Diocese of Charlottetown

Guidelines for Pastoral Planning

Diocesan Pastoral Initiatives Council

prepared December, 2008

From the earliest days of the Church that we read about in the Acts of the Apostles, the people of faith who were able to discover the presence of God in their midst. Pope John XXIII recognized this movement of the Spirit when he called the second Vatican Council and prayed for the Spirit to blow through the Church so that we would be renewed. So today in response to Bishop Fougere's invitation we gather with the anticipation that we can know God's call for us in our own time and place.

What is Pastoral Planning?

Pastoral planning is like a road map for evangelization. It is first and foremost about our relationship with God. It is a plan to use the gifts, talents, assets and resources available to the parish to strengthen the involvement of parishioners in the life, mission and ministry of the Church. A good way to do this is to ask the questions: "When have I been ministered to and by whom?" and, "When have I ministered to someone else and how?"  The central task is coordinating the gifts of the parishioners in the parish. We are asking ourselves the question, "How do we want to be Church?"

Why do we do it?

We do it because our belief in God calls us to be able to transform ourselves and build the Kingdom of God with those around us. Parishioners are called to share the responsibility of the entire life of the parish with the guidance and care of a pastor. We are called to minister to each other and the community around us.

Who does it?

There are really two parts: the planning and the doing. The planning process is guided by the pastor and coordinated by the Parish Pastoral Council -PPC which the essential consultation to the priest. Where several parishes are collaborating in pastoral unit there needs to be an area Pastoral Council. Following the adage that ‘many hands make light work' means that there should be a large enough group of people involved in different parts of the plan. On the doing part, the events and activities should involve a larger number of parishioners. The positive energy will encourage more people to get more involved. We also begin to recognize and affirm many actions that are already taking place in the parish.

Some basic principles of pastoral planning:

•   Pastoral planning is an action of faith, so God remains the centre of the pastoral plan.

•   It sets out actions, events and strategies for people to deepen a relationship with Christ: individually, as a member of a parish and as a global citizen.

•   It is a renewal of faith for those involved, so it must be done with prayer and reflection. This means that those who are developing the plans are being formed as catechists and evangelizers. They will be able to respond to the ‘why's, how's, and what's' from a faith perspective and in doing this they share their faith.

•   It deepens the sense of community.

•   The pastoral plan is a support to the priest in his ministry and management of the parish.

•   There are three basic elements of the pastoral life of the parish: liturgy and sacraments; faith formation and teaching of doctrine; justice and service.

•   We cannot do everything all the time so setting priorities helps to give order and guidance to the plan and allows us to use resources wisely.

•   Care of our church buildings and temporal assets normally includes a Property and Finance Committee P/FC. The PPC and P/FC work collaboratively so that the spiritual and temporal parts of the parish are cared for, developed and renewed. We cannot make decisions about buildings and land without considering the opportunity costs on pastoral programs nor vice versa.

•   Not every aspect of the pastoral plan will be the same from area to area. It is okay to do adult faith formation differently than youth ministry or catechetics.

•   Good pastoral planning includes good stewardship of the available resources and on-going  leadership development.

•   These are guidelines only and each parish will use and/or adapt them as necessary.

Pastoral planning process

Step 1. Gathering information

Ask and answer the questions: 

• what the ministry is; 

• who is involved, ie. who are the leaders, who is the target group; 

• what are we doing in the parish or what have we done most recently; 

• who is currently involved/who should be involved); 

• use the questions on when and how you have ministered or when you have been ministered to. 

• For ideas on pastoral ministry see the areas in pastoral planning (Appendix A) in this document and consult the diocesan website at www.dioceseofcharlottetown.com for useful links.

Step 2. Identifying expectations, priorities and opportunities, gifts/talents/resources 

Ask and answer the questions:

• what do we want from the identified areas of ministry; 

• who will be involved and how; 

• what is the benefit to those involved in this ministry; 

• what is the benefit to the parish; 

• what is high or immediate priority/why and what is lower or long-term priority and why; 

• are there events/activities and resources that we could use that we aren't currently using; what resources are available from the unit/neighbouring parishes/diocese;

• who is to be responsible and what kind of support do they need. 

In this area we pay attention to aspects such as: how leaders are formed and supported; how volunteers are supported and acknowledged; what kinds of job/task descriptions are required; who are the people in the parish who could be invited to participate and what role would they have; etc. Developing short job descriptions and outlining tasks is helpful.

Step 3. Developing an action plan 

The plan should be clear in terms of VISION - SKILLS - RESOURCES - ACTIONS - INCENTIVE. Based on the preceding steps the action plan is developed including:

•   specific goals and tasks are named (vision); 

•   people are invited to share interests, talents, gifts (skills);

•   resources are identified and budgets are developed (resources); 

•   a timeline is drawn up with specific realistic actions (actions); 

•   it affirms a sense of Christian purpose and responsibility while building up the parish (incentive).  

Experience has shown that for successful pastoral actions they need to be manageable in terms of human resources, financial resources, parish expectation, timelines, etc.

Step 4. Implement the plan;

The pastoral plan is implemented according to step 3. The area Pastoral Council or the overseeing body needs to be in contact and receive feedback and input from the teams that are working on the plan at different stages in case people run into roadblocks, frustrations etc. This is also a good way to hear the good news as the plan unfolds.

