Strategic planning task force will hear from parish leaders
By Maria Wiering
Wednesday, 17 June 2009
The Archdiocesan Strategic Planning Process for Parishes and Schools will be entering another phase in early July as task force members begin holding eight regional meetings for parish leadership.
These meetings will give parish leaders an opportunity to receive
information and give input into the planning process, said Jim
Lundholm-Eades, a member of the Strategic Task Force for Parish and
School Planning.
Parish pastors may invite up to five parish representatives to attend
and participate in the meetings. These representatives could include
the pastor himself, parish trustees and chairs of the parish and
finance councils.
Have your voice be heard
Archdiocesan Catholics can offer their ideas and feedback to the task force in various ways.
• Web address: www.archspm.org. Click on link for “planning process” to access a survey.
• Voice mail: (651) 291-4435
• Mailing address: Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis, PST - Planning Process Comments, 328 Kellogg Blvd. W, St. Paul, MN 55102
If a parish recognizes a particular ethnic group through a distinct
council or commission, a representative from that group is also
encouraged to attend as part of the parish leadership.
The eight regional meetings will not be identical; rather, they will
focus specifically on the areas from which the attendees are located
and encourage conversation between neighboring parishes. For this
reason, parishes have been assigned to a particular meeting time and
place, Lundholm-Eades said.
Parish leaders are strongly encouraged to attend the meeting to which
they have been assigned. If they cannot attend on the designated date
for their parish, they are encouraged to attend another regional
meeting for parish leadership as geographically close to their own
parish as possible.
The meetinghs will be held in Northfield July 7, Minneapolis July 9,
Inver Grove Heights July 13, Burnsville July 15, St. Paul July 21,
Deephaven July 23, White Bear Lake July 28 and Brooklyn Park July 29.
At the meetings, parish leaders will be given an overview of the
archdiocese’s current reality and discuss their visions for the
archdiocese in five to 10 years.
Task Force members will be present to gain insight for establishing
archdiocesan priorities in areas of sacramental service, marginalized
and immigrant populations, pastoral leadership and Catholic education.
The regional meetings for parish leadership will not include parish
staff members. They will be consulted in September and October in
Archdiocesan Coalition of Ministry Association meetings.
The task force expects regional meeting attendees to:
• Learn about and and become familiar with important information describing the current reality of the archdiocese.
• Advise and assist the pastor in creating venues for local parishioners to become familiar with the strategic planning process.
• Assist the pastor in encouraging parishioners to attend regional meetings for parishioners, which will begin this fall.
“These meetings also build up the connectivity between parishes in the
archdiocese,” Lundholm-Eades said. “We’re all in this together — an
enterprise of Catholic formation and growing the faith.”
Sign up for our eNewsletter and get
Show/hide comment form
