l. Understanding
Each parish was asked to complete
and share a parish profile – and overview of who were are in terms of
demographics, population,
ministry and parochial date. Those gathered were asked to discuss the
following question:
After studying the parish profiles, what are some things that stand
out?
a. There is much overlapping of ministries and
services
b. Attendance at weekend Liturgies is down
c. There are too many Liturgies for the number
of people
d. Staffs are large, with replication of
services
e. There is a decreases in the Caucasian
population
f. There are more funerals than baptisms
g. The median age of all parishes (45.5) is
probably lower than the reality
h. The number of available priests is decreasing
What do we need to do before our next meeting?
a. We need to share this discussion with others
in our parishes
b. We need to publish a summary of the
discussion in parish bulletins
c. We need to speak and think positively about
the discussion
d. We need to come to the next meeting, ready to
share our thoughts with open hearts
What’s Next?
The
Local Planning group will meet again on
Please
continue to keep the Planning Group and the entire Pastoral Planning Process in
your prayers.