Step 5. Evaluate, evaluate, assess, assess 

Every event/activity worth doing is worth evaluating and it should be done all the time. These evaluations and assessments will guide the parish into the follow-up or next steps. What did we learn? Should we do it again or differently? Can we identify the presence of the Spirit in this work.Appendix A

Appendix A:  Areas for pastoral planning

This is not a comprehensive list. There are many areas of ministry in our parishes and many gifts available to be used. Please use the following to help generate ideas, priorities and opportunities.

a.  Catechetics for children and teens

Programming addresses the faith formation of children and teenagers. It should also include some aspects for family catechesis. Also important is the training and support to the catechists. This generally works well with a developed and dedicated group of volunteers but the plan should address ways to receive feedback from catechists as well as opportunities to bring new people in.

b.  Youth

Youth are part of the Church of today but are a particular part of our community with their own needs and gifts. The goal of youth ministry is for young people to develop a relationship with God in three areas: individually through fostering a personal relationship with Christ; as a member of a parish through participating in appropriate activities; and as a citizen of the world through actions of justice, service, peace and non-violence. These can happen together. There should be a team of people (even 3-4) who can develop some ideas in this area and feed this back to the Pastoral Council.

c.  Organization of pastoral associates 

For parishes which have or are considering PPAs. The pastor will always direct the work of the PPAs but some consideration should be given by the Pastoral Council to the ministry they are doing, what the priorities are, is there need for further formation, etc. The Property and Finance Council should be aware of the questions around expenses such as salaries, benefits, professional development, conferences as well as costs related to particular ministries.

d.  Pastoral visitation

Outreach in the community to sick, shut-ins, Catholics who are not active in the community, new comers, those that are grieving due to death, sickness, separation or divorce. For example across the diocese of Charlottetown we can see that many Catholics who choose not to attend Mass regularly still attach importance to the sacraments and live their lives reflecting much of the values of the Church. This pastoral plan considers how to reach to these people as well.

e.  Liturgies

We are generally very good in our celebration of Eucharist and the sacraments but there is also liturgy of the hours, prayer companions, and non-sacramental prayer. i.e. rosaries and devotional prayers, missions, special lenten or Advent liturgies. Pastoral council can ask what kinds of prayers, devotions and/or special liturgies that parishioners would like to have available. The PPC should also be asking who has the gifts to lead this or what kind of training might be useful or required, when these could happen

f.  Sacramental preparation and follow-up

There should be a clear plan on how people are prepared for all the sacraments from baptism to the sacrament of the sick. Being clear on who is receiving which sacraments, who is responsible for preparation, what kind of training/formation they should have.  Who does baptism prep, marriage prep, first communion, first reconciliation etc. How would this work between already existing programs in other churches?

g.  Adult faith formation

What are the opportunities for adults to learn more about their faith, to share their experiences and understanding, for the parish to reach out to parishioners who only sometimes (or never) participate in parish life.

h.  Justice and charity

Identify the issues of justice and charity as related to the parish or pastoral area.  This involves some social analysis and exploration of Church teaching and traditions. Good places to start here are on issues of poverty, peace and non-violence, environment or areas like these. (St. Vincent de Paul, Development and Peace, Latin American Mission Program,

i.  Family Life

Identify specific elements of family life that can be addressed by the parish. One key element is that any family life activity has to be appropriate and engage a whole family (even if parts of it are geared to particular age/stage groups). There are very good ‘whole family catechesis' resources, but also the liturgical year provides some good times to do this and youth ministry activities can often be expanded to include families.

j.  Ministry to seniors

As people age, children leave home, work life transitions into retirement, people leave homes for seniors residences, and health and economic security issues are more important.  The parish can look at who are the seniors in our parish, what are their specific needs, how can we ensure that these seniors continue to be part of the life of the parish?

k.  Institutional Ministry

Identify the institutions in the parish. How do we minister to those in the institutions?

l.  Parish Social Life

Identify and plan social activities where people come together just to enjoy each other's company. This can include parish picnics, card plays, talent nights, sharing the harvest, etc. Make use of holidays or the liturgical calendar where appropriate like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's, Easter, opening of fishing season, saints' days, etc

Appendix B:  Areas for Property and Finance Committees

Any pastoral plan has to have a sound financial plan. This is a short list of some activities that will likely need to be discussed in the context of a pastoral plan. There is a challenge for Property and Finance Committees to talk about financial capacity and concerns of the parish/unit and the impact on supporting pastoral programs.

a.  Administration and financial planning.

This includes staffing, operations, capital expenses and generally all revenue and expense projections, etc. Budgets reflect our priorities. As Catholics our pastoral priority is the celebration of Eucharist as the central action of faith. This celebration happens within the context of the other pastoral actions of the Church. So the budget should be a balance of providing for the care of our priests while ensuring sufficient resources for expenses associated with the celebration of liturgies and the sacraments and other pastoral programs that the parish wants and is willing to support. These programs include areas such as faith formation, care for the poor and marginalized other activities and the appropriate care of our buildings and properties. Comparing relative amounts in these areas will reflect the priorities of the parish.

b.  Building use, maintenance, improvements and operations.

The parish/unit should approach a discussion of all the different buildings that belong to the parish/parishes. Some planning should be done to use and maintain those that are required, suggest alternatives to those that may no longer be needed, look for ways to reduce operational expenses and to have our buildings reflect our commitment to care for creation by being responsible environmental stewards.

c.  Rectory or pastoral accommodation.

The goal of the unit is to maintain adequate housing for the pastor. The property/financial plan for the parish/unit should reflect the interest from all the parishes in maintaining this residence. Currently many of the proposed units have more than one rectory. Discussions and recommendations should reflect both the first priority of the priests residence and then the other priorities of maintenance and operations for other buildings. Consideration for sale of rectories or other buildings should include some financial planning for the future. Normally a parish should not divest itself of an asset to simply cover operational expenses.

d.  Cemetery planning and maintenance.

All of the cemeteries in a parish are the responsibility of the parish. When parishes are working as a unit then cemetery care and maintenance should be coordinated through the whole unit as is feasible.