Flourishing Families regional discussions concluded

Each of the regional Flourishing Families discussion meetings has concluded. The feedback gathered from these meetings is in the process of being finalized and will be submitted to Bishop Peter Muhich to be used to develop a long-term action plan for each region. Two pressing questions arose during the discussion: What can we do as parishes to shift from maintenance mode to flourishing, recognizing the resources we have? And, in the case of one less priest in the region, what suggestions might we make to the bishop to ensure our continued flourishing?

The delegates from each parish in the region gathered together over six months to evaluate various data from each parish. The data included the number of families attending Mass each week versus the number of families registered at each parish. They considered how many families participate in faith formation programs, how many catechists and volunteers each parish has, how many prayer groups and other gatherings of faith are active in each parish, and the numbers of participants in each. They also looked at how active parishes are in promoting vocations through parish programs and participating in diocesan events. The data included how many of the priests who have served our diocese over the course of our history have come from each region. The idea was to get an accurate picture of each parish to begin to talk as a group about how the regional “family of parishes” might answer the two questions above. The participants discussed how they could interact within their region and use their resources effectively to not only maintain the current programs and structures, but actually grow and flourish.

As chair of the Flourishing Families committee, Father Tim Hoag hoped that this process would help the bishop form a vision of how our parishes can flourish from the ground up. “Instead of the bishop imposing some sort of vision for the diocese disconnected from the input from his priests and the lay faithful, this process allowed representatives from each parish to review the data and make recommendations based on how real families would be impacted by any changes. The priests looked at the data and made their own plan as a starting point, but we really wanted the input from the laity in these regional discussions.” This information was used to develop a concrete recommendation that required agreement from the majority of participants involved in the discussions. The discussions included delegates from each parish including lay people, religious, deacons and priests. Upon receiving these recommendations, Bishop Muhich will work on the formation of a new Diocesan Pastoral Council composed of representatives from each region involved in these ongoing discussions. This council will review and implement any recommendations from these groups in collaboration with the bishop.

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