Two Step Process for Pastoral Planning and Parish Profile (Needs Assessment) Process Donna L. Ciangio, OP Church Leadership Consultation West Caldwell, NJ

Parish Priorities Parish Priorities To help people personally encounter Christ and live as disciples bringing the Good News and reaching out to all so that society may be transformed We do this through WORD, WORSHIP, COMMUNITY and SERVICE

Update and Evaluate Parishes need to Update and Evaluate Ministries, Programs, Goals, Mission Statement every few years to see if they are reaching people and are effective

St. Joseph Parish What Do We Want To Accomplish Most This Year? Communicate the primary mission to parish members. Let people know what is motivating the decisions that are being made and where our primary energies are being concentrated. Re-write the Parish Mission statement to make it a dynamic, guiding force. Encountering Christ through the Sunday Liturgy Is our Liturgy engaging? Do we need an evaluation of our Liturgy? What things could be changed to make Liturgy more meaningful to all people?

Pastoral Staff and PPC Goals First Goal: Concentration on Sunday Worship Second Goal: Engaging Parishioners 1. Evaluate the formation process for all sacraments, since the sacraments can be a way to reach the disengaged. 2. Evaluate the parish registration process. It needs to be more than just filling out a form. It needs to engage and touch the hearts of the people.

Third Goal: John 10:10 - An invitation to a more abundant life in Christ. How do we accomplish that in our Church and Parish? We need to offer a sense of welcome and hospitality. (Evangelization): Sacraments, religion classes in school and through the Religious Ed. Program. It is really a common program. Sacramental preparation, Cornerstone retreats, Youth Group, etc. can all be instrumental in leading people back to the faith. The process may start at Sunday worship but it needs to continue throughout the week in all areas of the parish.

Fourth Goal: Greater sense of financial stewardship to the parish and ownership of the parish by the people. We need to foster a sense of pride in our parish community. Think about a Parish Pride slogan. Fifth Goal: Building the community of St. Joseph Parish. This is accomplished through staff building and creating a happy and vital staff persona.

Key to Involving People Inclusion = Ownership = Commitment

Create a Planning Team This team will be responsible for Publicity about a Survey, gatherings and Parish assembly Create a theme Develop and share your timeline with Parishioners Information Gathering Compile Information –By survey or gatherings of people Parish Assembly Follow up This is great for the Parish Pastoral Council to Organize

PART ONE Information Gathering Find out what people think about their parish Use simple survey – at Mass, and through all ministries and groups that gather Town Hall type gatherings  You can gather ministry groups and ANY group meeting such as parents for sacramental prep, etc.  Have parishioners gather in groups of five to answer the survey questions. Responses should be decided by the group, listed on newsprint, and reported back with a short summary by one group member.  Papers can be hung around the room so all can see.

Parish Survey  List 3 things you like about our parish  List 3 things you would like to see happen at our parish:  Is there a particular ministry or area of parish life you would like to be involved in? Spanish and English

ST. Rose Parish Survey Check:Mass you usually attend: Saturday 5PM ___ Sunday 7:30 AM___ 9:00 AM ___ 10:30AM ___ 12 Noon ____ Check:Your Age Group: 80+ yrs _____79-59 ______ ______43-23 ______ 22 & Under ______

Compile Information Compile Information After completing information gathering, compile the answers in each area of strength (what we like) and need (what we would like to see happen) in priority order. What we like… Welcoming 68 Family involvement 66 Preaching 55 Music 48 What we would like to see happen… Stronger Youth Group 45 Adult faith formation32 Retreats for busy people10

The most often mentioned will be placed at the top of the list. You might weight it with the number of times it was mentioned. For example: “Our parish is a welcoming community.”(36) WORD “We support our community food pantry.”(32) SERVICE “Our lectors need more training”(15) WORSHIP

Then categorize the responses according to the pastoral area. For example: Word, Worship, Community, Service and Leadership (administration) Publish all of the responses under those headings in the bulletin so parishioners see what others have said.

PART TWO - Parish Assembly Materials Needed:  newsprint (flipchart) pads  markers and tape for each table  papers with the need responses (what we would like to see happen) for each area of WORD, WORSHIP, COMMUNITY, SERVICE, LEADERSHIP WORDWORSHIPCOMMUNITYSERVICE

 Invite parishioners to the parish assembly to discuss the compiled and weighted need responses from the Information Gathering. Ask them to RSVP ahead of time so that you have some sense of numbers attending. You can require that all heads of ministry attend and invite all parish ministers.  Arrange the room with round tables if possible. If you have only rectangular tables that is fine. (The groups will need writing space.)

 Divide people into groups of five or six and assign a facilitator for each group. The role of the facilitator is to keep the group focused and moving.  Each group will have an area of parish ministry suggestions to discuss.  Prepare a nametag for each person that is already labeled with one of the five areas of WORD, WORSHIP, COMMUNITY, SERVICE, LEADERSHIP.  Pre-arrange groups to mix up people and ministries. You don’t want to put lectors in WORD, or choir members in WORSHIP, etc. You want people to be broad in their discussion and think about the big picture of the parish.

 Make signs for each table for each area of WORD, WORSHIP, COMMUNITY, SERVICE, LEADERSHIP. You may have several tables of each group depending on your size. Each person will go to a table that corresponds to their nametag.  Ask the people to look over the identified areas of pastoral need (what we would like to see happen).  Ask them to combine like answers (this will make the list more compact) then decide which are their top 5 that should be tackled immediately, and 5 which should be worked on in the future.

If you want to go further and let everyone focus the lists even more:  give each person 5 colored dots of each color – green, yellow, red (available at the dollar store, Stapes or Office Depot).  Each person can place a dot (or all of one of their dot colors if they are passionate about something that needs to be done) their on their top 5 parish priorities.  They will go to the newsprint papers and place their dots in the following categories: –Green means “start now” –Yellow means “do it later” –Red means “don’t put energy into it”  After the dots are placed on the newsprint, invite everyone to walk around and look at the papers and the priorities to be tended to.

Next Steps The pastor or core team will outline what the next steps are. For example, the parish pastoral council and parish leadership will take the priorities and begin to make a plan to implement necessary changes or plans to move things forward. They will set specific pastoral goals in each area, ways to reach those goals, a timeline, and who will take the lead to see that they are put in place and achieved by a certain date.

Evaluation Do this at each table as a group… What did you most like about the Parish Assembly? What is a word that best describes your experience today. What should happen following this assembly?

Sending Prayer Thank everyone and send them off with a blessing or attend Mass together.

Pastoral Planning  The ultimate purpose of pastoral planning is to advance the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the parish community through a systematic process of assessing needs, establishing specific pastoral goals and implementing a plan of action.  Developing greater commitment and unity among parishioners by encouraging them to participate in determining the direction of the parish and to have a greater sense of responsibility in carrying it out.

 Establishing long-term goals builds a sense of common purpose as people see a direction for the future of the parish.  Develops focus and direction. Pastoral planning adds clarity, direction and purpose to the administration of ministry.

Pentecost happened at a meeting Ron Rolheiser, OMI

When you don’t know what else to do, keep meeting Pentecost happened at a meeting We are in the upper room