Two Step Process
for
Pastoral Planning and
Parish Profile
(Needs Assessment)
Process
Donna L. Ciangio, OP
Church Leadership Consultation
West Caldwell, NJ
Parish Priorities
To help people personally
encounter Christ and live as
disciples bringing the Good
News and reaching out to all
so that society may be
transformed
We do this through WORD, WORSHIP,
COMMUNITY and SERVICE
Update and Evaluate
Parishes need to
Update and Evaluate
Ministries, Programs, Goals, Mission
Statement every few years
to see if they are reaching people
and are effective
St. Joseph Parish
What Do We Want To Accomplish Most This Year?
• Communicate the primary mission
to parish members. Let people know what is motivating
the decisions that are being made and where our
primary energies are being concentrated.
• Re-write the Parish Mission statement
to make it a dynamic, guiding force.
• Encountering Christ through the Sunday Liturgy
Is our Liturgy engaging? Do we need an evaluation of
our Liturgy? What things could be changed to make
Liturgy more meaningful to all people?
Pastoral Staff and PPC Goals
• First Goal: Concentration on Sunday
Worship
• Second Goal: Engaging Parishioners
1. Evaluate the formation process for all
sacraments, since the sacraments can be
a way to reach the disengaged.
2. Evaluate the parish registration process.
It needs to be more than just filling out a
form. It needs to engage and touch the
hearts of the people.
• Third Goal: John 10:10 - An invitation to a
more abundant life in Christ. How do we
accomplish that in our Church and Parish?
• We need to offer a sense of welcome and
hospitality. (Evangelization):
Sacraments, religion classes in school and
through the Religious Ed. Program. It is
really a common program.
• Sacramental preparation, Cornerstone
retreats, Youth Group, etc. can all be
instrumental in leading people back to the
faith. The process may start at Sunday
worship but it needs to continue throughout
the week in all areas of the parish.
• Fourth Goal: Greater sense of financial
stewardship to the parish and ownership of
the parish by the people. We need to
foster a sense of pride in our parish
community. Think about a Parish Pride
slogan.
• Fifth Goal: Building the community of St.
Joseph Parish. This is accomplished
through staff building and creating a happy
and vital staff persona.
Key to Involving People
Inclusion = Ownership = Commitment
Create a Planning Team
This team will be responsible for
• Publicity about a Survey, gatherings and
Parish assembly
• Create a theme
• Develop and share your timeline with
Parishioners
• Information Gathering
• Compile Information
–
•
By survey or gatherings of people
Parish Assembly Follow up
This is great for the Parish Pastoral Council to Organize
PART ONE
Information Gathering
•
Find out what people think about their parish
•
Use simple survey – at Mass, and through all
ministries and groups that gather
•
Town Hall type gatherings
 You can gather ministry groups and ANY group
meeting such as parents for sacramental prep, etc.
 Have parishioners gather in groups of five to
answer the survey questions. Responses should
be decided by the group, listed on newsprint, and
reported back with a short summary by one group
member.
 Papers can be hung around the room so all can
see.
Parish Survey
 List 3 things you like about our parish
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
 List 3 things you would like to see happen at our
parish:
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
 Is there a particular ministry or area of parish life you
would like to be involved in?
ST. Rose Parish Survey
Check:
Mass you usually attend:
• Saturday 5PM ___
• Sunday 7:30 AM___
9:00 AM ___ 10:30AM ___
12 Noon ____
Check:
Your Age Group:
80+ yrs _____ 79-59 ______
58-44 ______
43-23 ______
22 & Under ______
Compile Information
After completing information gathering,
compile the answers in each area of
strength (what we like) and need (what
we would like to see happen) in
priority order.
What we would like
What we like…
Welcoming
68
Family involvement 66
Preaching
55
Music
48
to see happen…
Stronger Youth Group
45
Adult faith formation
32
Retreats for busy people 10
The most often mentioned will be placed at
the top of the list. You might weight it
with the number of times it was
mentioned.
