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Why, What, and How
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The Current Reality
The “WHY”The Results
The “WHAT”How we succeed
The “HOW”- To more effectively proclaim the Gospel for the salvation of souls.
- The Diocese is at a crossroads of the potential that lies before us or maintaining the way things have always been until we become extinct
- Increased diversity in our Catholic populations
- Aging of our traditional Catholic populations
- Decreasing attendance in most, but not all, of our parishes
- Broad and healthy Catholic school system with slightly decreasing enrollment, increasing costs, and increasing pressure on parish finances
- Too many Sunday liturgies, in too many places, too sparsely attended
- Dramatic reduction in availability of priests at the parish level due mostly to retirements, even with an average of 1 ordination annually
- Parish culture and practices reveal both collaboration and competition, of operating in abundance and scarcity
A. Healthy & Vibrant Diocese - Increasing clarity of Catholic identity and beliefs
- Increasing vocations to priesthood and diaconate grounded in pastoral planning
- Financial stability and growth
- Uniting in Heart 2030 Diocesan Pastoral Plan with a 10 Year Comprehensive Financial Model
- Minimum of 500 people attending weekend Mass per pastorate in order to better evangelize
- Increasing registered households
- > than 50 % of households attending Sunday liturgy
- > than 80 % of households engaging in stewardship
- Robust and energized evangelization better effected by pastorate model and stronger leadership
- Robust and vibrant parish ministry by both clergy and laity
- Financial and facilities health and stability
- 3 Year Parish Pastoral Plans within a 10 Year Comprehensive Financial Model
- 3 Year Catholic School Strategic Plans within a 10 Year Comprehensive Financial Model in collaboration with the Office of Catholic Schools
- Encourage collaboration in pastoral planning process for Greater Lafayette area and Hamilton/Boone Counties
- Maximizing our priests’ strengths by placing them in better roles
- Building stronger priestly fraternity
- Co-responsibility – Parish team leadership models led by our strongest pastors
- Leverage the role of the Pastorate Director of Operations
- Moderate to high level of match of sacramental and pastoral loading to priest strengths
- Average work week of 55 hours with delegation, not abdication, of management responsibilities
- Engaged in daily prayer, reflection, and spiritual health and development
- Ongoing professional growth in capacities and skills
- Pastor and leadership formation with monthly check points
- Ongoing clergy formation
- We journey into the Uniting in Heart 2030 Pastoral Plan by disposing ourselves to being united in the Heart of Jesus Christ so that we might grow stronger in our discipleship
- We honor and live by Canon or civil law, diocesan policy and protocols
- To develop Parish Pastoral Plans with no more than 3 Sunday Liturgies per priest
- We make decisions based upon data, research and analysis
- We commit ourselves to the Uniting in Heart 2030 Pastoral Plan rather than working to undermine or weaken the Bishop’s Pastoral Plan
- We seek to unite with each other in the Heart of Jesus Christ rather than to stand in isolation from other priests and parish leadership groups
Download the Why, What, and How as PDF.
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