This is time of great change in the Archdiocese of Boston and there are men and women in all parishes endeavoring to learn about the options and techniques of organizing the work of their faith communities. We thought it would be helpful to pass on some information about parish planning, a field of study and research that has grown tremendously in the last twenty years as parishes throughout the United States have had to make serious decisions about accomplishing their missions in a different way. St. John’s, fortunately, has had a small group of dedicated people working on pastoral planning for several years. They have accumulated a lot of knowledge (and a number of books) about the process which should be valuable as we embark on the next phase of the journey.
Five major national Catholic organizations have come together to create one large “umbrella” agency, Emerging Models of Pastoral Leadership, which has a terrific website and regularly publishes an assortment of small reports and booklets. The five organizations are: National Association for Lay Ministry, The Conference for Pastoral Planning and Council Development, National Association of Church Personnel Administrators, National Catholic Young Adult Ministry Association and National Federation of Priest Councils. Each of them have a good website and they all publish reports and papers filled with recommendations, ideas and the experiences of parishes.
On the book shelves on the lower level of the church there are several dozen items of interest to those seeking a better understanding of how people throughout the country are responding to the challenges of Catholic parish life in the 21st century. A sampling of the titles includes: “Pastoring Multiple Parishes”, “The Next Generation of Pastoral Leaders: What the Church Needs to Know”, “The Changing Face of the Church”, “Keeping the Covenant: Taking Parish to the Next Level”, “From Maintenance to Mission: Evangelization and the Revitalization of the Parish” and “Dreams and Visions: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation”.
Finally, everyone involved in parish life should be familiar with what remains the basic “charge” for lay people in the Catholic Church, a small booklet published five years ago by the Conference of Catholic Bishops: Co-Workers in the Vineyard of the Lord; A Resource for Guiding the Development of Lay Ecclesial Ministry.
St. John’s Faith Formation Commission: Patrick Blomberg, Linda Colozzi, Marcia Grondin, Pat Kelleher (chair), John Salvati, John Stewart, Anne Wachtmeister, Sister Evelyn Ronan (advisor)
Email: AFFC@stjohnwellesley.org