For example:
“Our parish is a welcoming community.” (36)
WORD
“We support our community food pantry.” (32)
SERVICE
“Our lectors need more training”
(15)
WORSHIP
Then categorize the responses according to
the pastoral area. For example: Word,
Worship, Community, Service and
Leadership (administration)
Publish all of the responses under those
headings in the bulletin so parishioners
see what others have said.
PART TWO - Parish Assembly
Materials Needed:
 newsprint (flipchart) pads
 markers and tape for each table
 papers with the need responses
(what we would like to see happen)
for each area of WORD, WORSHIP,
COMMUNITY, SERVICE, LEADERSHIP
WORD
WORSHIP
COMMUNITY
SERVICE
 Invite parishioners to the parish assembly to
discuss the compiled
and weighted need responses from the
Information Gathering. Ask them to RSVP
ahead of time so that you have some sense
of numbers attending.
You can require that all heads of ministry
attend and invite all parish ministers.
 Arrange the room with round tables if
possible. If you have only rectangular tables
that is fine. (The groups will need writing
space.)
 Divide people into groups of five or six and
assign a facilitator for each group.
The role of the facilitator is to keep the group
focused and moving.
 Each group will have an area of parish
ministry suggestions to discuss.
 Prepare a nametag for each person that is
already labeled with one of the five areas of
WORD, WORSHIP, COMMUNITY, SERVICE,
LEADERSHIP.
 Pre-arrange groups to mix up people and
ministries. You don’t want to put lectors in WORD,
or choir members in WORSHIP, etc. You want people
to be broad in their discussion and think about the
big picture of the parish.
 Make signs for each table for each area of
WORD, WORSHIP, COMMUNITY, SERVICE,
LEADERSHIP. You may have several tables
of each group depending on your size. Each
person will go to a table that corresponds to
their nametag.
 Ask the people to look over the identified
areas of pastoral need (what we would like to
see happen).
 Ask them to combine like answers
(this will make the list more compact)
then decide which are their top 5 that should
be tackled immediately, and 5 which should
be worked on in the future.
If you want to go further and let everyone focus
the lists even more:
 give each person 5 colored dots of each
color – green, yellow, red
(available at the dollar store, Stapes or Office Depot).
Each person can place a dot (or all of one of
their dot colors if they are passionate about
something that needs to be done) their on their
top 5 parish priorities.
They will go to the newsprint papers and
place their dots in the following categories:
– Green means “start now”
– Yellow means “do it later”
– Red means “don’t put energy into it”
After the dots are placed on the newsprint,
invite everyone to walk around and look at
the papers and the priorities to be tended to.
Next Steps
The pastor or core team will outline what the next
steps are. For example, the parish pastoral
council and parish leadership will take the
priorities and begin to make a plan to
implement necessary changes or plans to
move things forward.
They will set specific pastoral goals in each area,
ways to reach those goals, a timeline, and
who will take the lead to see that they are put
in place and achieved by a certain date.
Evaluation
Do this at each table as a group…
•
What did you most like about
the Parish Assembly?
•
What is a word that best describes
your experience today.
•
What should happen following this
assembly?
Sending Prayer
•
Thank everyone and send them off
with a blessing or attend Mass
together.
Pastoral Planning
 The ultimate purpose of pastoral
planning is to advance the Gospel of
Jesus Christ in the parish community
through a systematic process of
assessing needs, establishing specific
pastoral goals and implementing a plan
of action.
Developing greater commitment and
unity among parishioners by
encouraging them to participate in
determining the direction of the parish
and to have a greater sense of
responsibility in carrying it out.
 Establishing long-term goals builds a
sense of common purpose as people
see a direction for the future of the
parish.
 Develops
focus and direction.
Pastoral planning adds
clarity, direction and purpose
to the administration of ministry.
Pentecost
happened
at
a
meeting
Ron Rolheiser, OMI
When you don’t know
what else to do,
keep meeting
Pentecost
happened
at a meeting
We are in the
upper room