Q. At work, strategy means diagnosis, concrete change, and a clear goal. I read the One Heart in Christ pastoral plan and all accompanying material, I see goals. Will future messaging name particular problems /changes? Are those delegated to parishes in a spirit of subsidiarity? Have I missed them? Is the framework from my job not applicable?
A. This is an excellent question. The short answer is “yes,” anything and everything will be communicated.
The plan (online at www.lincolndiocese.org/oneheartinchrist) can certainly come across as vague to many people because it is definitely goal-heavy, and that is by design. The goals are meant to be universally seen, but not necessarily universally applied, as every parish is different and will achieve them in different ways. So you have not missed anything regarding any diagnostics or troubleshooting, mainly because nothing has yet been communicated. We have spent a significant amount of time on the various possible issues and obstacles we could face in the implantation of the plan, but nearly all of them are parish-to-parish. Our initial solution to this is using the first year to empower parishes and collect data.
This first year of the plan is the “get the word out” phase and allow parishes to implement the pastoral plan as they see fit. Throughout, we want to receive feedback on what has worked, what has not worked, what needs to be refined, what needs to be emphasized, etc. As information comes in and we can get a better definition of the specific needs of the diocese at large, we can better define the diagnoses and have clearer empirical metrics to measure concrete change, even regarding the more abstract goals. So, as things arise (particular problems or changes), plans and solutions will be communicated to the faithful, ideally through pastors and parish leaders.
I think your occupational framework is great and certainly works with what we want to accomplish. It will just look different in a diocesan setting rather than a, let’s say, corporate setting. And if you happen to have any suggestions on how to apply some of those business principles to our plan and its communication, we would be happy to receive the input! Anything that will help us serve the diocese is more than welcome and we are more than willing to collaborate. And if there are pastors or parish leaders that would like some input or advice on how to implement one or all of the pastoral principles, they can certainly reach out to the committee, and we can come up with some ideas.
This question was answered by Father Christopher Stoley, pastor of St. Peter Parish in Lincoln and a member of the One Heart in Christ committee.
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