Transcript Questions and steps to get rolling

Getting Started with
Lifelong Faith Formation
Dreams and Visions:
Faith Formation for
Every age and stage of life
Resource for you
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Read this book
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A Packet of tools
Aimed at helping you
implement Our Hearts
Were Burning
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Practical planning
Rooted in conversion to
Jesus Christ
Use these two planning tools
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A Lifetime of Faith
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Planning for ways to
coach parents
Dreams & Visions
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Companion to the book
Strong set of planning
tools
Ways to listen to and
plan for each
constituency in the
parish
Includes specific ideas
for implementing the
plan
How do we connect everyone?
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Youth ministry - which has a model for
our new approach we’d like everyone to
use
RCIA - which provides the framework for
WCC
The wide range of adult ed offerings
Children’s programming - which has all
the money and people
Schools - which often run independently
How do we connect everyone?
Baptism prep
 First Eucharist prep
 First Reconciliation prep
 Marriage prep
 Confirmation prep
 Leadership training
 Training for liturgical tasks
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In sum, how does a parish
get started?
. . . here’s a possible
plan and timetable . . .
The question is…
What seems to work best
in renewing adult faith formation
and small community life?
www.PastoralPlanning.com
What it does not seem to be
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Larger-than-life pastors or catechetical
leaders
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who become cult figures in the parish and
“do it all”
Typically burn out and leave things a mess
Not about launching a huge new
movement or program
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These usually end…
www.PastoralPlanning.com
What it does not seem to be
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It is NOT a ring binder full of goals,
objectives, action plans, & steps…
This is not sudden change, not an
overnight success
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It is slow change from one state into
another, slowly…
www.PastoralPlanning.com
What it does not seem to be
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It is not a single way of inviting
people
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There are many roads...
It is not a huge increase in your
budget
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Even though there are some small things
to add
www.PastoralPlanning.com
What does seem to work
A combination of 4 things:
 Encourage Small groups to meet
 Coach parents to form their own kids
 Focus on the core work of the parish
 Do sustained pastoral planning
www.PastoralPlanning.com
Step 1
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A period of study in the parish
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Read, pray and study together
Get the vision firmly in mind
The pastors, youth ministers, DRE, Liturgy
folks, pastoral care givers, & lay leaders
What to read together?
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Dreams and Visions
Forming Generous Hearts (Leisa Anslinger)
Our Hearts Were Burningn Within Us
At the same time
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Initiate some faith sharing
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Maybe with the Question of the Week
Plan for parish retreats
Pay more attention to what’s happening at
your Sunday Mass
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For more on all
these, see Dreams
and Visions…
and welcome more people to be present
Insert a “reflection process” into more areas
of parish life
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sometimes called “mystagogia”
How we develop
Leaders:
Start by helping folks
grow in their faith
Be
a
Leader
Coming to
understand
one’s own
possible contribution
Deeper communion
with Christ
Deeper communion
with Christ
This is where
we usually
try to start.
Coming to
understand
one’s own
possible contribution
Be
a
Leader
www.PastoralPlanning.com
Step 2
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The study might lead to a revised
parish mission statement
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Reflecting a new vision where the whole
community is being evangelized and catechized
A welcome and open door for ALL
Conversion as a precedent to catechesis
Sunday Assembly as central
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But don’t spend too much time on this…
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Our Core Work
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Help people deepen their communion
with Christ…
and help them grow & sustain the
excitement of that within their parish!
Leading to works of justice & charity
Flowing from and leading to small
community life
Then: invite others to deeper communion
www.PastoralPlanning.com
Step 2
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For multiple parish groups
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Hold a shared workshop-retreat day
Base it on the Core work
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Begin by sharing faith – intimacy with Christ
Move to a discussion on what people need
Over lunch: Matthew 25 – who among us needs us
most for the basics of life?
After lunch: who’s missing? Who is not in our
community life?
How can we invite others into our community?
Step 3
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Use the planning
tools from the web
site, which are
free.
Along the way, parishes take
inventory on the present programs
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What parts do folks like?
What parts need reform?
How well are we doing our core work?
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What else is needed?
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Step 4
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The Inventory will lead to the
development of an actual plan
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Build the plan one constituent group at a
time, ala Dreams & Visions Planning
Plan to provide
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Conversion experiences
Connections to the Sunday assembly
Mini-Courses for the whole community
Step 5
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The plan will lead to a budget
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A budget is “the price of the plan”
Must be integrated into the whole parish budget
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New categories in the budget
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money for technology
text materials for adults
new or reorganized personnel
but LESS $$ when you begin coaching parents
But, a big BUT
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With or without the planning process,
the reform can begin
Don’t get caught in the trap of too
much planning and no action
You as the leaders can make or break
this: if you keep the vision and lean
forward, you will succeed.
Personnel
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The plan might also lead to
adjustments in personnel needs
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Fresh job descriptions might be needed
Maybe some new titles
The plan might also lead to changes in
how the facilities are scheduled
Step 6
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A “marketing plan” might be needed to
get the word out
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Parish bulletins need work (they’re ugly!)
We must be more effective in “Announcing
the Good News” which is another word for
“advertising”
We compete against powerfully effective
forces in people’s lives
Marketing Plan
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This might be in a variety of languages
We might need solid marketing slogans:
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“A lot of people are talking to your kids
about God -- shouldn’t you be one of
them?”
Make use of the electronic world!
Step #7
Change what you
call it.
Language creates
reality.
So if you still call it
So if you still call it
Religion
Class
Now we call it:
Life long
catechesis
Now we call it:
Life long
Faith
formation
Objections
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Very few object to the theology or goals
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Adult Christians of mature faith
People on fire with their faith
An informed adult parish
A better Sunday liturgy
Parents involved with children’s catechesis
A process for catechesis that kids enjoy
Objections, continued
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Parish staff is too busy for this
The Pastor won’t support it
People don’t like change or are too busy
now -- and won’t take part
We can’t afford it
This will be more work and will drive
people away from the church
Objections, continued
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We don’t have the space
NIMP – “Not in my Parish”
Too hard to do
Where’s the manual? Is there some way
for me to get trained?
Parents will not come anyway. We tried
that and it didn’t work.
Positives
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Gets us out of maintenance approach
Takes away the sense of “coming to get
the sacraments”
When people collaborate, it’s less labor
intensive
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Especially in multiple parish clusters
Secures the future of each parish
Increases collections
Positives, continued
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Liturgies improve
Youth continue to be active
This makes parents the primary
educators
Promotes Vatican II ecclesiology
Here’s some advice
on getting from here
to there…
Some advice #1
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Whole Community Catechesis or Life
long faith formation…
…is not a new “program”
Rather, it’s a new way of thinking
It’s a new paradigm
It really does renew every aspect of
parish life!
Some advice #2
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Establishing Whole Community
Catechesis or Life long faith formation…
will not happen overnight!
Give yourself 5 years
or maybe 10 years…
It starts now and keeps going on…
You’re already doing a lot of this!
Some advice #3
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Don’t try to do this alone!
Bring your whole community along…
Work as a cluster if you’re in one
Work as a parish united if you’re a
single parish
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to study and plan
to pray
Some advice #4
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Light a fire in your parish
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Through experiences of on-going
conversion to Christ!
Where there’s fire:
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People have more enthusiasm
Liturgy cooks!
There’s a heart for the poor
Collections rise
Timeline
Beginning in the Fall . . .
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Study – a couple of months
Assessment -- one to two months (thru mid Jan)
Planning -- two to three months (Jan thru March)
Budget -- in the spring (by the end of May)
Marketing -- over the summer and early fall
Start anew -- with the fall season