Home › About Us

Five-Year Pastoral Plan 2005 - 2010

Parish Pastoral Plan 2005 - 2010

Introduction

During the fall of 2004 and spring of 2005, the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) took time to reach out to parishioners to hear about those areas of St. Mary of Vernon they consider strengths as well as those perceived as needing greater attention or development for this parish to become a better community and family.

The PPC accomplished this through three diverse methods - a survey of 15% of registered parishioners via mail, an open parish meeting for everyone, and one-on-one interviews with volunteer parishioners for assessing past and present ministries and future potential.

All this information was gathered, studied and shared by PPC and staff members at a joint session held in the spring of 2005.

Participants at this joint session worked together to summarize the input of so many parishioners and to identify: (1) the major strengths to be reinforced, (2) the major challenges to be addressed, and (3) some initial, concrete ideas for accomplishing the beautiful visions describing what our parish can be and become.

Over the summer of 2005, PPC members refined all this information to craft a simple and straightforward pastoral plan to serve the parish over the next five years. The hope is to capture a parish vision for areas such as welcoming, building community, enriching Catholic faith for all ages, caring outreach to others, and celebrating vibrant worship together. Another hope is to name initial strategies or goals for moving toward realizing these visions.

This pastoral plan reflects the themes and ideas that have been suggested. We hope that this plan will be a mutual inspiration for all of us, to work closely together and to become all that God calls us to be as this local church.

As we welcome everyone in our new worship space, St. Mary of Vernon's pastoral plan is guiding us, helping us to encourage and involve newcomers and all God's people, as together we seek to live the gospel.

St. Mary of Vernon Goals and Objectives 2005 - 2010

Goal 1: To coordinate a comprehensive approach to welcoming and inclusion

Objectives

  • Design and implement infrastructures to connect and communicate with all parishioners.
  • Offer creative opportunities for building bridges among parishioners of all ages, races, ethnic groups, marital statuses, and backgrounds.
  • Foster an appreciation for the rich diversity of people within our parish and incorporate this diversity into the life of our parish family.
  • Create a plan for reaching out to multi-denominational families in a creative and sensitive way.
  • Construct a plan for reaching out to non-practicing Catholics in a creative and sensitive way.
  • Enhance the presence and participation of young adults and youth at every level of parish life.

Goal 2: To evaluate and implement programs that enhance faith formation, education, and spiritual nourishment for all ages and generations

Objectives:

  • Explore the concept of "Whole Community Catechesis" and determine, if appropriate, how to implement the processes at SMV.
  • Provide resources for developing a prayerful and spiritual dimension to our gatherings of parish ministries and activities.

Goal 3: To increase presence and active participation at Sunday liturgy

Objectives:

  • Create consistent, personal ways to connect with parishioners and visitors before, during and after liturgies to establish a greater sense of belonging and community.
  • Inform and educate parishioners about liturgy and worship through focused and relevant homilies, bulletin articles and enrichment opportunities.

Goal 4: To extend our gifts in outreach and service to each other and to the community beyond St. Mary of Vernon

Objectives:

  • Support and maintain the vitality of our parish outreach programs.
  • Develop a strategy for "mission" (both funding and service) - engaging parishioners for common causes outside of parish boundaries.
  • Reach out and collaborate with other congregations (Catholic and interfaith) and other larger community efforts (e.g. Lake County United) to maximize the impact of our efforts.
  • Develop concrete ways to increase awareness within and beyond the parish of our ministries, events, and outreach.

 

 

 

‹ Parish HistoryupAbout our Parish Family ›