BY DOMINICK ALBANO
CREATIN G T H E PA S TO R A L PLA N As the pastoral planning initiative Beacons of Light moves forward, Catholic Telegraph writers are meeting with its leaders, including Father Jan Schmidt, to bring you the most up-to-date and accurate information on what is happening, describe how decisions will be made and provide clear descriptions of what to expect. This article series on Beacons of Light will appear in every issue of The Catholic Telegraph. Please visit beaconsaoc.org to sign up for the free monthly Beacons Update newsletter. “If we are to be the Church as Christ intends, we must understand that ‘status quo’ can have no place in our vocabulary.” – Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr, “Letter to the Faithful Concerning Beacons of Light” This powerful quote from Archbishop Schnurr’s July letter concerning Beacons of Light has ringing implications for our archdiocese. It also gives great insight into why Beacons of Light is happening and why it is happening now. The process of looking at where we are, where we have been and where we are going is not new to the Beacons of Light core team. It was the first step of the journey. 8 |
THE CATHOLIC TEL EGRAPH
In the fall of 2020, as the archdiocese prepared to celebrate its 200th anniversary, the Beacons of Light core team, under the leadership of Father Jan Schmidt, began reaching out to parishes and collecting data to understand the existing state of affairs in the parishes and parish schools of the archdiocese. The team worked with PartnersEdge, an industryleading consultant in data analysis and diocesan planning. Together, they collaborated with parishes to develop an understanding of the whole diocese: its population, infrastructure, births, deaths, sacraments, finances, schools and much more. From this wealth of data, they created an extensive “Current Reality Report.” The team presented this information to archdiocesan leaders throughout the summer and has made the report available to the public on the Beacons of Light website (beaconsaoc.org). With a better understanding of the current state of the archdiocese, the Beacons of Light core team began drafting the archdiocesan pastoral plan. An important step in this process included soliciting input from archdiocesan leaders, deans, pastors and even other dioceses who have undergone pastoral planning processes in recent years. Each new step in the process was scrutinized, feedback solicited and
