Diocesan pastoral planning process moves into next phase

The diocesan pastoral planning process, which began with a hope for the future and a sure knowledge that the Diocese of Helena needed to pray, dream and use their best wisdom to craft a path into a shared and hopeful future, is moving into the next phase.
In the fall of 2005, Bishop George Leo Thomas convened a Diocesan Pastoral Council with wide-based representation from throughout the diocese. He gave them the task of bringing together the people and listening to and trusting their sense of direction.
The first step was to invite parishes to a parish preparation process that started with reflection on the hopes and needs of the parish and on how those might translate to initiatives on the diocesan level. Parishes came together, bringing their best ideas and insights as they looked together at the future.
Delegates from the diverse parishes of the diocese – large and small, rural and urban, those with long histories and those more recently formed – came together for regional listening sessions to share the conclusions reached by their parishes and to bring their hopes and needs to the larger Church.
In all eight regional listening sessions assembled – in Bozeman, Browning, Butte, Conrad, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula and St. Ignatius – with delegates bringing the ideas from their local parishes. “The diocese was blessed with the participation from the parish level through the regional listening sessions of more than 1,400 parishioners and pastors,” said Sister Rita McGinnis, SCL, diocesan pastoral planning services director.
DPC members were present at all of the regional listening sessions to bring back the context and stories from the gatherings. As they reassembled to begin the work of discerning what needed to move forward, they would have a complete picture of the voices and hearts of the diocesan church, Sister McGinnis explained.
The DPC’s work is almost complete, and with the input of the Presbyteral Council and College of Consultors, the process has moved to the final writing stage in preparation for publication of the document.
Once the document is printed, it will be widely distributed throughout the diocese. “It will articulate the directions and priorities that will occupy the attention of the diocese in these next five years,” said Sister McGinnis.
Out of all that was heard, the DPC tried to keep in mind the words of Bishop Thomas: “We cannot do every good thing.” The DPC identified nine areas that they recommended for inclusion in the strategic planning that will follow the publishing of the directions and priorities. These are included in the document.
After publication, the next steps will include strategic planning steps done through the Presbyteral Council and College of Consultors, in consultation with others, that will take the directions into a concrete and measurable plan.

Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 23, No. 1, January 15, 2007.