Parish Vitality

 One of my greatest responsibilities as bishop is to provide for the pastoral care of souls in the diocese.  This care is more directly provided to the people of God by our priests and deacons, as an extension of my own ministry as bishop. In communion with our ministry, the lay faithful, as disciples of Jesus by virtue of their baptism, are also to put their lives at the service of the community of the Church according to their means.      This past fall I engaged both the Presbyteral (priests) Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Council (DPC) in a consideration of how we can continue to provide for the pastoral care of souls with shrinking parish communities and fewer priests to serve our parishes. After consultation with them, I decided to hire JAG Consulting, Inc., from Lincoln, to help us assess these challenges. JAG Consulting has done a number of consultative processes for Catholic organizations and groups in recent years. In working with them, I asked that we design a process by which we might gain the input of people from each of our parishes and missions as a part of this visioning and planning. From their recommendations, we have decided on a three-step process that is just now getting underway.      The first step is called a “Thought Leadership Survey”—an online survey of up to four people from each parish who have been identified by their pastors, who have agreed to complete an online survey questionnaire. This will be a completely anonymous survey and is to be completed by those who receive it during the period of Jan. 11-25, 2020. This survey will provide insights, perspectives and input from our priests and people in all our parishes for analysis and further discussion.      The second step in the JAG Consulting process will be a 3.5 hour SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis with a group of roughly 15 people whom I have asked to come together from across our diocese to consider more directly some of the challenges of providing pastoral care in our parishes. This group includes four priests, five members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council and six other lay men and women. This will take place in North Platte on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020.      The third step in this process will involve the same group of 15 people in a full-day “Generative Thinking” process, using data collected from the online survey and the SWOT analysis. This is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 21, 2020.  This step will be open to creative thinking as we seek to address the challenges before us. My hope is that together this process will enable us to determine a vision for greater parish vitality. It will also serve as a basis for important decisions about parish leadership and vitality for the immediate future.      After these three steps have taken place, the JAG Consulting firm will produce a report on the entire process in mid-April. At that time, I hope to share with all of you the key findings of this report. During these months ahead, please pray for the graces we all need, especially this group of priests, DPC members and other laity, who along with me will be most directly involved in this process. May the Holy Spirit continue to lead and guide us all!      I have also been working on developing a vision for our diocese that will be carried out through several pastoral initiatives in the coming years. These pastoral initiatives will focus our efforts to build up the Kingdom of God here in our diocese.  It is my hope to present this vision, with objectives and goals for our Church, around the time of Pentecost this year.        I have shared a draft of this pastoral plan with the Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Pastoral Coun- cil in recent months and have received their support. With further developments and editing, I hope to present these pastoral initiatives to all of you as we celebrate Pentecost this year.      In many ways the Church in our country, for some time now, has been in what is often described as “maintenance” mode, that is, doing what we always do. Yet the world around us is changing. The culture is changing and presenting both great challenges and great opportunities for us to proclaim the Gospel. If we, as people of faith, do not move into “mission” mode, the Church will soon disappear. Jesus said, “Go and teach all nations ... baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” This implies that we are on mission with Jesus—to bring the news of his saving love to every age, every culture, every context in which we find ourselves—to be witnesses of our faith in the world.      I am excited to engage all of you in this mission entrusted to us by our Lord. Together, let us bring the light of Christ to the world, in our families, our parishes, our towns, our schools, our work, our associations and beyond. Together “let us seek first the Kingdom of God and his way of holiness.” Then all that we need will be given to us as well!