Final Draft of Local Pastoral Plan

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As in many areas of our lives, if we don't set goals for our parishes or at least envision what direction we want our parishes to develop, it can be easy for us to stagnate. More importantly, if we are not looking for continual improvement in our parishes and the way we minister, there is a good chance we are not fully following Jesus' command in the Great Commission (above) to "go and make disciples of all nations...." Jesus is calling us to be continually looking for ways to grow as disciples ourselves and to propose (not impose) our faith to others. Our Church has much to offer to help and guide us in this mission, so as a collaborative we are looking for more ways we can foster this spiritual growth.

As I announced at each Mass last weekend, the Plan Writing Team has completed the final draft of our Local Pastoral Plan which we are hopeful can help us to do just that. This team, made up of representatives of various parish leadership groups and "at-large" members from both parishes, has participated in several training workshops, taken parishioner input through the Disciple Maker Index (DMI) Survey and the Collaborative Pastoral Council, and prayerfully worked together through this yearlong process of drafting a plan that will guide our collaborative of parishes for at least the next three years. This plan takes the principles of "Disciples in Mission" (the pastoral plan for our archdiocese) and applies them to the specific circumstances of our local parishes. It sets forth a purpose, values, & vision, along with new priorities and goals that will help us build on our strengths and see improvement in the effectiveness of our efforts. Once this plan is approved by Cardinal Seán, summaries and the full text will be shared with all of you, both in print and on our websites.

Our collaborative is indebted to the following for their countless hours serving alongside me on our Plan Writing Team: CPC reps Steve Rolfe and Mike Toomey; PFCs rep Josh Person; Pastoral Team reps Bob Collins, Michelle DeLorenzo, and Maggie Hoagland; and at-large reps Doug Berry, Lou Bragaw, and Michelle Melanson. I can't adequately express my gratitude to these women and men from both parishes whose diverse experiences and spiritualities did not prevent us from coming to consensus through prayer, respect for one another, and a shared desire to see our parishes thrive and people draw closer to Christ.

There is no such thing as a perfect plan, but we are confident because we have prayed for the guidance of the Holy Spirit in writing it. I believe that if we all prayerfully entrust the implementation of this project to God's care and actively strive to cooperate with the guidance of the Spirit, it will bear fruit!