Weekly THIS AND THAT for July 27, 2008: Our Parish's Strategic Plan, Part 4: What to do? How?

This and That:
Our Parish’s Strategic Plan, Part 4: What to do? How?


Dear Friends,

Well, this is the fourth and final installment of our Parish Strategic Plan. After having considered our vision, mission, and purpose as a parish, it is now time to turn to the objectives – the actions that will bring about the desired goals.

As I have said the preceding weeks, as you read this fourth and “installment,” your impressions, feedback and comments are welcome and can be shared with any Council member. They are the parishioners wearing the red ribbon and pin at Sunday Masses. You are also invited to share your thoughts via email to our Parish Council Chairperson, Bill Campbell at Bill.campbell@milliman.com.

Fondly,
Father Nicholas



Celebrating Life through Worship and Service
Strategic Plan
Our Lady of Grace Parish
2008 through 2013
Approved by Pastoral Council May 12, 2008


Objectives

The strategic planning process and the resultant Strategic Plan document are the means by which we align our near-term goals and objectives with our mission statement. Objectives have been established for the next several years that will ultimately enhance our ability to “Worship and Serve.” These objectives are broad in nature and provide benchmarks and milestones to guide our Parish Staff, committees, ministries and volunteers. These organizations and individuals then establish their own near-term goals and action lists to meet their commitments and contribute to the attainment of these strategic objectives.


Objective # 1: Increase evangelization efforts to assist all on their faith journey

Our faith journey begins with a first step: Coming to know God through Jesus Christ. The journey advances as God becomes one with us as we hear The Word and partake of the Eucharist at Mass. The journey continues as we then become one in God through living the life of Jesus in service and evangelization. Every aspect of our parish, Liturgy, Evangelization, Education and Stewardship, exists for one purpose—to assist the individual on his/her faith journey.

Our parishioners are at different stages in their personal faith journeys. We must have activities in place that allow us to identify the disenfranchised and provide the means to introduce or bring them back to the faith. We must also take action to find out why Catholics in our parish are not attending Mass and respond appropriately, where we can, to increase their participation. And finally, we must encourage our parishioners to “move out of the pew” and into “service within the community,” thereby progressing further in their individual faith journeys through living the life of Jesus.

Increases in RCIA participation, Mass attendance, participation in Religious Education for children and faith renewal for adults, Welcome Orientation attendance, as well as the numbers of volunteers in ministries and outreach will indicate success in meeting this objective. Particular attention will be focused on activities that will result in an increased attendance at Mass, specifically those identified by the Think Tank on Filling the Pews, and those expressed in Bishop Rozanski’s findings from his Pastoral Visit.


Objective # 2: Prepare the parish for the Church of the Future (Address the issues outlined in “The Hope That Lies Before Us.”)
The current, and soon to become critical, shortage of priests has created the need to take an honest look at what the Church can expect in the next 10 to 20 years in terms of clergy staffing of parishes. In some areas of the Archdiocese, alternatives to a resident Pastor are already a reality. In “The Hope That Lies Before Us,” the Archdiocese outlines activities that parishes can undertake to prepare for the days ahead when priests may not be available to be assigned as pastors. Among the parishes of the York Road Corridor (St. Pius X, Immaculate Conception, Nativity, St. Joseph, St. Francis Xavier, and Our Lady of Grace), pastors have hired a facilitator to meet every six weeks to develop a plan for the area with involvement of Parish Staffs, Pastoral Councils, Parish Corporators, and parishioners by June 2010.

As a parish, we have taken steps to analyze the situation as we see it at Our Lady of Grace. We must now review those findings, establish priorities and address the impact of those issues on our parish, both as it may be when Father Nicholas takes his next assignment in 2010, and as it may be in the next 10 to 20 years. We must prepare for several possible scenarios and plan accordingly.


Objective # 3: Ensure Financial Stability (Through management of expenses and increased giving.)

Our Lady of Grace must be fiscally responsible in order to continue its mission. We cannot implement programs and practices that place the financial future of the parish at risk. The requirements for compensating our Parish Staff, maintaining our facilities, performing our outreach services, and providing our educational programs must be tied to revenue generating activities, the largest of which is offertory income, that result in a balanced or surplus budget each fiscal year. The need to cut back on expenses for any services at the start of a year or during the year has a profoundly negative impact on the community.

More and more demands are being made on our parishioners for their time and financial resources; our last stewardship campaign was just such a demand. Creative and innovative means will be required in the future to achieve and maintain the increased giving necessary to ensure financial stability.


Objective # 4: Enhance our “Service and Outreach” efforts

“Worship without service cannot be true worship.” Our record of service to the community is noteworthy, as is our phenomenal number of “outreach volunteers.” Yet, as the past has demonstrated, there are always more people who need assistance. As more people become “in need” and those needs change, we must be able to respond to meet those needs.

Additional volunteers and additional “givers” would allow us to identify better those in need and match them up with the services or assistance they require. Indeed, when it comes to Service and Outreach, more is better. Enhancing the quality and quantity of our outreach services will enable us to do more for more people. By doing more for others, we will help ourselves in our individual faith journeys and help to reinforce Our Lady of Grace as a strong presence in our community – living our faith among others as the Body of Christ in Northern Baltimore County.


Implementation

Our Parish Staff, the Pastoral Council, and our Parish Corporators are responsible for most of the planning and oversight of the Church’s endeavors. This Strategic Plan will help to guide and focus as we go forward.

Each year, the Pastoral Council will establish annual goals to measure progress of the various objectives and action plans to implement the objectives. Each year’s goals will be reviewed at the end of that year. Accomplishments as well as areas in need of improvement will be identified. A Yearly Status Report will be prepared each year to document this yearly assessment. Action plans to implement these objectives may be found in the Implementation Plan. The Pastoral Council Panel Coordinators will work with the ministries and committees to communicate the goals and action plans associated with each objective and to monitor progress.

The Church’s activities are actually carried out by the Pastor, Parish Staff, numerous committees, ministry groups, “partner organizations,” and individual volunteers. These individuals are what make this parish the faith community that it is today. Short-term goals and longer-term objectives that are tied to our Mission Statement and Parish Vision are what will keep Our Lady of Grace Parish thriving in the years to come. We will continue to develop objectives within the Strategic Plan to provide guidance to the staff and committees as they do God’s work throughout the years to come.