Diocese of Lincoln creates first pastoral plan
By Jennifer Gutierrez
for the Register
In January 2025, Bishop James Conley launched a diocesan-wide effort to create the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln’s first ever pastoral plan.
A pastoral plan establishes a shared vision for the future and guides the diocese’s mission and ministry. It outlines pastoral principles that shepherd the goals, priorities, and action steps to be achieved over a five-year time frame. Led by the Holy Spirit, it is a collaborative partnership between the people in the parishes, the priests and religious, and the bishop and his team.
Through input from hundreds of people – lay, clergy and religious – from across the Diocese of Lincoln and through the work of a diverse planning team under the guidance of Bishop Conley, a roadmap for the future of the diocese was created: the “One Heart in Christ” pastoral plan. This plan will define the focus for the next five years, although it is also flexible enough to adjust to the needs of the diocese.
The One Heart in Christ pastoral plan includes four main pillars to provide the foundation for the future: Healthy Parishes, Education, Religious Vocations, and Holy Marriage and Family Life. Four primary goals have also been created under each pillar to focus efforts in the near future. Additional objectives will be released as part of the full pastoral plan next month, to define actions that will allow the diocese to reach these goals.
“From the beginning, it was essential that the pastoral plan would only be designed through deep listening to the people of the diocese and in learning what was most important to them,” Bishop Conley said. “We needed to ensure our pastoral plan was reflective of those priorities, and that we remained on that path during the entire process.”
To this end, Bishop Conley invited the lay faithful, priests, and religious to participate in a first-time listening session experience beginning in February 2025. All diocesan faithful were invited to participate in the sessions advertised through monthly promotional articles and photo stories in the Southern Nebraska Register, weekly print registration advertisements, social media promotional posts, including a video of invitation by Bishop Conley, digital registration advertisements distributed weekly to all parishes for insertion into their bulletins, Mass announcements, and more. A brief online comment form – in both English and Spanish – was also made available.
Almost 300 people accepted the invitation to participate in the listening sessions and to share their visions for the future of the diocese.
In addition to the information collected from the listening sessions and companion surveys, a cross section of data was compiled to inform the work, including parish data on sacramental statistics and Mass census data; diocesan financial data such as parish and school data on contribution trends, parish net income, parish and school debt, and enrollment trends; as well as education data including information on Catholic schools, homeschools and other information.
A planning team of laity, priests and religious, and diocesan staff from across the diocese was assembled and joined Bishop Conley to create the plan. From McCook to Nebraska City, from Shelby to Lincoln, the team met in Lincoln for two full days in September, and one full day in November to create a vision, a mission, pastoral principles and related goals with metrics to measure success, as well as a first-year action plan – guided by issues the diocesan faithful said were most important to them.
The action plan articulates first-year priorities with action steps to which diocesan leadership has committed, including resources and other support, and a menu of recommended action steps for the parishes, depending upon what they believe is the best fit for local needs.
One critical piece of support is the generous stewardship of time and talent by the 15 planning team members who committed to partnering with the diocese for one year to support and move the plan forward in a variety of ways – including collaboration with the diocesan faithful and help from those who participated in the listening sessions. The One Heart in Christ pastoral plan will launch in January 2026 in conjunction with a Pastoral Letter from Bishop Conley.
“The mandate was clear,” the bishop said: “To create a living, robust plan that ignites our hearts and leads us to Christ.”
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CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF LINCOLN PASTORAL PLAN (2026-2031)
ONE HEART IN CHRIST
OUR VISION
The Diocese of Lincoln is a Church that speaks to the heart of its people leading them to Christ and eternal life.
OUR MISSION
The mission of the Diocese of Lincoln is to cultivate the healing love of Christ in the faithful and those who seek Him by proclaiming the Gospel, walking with one another, and worshipping through prayer and the sacraments.
OUR PASTORAL PRINCIPLES
HEALTHY PARISHES
Nurture thriving parishes throughout the diocese by supporting an engaging and relational parish culture.
Goals
I. Increase evangelization opportunities that result in increased Mass attendance and participation in parish events.
II. Achieve full active participation in liturgical worship that increases mass attendance, adoration, and reception of the sacraments.
III. Grow faith formation and discipleship participation that fosters a sense of belonging and mission.
IV. Inspire and equip parishioners to take an active role in lay leadership and organizational health including stewardship of parish facilities and property, operations, and financial health of the parish.
EDUCATION
Educate to inspire virtue, service, and a thirst to know Jesus.
Goals
I. Grow parent and family faith formation, discipleship, and participation, through educational opportunities that foster a sense of belonging and mission.
II. Revitalize youth intellectual and faith formation across all programs (CCD, Homeschool, Youth Ministry, Catholic Schools) to form lifelong disciples.
III. Garner the necessary resources to achieve optimal enrollment in our Catholic Schools and expand as needed.
IV. Prioritize education, training, and formation for priest and lay administrators, teachers, and support staff.
RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS
Support our clergy, religious, and aspiring vocations as spiritual fathers and mothers so they experience being seen, known, and loved.
Goals
I. Provide health, wellness, spiritual resources, and support to priests and religious for a balanced, integrated life.
II. Provide pastoral leadership development opportunities so that priests feel confident and equipped for their work.
III. Create opportunities for the laity to deepen their understanding of the vocations of priesthood and religious life.
IV. Promote vocations at the parish and diocesan levels to increase the number of priests and religious.
HOLY MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE
Build up holy marriages and family life so that every person finds a home in the Church.
Goals
I. Revive sacramental marriage and prepare couples for marriage through structured stages of formation, mentorship and support in the pre-marriage and early marriage stages allowing for conversion, accompaniment, and a bridge into the parish community.
II. Provide ongoing marriage enrichment, formation and renewal for couples married five years or more throughout the diocese.
III Broaden ministries of accompaniment throughout the diocese for families, with special emphasis on the poor and those in need.
IV. Provide access to resources that support families in order to promote a culture of life.
