Pastoral plan focus: faith, families, outreach, staffing

By Jay Nies

Faith, families, outreach and the future staffing of parishes receive special attention in Bishop John R. Gaydos’ new pastoral plan for meeting challenges and opportunities in the Catholic Church in central and northeastern Missouri. A copy of the plan, dated Pentecost 2010 and titled “Christ’s Call, Our Response,” printed in English and Spanish, is inserted in this issue of The Catholic Missourian.

In the plan, the bishop addresses four priorities he wishes to address with parishes and the diocesan staff over the next three to five years:
•FAITH: The need for lifelong faith formation for all Catholics;
•FAMILIES: The need for support for families raising children in a culture that often promotes values that are hostile to Catholic Christian values;
•REACHING OUT: The need for welcoming and reaching out, specifically reaching out to inactive and alienated Catholics; immigrants; and the unchurched; and
•PLANNING FOR PARISHES: Promoting viable Catholic parishes and schools throughout the diocese in light of changing demographics.

The priorities are a result of extensive consultation with priests, deacons, sisters, parish staff, educators, parish councils, parish finance councils, diocesan staff and a random sampling of parishioners throughout the diocese.

“The diocesan plan, ‘Christ’s Call, Our Response,’ has come to fruition as people throughout our diocese have shared, prayed and reflected on the signs of the times and the challenges facing the Catholic Church in our 38 counties,” Bishop Gaydos wrote in a letter introducing the plan. “It is my hope that, with the help of God’s grace, we can move together in realizing this vision, thus enabling us as a Local Church to further the mission entrusted to us by Christ.”

Sister Kathleen Wegman SSND, diocesan chancellor, who with Ronald Vessell, associate to the chancellor, has been facilitating the consultation process that led to the pastoral plan, said the issues in the plan have ranked consistently high among various groups throughout the consultation process.

“It’s amazing,” said Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki, pastor of Cathedral of St. Joseph parish in Jefferson City, “how united in purpose the Catholics of this diocese are behind these priorities. I have (seminary) classmates in other dioceses who are going through similar processes as they plan for the future, and they’ve had to really struggle to achieve this kind of consensus. Not here. Our priorities seem to be very consistent.”

A key to converting this unity of direction in ministry into action will be ongoing collaboration among the parishes with the support of the diocesan staff. While the bishop believes that while these priorities need to be addressed throughout the diocese, he acknowledges that there are many ways to do that. “We’re not looking at imposing some one-size-fits-all approach to addressing these priorities,” said Sr. Kathleen. “We’re looking for the parishes to tell us how they would like to address these priorities and how to help them do that.”

Sr. Kathleen noted that throughout the consultation process two points “came through loud and clear” regarding implementation of the plan:
•Local communities want time to come up with their own ideas for addressing these priorities in their parishes and desire to hear the ideas of other parishes before choosing an action; and
•They desire an integrated response from the diocese in assisting them in carrying out their action steps.

Therefore, from July through December of this year, the pastors, parish councils and staffs of each parish will be invited to discuss the Faith, Family and Reaching Out components of the plan, and to submit to the chancellor their ideas for addressing those priorities. An instructional DVD will be sent to each parish to aid in this process.

Meanwhile, the chancery staff will consider ways to organize itself in order to effectively support the parishes as they carry-out these priorities. The staff then will work on sharpening its focus on strategies and actions.

In March of 2011, ideas and needs submitted by the parishes, along with chancery staff suggestions, will be grouped and shared with all the parishes. The parishes then will select one action idea for each of the three pastoral priorities. Implementation of those plans of action is set to begin in July 2011. A review of the pastoral plan will be taken up in 2015. Meanwhile, between July 2010 and June 2011, the bishop will convene two separate task forces to work with parishes on comprehensive plans for staffing parishes and sustaining Catholic education in the diocese.

“A vibrant and viable parish,” the authors of the pastoral plan note, “is evidenced by an active prayer life, a sense of community, being of service to others, to proclaim the Gospel, and meet its financial obligations. Any study of viability should begin with a focus on the community of people, the parish, and not be considered in light of the number of clergy available.”

The process of ongoing pastoral planning in the diocese began nearly two decades ago, leading up to a diocesan assembly held in 1996. Bishop Gaydos, with extensive consultation, refined various elements that were identified through that process into a Pentecost Statement in 2001, which he revisited on Pentecost Sunday, 2003.

The main themes of the 2001 statement were: evangelization; strengthening of unity and communion within the Local Church; and promoting education that leads to spiritual maturity. While the diocese has made progress toward achieving those goals, the work must continue, especially with regard to the four priorities identified in the Pentecost 2010 plan, he said. “We must continue to walk confidently in the steps of Christ’s first followers and labor in the fields with all the energy of those who first called Him ‘Rabbi’ and ‘Master,’” said Bishop Gaydos. “His plan for salvation must be integrated into everything we do as members of His Holy Roman Catholic Church. That is His call to us as Christians, and it must be reflected visibly and wholeheartedly in our response.”

Sr. Kathleen recommended each Catholic household keep its copy of “Christ’s Call, Our Response” for reference as the next phases of its implementation get under way. The plan also will be posted on the diocesan website: www.diojeffcity.org. “We hope everyone will become familiar with the plan and look for ways to help address these pastoral priorities in their parishes, in their communities and in their homes,” she said.

Click on the graphic at the beginning of the article to see the complete "Christ's Call, Our Response."