It’s been a while since I really talked about church business in these spaces. Things are happening at the parish. With Father Tim as the new pastor, many in the parish have been awakened to a new potential for many areas of our parish activity. This is good but it can also be a challenge for me and for the parish.We have a planning process in place which is designed to examine what is going and see how it could be improved and to create plans to improve it. Our planning process doesn’t really have a mechanism to look at things from a higher level and longer-range. What do we want the parish to look like in five years? In ten years? What will our parishioners be like in 10 years from now? How will our buildings and grounds need to be configured to meet the needs of these people? What will our finances be like? What will happen to the surrounding parishes with the priest shortage and Archdiocesan financial crunch?
There are so many questions that we need to look at to the best possible stewards of our resources. So how does a parish with so many people and so many different activities and interests discuss their collective future? The process should yield more people who understand and appreciate what is and will happen with the parish but at the same time there are people who want to move forward quickly and not lose the opportunity to incorporate some of Father Tim’s excellent insights on how we can do better. Should the process be quick and involve fewer people or be longer and get more information from the perspective or more parishioners and even non-parishioners (why aren’t many Catholics active?).
And what happens with the current plans and planning process when everyone is aware that there may be a different context in the near future? Do you stop making plans because they may become obsolete with the insights we gain when we look at longer-term realities? Should everyone stop what they are working on and work to map out the five and ten year plan first and then pick up the annual planning.
The questions abound and the tasks ahead seem daunting (at least from my perspective). However, I am very confident and pleased with all of the great people who are involved and while it seems messy at this point, given the human resources the parish has, it will be done and done well.
Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Tags: church management, economy of salvation, parish administration, strategic planning
