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New Pastoral Plan Nears Completion: Fostering Stewardship & Participating in the Life of Our Parish
The Strategic Planning Committee for Our Lady of the Assumption has been working around the safety restrictions required by the COVID-19 pandemic but anticipates having a draft of the 2021-2026 Pastoral Plan set before us this month. The plan will address all areas of parish life, from increasing parish membership and addressing the needs of youth, to improving the physical plant and strengthening finances, among other goals.
Juan Yniguez has been chairing the Strategic Planning Committee, with input from the Pastoral and Finance Councils, as well as from parish staff. He has drawn from his experience preparing the previous Pastoral Plan written in 2018. Juan has again brought together committee members who are involved in our church and have a good working knowledge of the parish.
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As the committee has been working to develop the plan, they have drawn from the results of the Stewardship Committee survey taken earlier this year. When the 2018-21 plan was being developed, a parish assembly was held to gather comments. This time around, the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled the committee to develop a first draft before sharing it with the parish for critical comment.
Input from parishioners is an important part of developing the Pastoral Plan.
“Fr. Eduino is very, very big on including parishioners in anything we do,” says Carmy Baca, chair of the Pastoral Council. “We want to make sure that we have input and decide what we can do from there.” Juan thus far has provided progress reports to Fr. Eduino and the Pastoral Council via zoom. He intends to do the same shortly with the Finance Council.
Once it is safe, he will work with Father and the Pastoral Council to convene a Parish Assembly.
As the committee has been working on the plan, how it addresses parish life is a priority for discussion. The survey showed that meeting the needs of younger parishioners is important.
“In 2018 and in this cycle, one of the things we need is to find ways to interact better with more young people and young adults,” Juan says. “This is an issue for all churches, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Working with youth is very important. Discipleship creation is very important.”
Joe Selewicz, Chair of the Finance Council, notes that the parish is fortunate to have an excellent parish school with an enrollment of 300 on the campus, with opportunities there to involve youth in the parish.
Juan also wants to find ways through the plan to provide more financial support for the parish.
The concept of stewardship has been woven throughout the discussions on the new Pastoral Plan.
“We all are about commitment to help each other,” Carmy says. “We all are living it or we wouldn’t be doing this.”
“Under the Pastoral Plan, stewardship is being written into the goals and objectives,” Juan says. “Through the work of the Stewardship Committee, the parish is striving to better understand what stewardship is all about. In the coming weeks, this will be looked at further. Father has always been very good about stewardship, and I agree — stewardship permeates all of what we do in the parish. But it involves other issues, such as, do we pray with our family? It’s not just about money.”
The parish budget naturally figures in the Pastoral Plan. The Strategic Planning Committee is committed to studying the work of the Finance Council to determine how the budget will impact what the Pastoral Plan covers. At this point, there appear to be no large differences between what the budget includes and the recommendations in the Pastoral Plan.
Juan adds: “We’re fortunate the various advisory committees stay in touch, and we avoid big surprises.”
