A PARISH PLANNING CHECKLIST
PARISH LEADERSHIP
• Establishes the Planning Process: coordinates planning activities and
budgeting activities with the routine of parish life.
• Provides ongoing support: any and all forms of support for those who are
developing and implementing the plan.
• Implements check-up: a systematic effort to ensure the implementation of the
parish plan. Provides for annual review and updating of the plan.
• Keeps the parish informed of the planning process and decisions, promulgates
the plan to the parish and elicits the support of the parish.
• Appoints a planning committee. Parish staff could be of assistance to the
committee. A charge is given to the committee to develop a five year plan for
the parish. The plan is presented to the parish council as a recommendation for
adoption and implementation. The planning committee may negotiate changes in the
time line as needed. The parish council should expect periodic reports. The
chair of the planning committee can be appointed by the council or elected by
the committee.
• Review That All May Be One and discusses the importance of planning, recent
efforts/experiences at planning in the parish, parish’s challenges, parish’s
efforts to address the challenges thus far and goals that may be of immediate
interest to the parish.
• Who is responsible for the approval and implementation of the plan?
PARISH PLANNING COMMITTEE
• Sets a schedule of meetings; determines a chairperson.
• Reviews the task and the time line from the parish council.
• Becomes familiar with That All May Be One.
• Identifies the goals and objectives that relate to the parish’s needs and
situation, determines which goals are of importance to the parish based on the
parish’s challenges or other immediate needs. These goals will receive first
consideration for the first-year section of the planning process.
• Determines which person(s) or group or combination of groups should be
responsible for developing actions steps for each of the goals or objectives for
the first-year plan.
• Recommends plans for the following years to address the remaining goals. Part
of the plans may include a continuation of some of the items from the previous
year’s plan.
Suggested Planning Process
Year
Preparation:
|
Individual committee members complete the following. This could
be done prior to the meeting.
|
|
Support Lifelong Faith Formation
|
Deepen the Spiritual Life of Catholics
|
Evangelize, Spread the Good News
|
|
Educate, Form Leaders
|
Provide Quality Pastoral Care
|
|
Promote Respect for Life
|
Work for Justice & Peace
|
Become an Inclusive and Reconciling Community
|
|
Relate with Ecumenical and Community Partners
|
Act as Good Stewards of All God's Gifts
|
Planning Committee
| Planning committee members bring completed worksheets to the meeting. Process may take two or three meetings. Materials needed include: newsprint, colored markers, masking tape, copies of the parish’s challenges and needs and other parish data. Begin each meeting with prayer. |
Brainstorm with the committee. Using ten sheets of newsprint with the ten
categories as above have each committee member write in the number identifying
the goal/objectives that they want to be part of the parish plan for this year.
Members may suggest alternative objectives to the ones listed.
Discuss each category separately: reasons why specific goals/objectives were
chosen; how they relate to the parish's growth and needs; how they might be done
in this parish; whether they are appropriate for the first, second, third,
fourth or fifth year of the plan.
Each member of the committee places an "X" with a colored marker near the
goals/objectives considered most important or urgent for this year's plan. Each
member may choose only three places to mark their "X" in each category.
First-Year Plan
On ten large sheets of newsprint (labeled as previous page), write the three or
four objectives chosen from each category. These goals/objectives will provide a
basis for the first year of the five year plan. Depending on the amount of
resources available, some of the goals may need to become a part of the plans
for following years.
Save the newsprint with all the proposed goals/objectives to use as a starting
place for the following year’s plans. Some committees may want to select goals
and objectives for all five years before proceeding with the details for the
first year. Others may want to complete the following years after they have the
first year completed.
Discuss the 12 or 16 objectives. Begin with a specific category. Give
consideration to the Parish’s challenges and needs, parish's or region’s
strengths and limitations and the parish's or region’s need to grow. Ask and
answer questions such as: .
• What are we already doing in this area?
• How would this promote the growth of our parish? What change will we encounter
or expect? Will it foster the spiritual formation of our parishioners?
• How are we going to do it? What needs to be done first? Who will be
responsible for doing it? Would collaboration with another parish help?
• Can the parish take on all of these goals in one year? If not, which ones
will be part of the fIrst-year plan? Which will become part of the second
third, etc. year’s plans?
Use newsprint to record the responses (see page “C”)
Draft a preliminary plan for the first year. Use the worksheets (“A,” “B” and
“C”) provided to guide your planning.
Share the chosen goals and objectives with the Parish Pastoral Council for
feedback.
Once the goals/objectives have been approved, the committee coordinates the
development of the action steps.
Action Steps
An objective is an activity or series of activities that lead to the
accomplishment of the goal. The development of action steps for each objective
is necessary to ensure implementation and evaluation of the plan. The major
elements include identifying the following: tasks to be done, who will be
responsible for accomplishing the tasks, impact on parish resources and target
date for completion (see pp. “D,” “E” and “F”).
The planning committee identifies persons who would most appropriately work on
the various objectives. Resource persons may include: parish staff, members of
parish council committees, parishioners with interest and or experience in the
area covered by the goal or new volunteers. These persons are invited to
participate in the development of action steps. A meeting is held to explain
what needs to be done. Worksheets (pp. “D” and”E” ) are provided to guide this
process. The worksheets can be adapted as needed, e.g. more than three steps may
be needed to accomplish the objective.
The action steps become an integral part of the strategic plan. A basic format
is
suggested on page “E.” Additional pages may be needed to accommodate the
entire first-year plan. The Planning Committee or parish pastoral council may
determine that the additional information should be included in the plan.
Completing The Three-Year Plan
When the plan for the first year is completed, the Planning Committee revisits
the goals/objectives that were identified earlier in the planning process. If
the newsprint sheets used in the first session are available, they will be
helpful in identifying, the goals and objectives for the next four years. A
process similar to the one used for the first-year plan can assist in
identifying goals and objectives for the next four years. Using a format similar
to the one on page “G,” list the goals and objectives by numbers and letters in
the appropriate category.
The five year plan for the parish is now ready to submit to the parish pastoral
council for implementation. The plan could include the parish mission statement,
the fIrst-year plan with action steps and the five year plan listing the chosen
goals and objectives. The Planning Committee chair presents the plan to the
parish pastoral council and requests acceptance. It is the parish pastoral
council's responsibility to assist the pastor/parish life administrator in the
implementation of the plan.
Planning is an ongoing activity of the parish pastoral council. Schedule time on
the agenda at the spring or early fall meeting to update the five year plan.
Each year add a new year
to the plan. Periodically, make some extra retreat time for the council to
envision Jesus' mission for the parish.
Sharing The Plan
After the parish pastoral council has accepted the plan, it should be presented
and explained to the parish. Sharing the plan is a means of building support and
ownership among the parishioners for the direction the parish is taking.
Reporting on the achievements of the plan at the end of the year is a means of
accountability to the parish.
At the regional representatives’ group meeting each parish could share the what
they are working on. In addition to offering some very good ideas or asking for
help, this sharing provides an opportunity for collaboration on similar
projects.