St.Barbara Parish
Goals and
Objectives
What will we be in
2003?
"Imagine the
Possibilities"
We the Catholic family of St. Barbara in Penn Township, have
grown from a small mission in a rural mining community, to a large suburban parish. Each
member is a gifted child of God with unique talents and needs.
Our mission is to proclaim Christ to all people.
We are committed to continuing our spiritual formation,
living our Christian values, building community and responding to membership in our parish
family and to celebrate the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.
Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we will pursue this Mission
faithfully as we continue on our lifelong journey.
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St. Barbara Parish, 2300 families strong and
guided by the loving hand of the Holy Spirit, together carrying out the Lord's work. Each
a child of God, bringing forth unique and special talents, working together toward common
goals, unified in spirit and in body, and in a direction rooted in the stated values of
the parish family….
Sound impossible? It isn't. This booklet
describes the St. Barbara Parish Pastoral Plan. Derived from several parish meetings in
support of our parish Mission Statement, it presents our Goals and Objectives for the next
three to five years. This approach follows the NEW WINE, NEW WINESKINS model of ministry
for Parish Pastoral Councils as adopted by the Diocese of Greensburg.
Inside, you'll find a brief description of
each of our five central goals, along with descriptions of the objectives supporting that
goal. The next step is to implement the plan.
Together we can accomplish what none could
hope to achieve alone.
Please take a few minutes to review the
plan, and…..
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Promote Stewardship of
time, talent, and treasure as a priority of life.
Most parishioners lead a very busy life.
Children that need chauffeuring here and there; traveling for business reasons; immediate
and extended family responsibilities; community activities that make Penn Township a
better place to live; these all contribute to a very hectic style of living.
God calls us to contribute a portion of our time
to Him. How can we help to raise our level of time, talent, and treasure to God as a
priority in our lives? God asks for a gift of ourselves that will contribute to our
spiritual growth and parish well being rather than something that will be a catch-all for
the time left over.
"…When much has been given a man, much
more will be required of him. More will be asked of a man to whom more has been
entrusted" (Luke 12:48)
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Create a Stewardship Committee.
A Stewardship Committee would
assume the responsibility for communicating and educating the parish on the meaning and
mechanisms of stewardship. It will help us all to better understand the ways in which we
can serve our parish community.
Develop a catalog of ministries,
organizations, and contact information for new and existing parishioners.
In order to serve the parish, we
all need to know what ministries are currently available to allow us full participation in
those that best suit our characteristics and strengths. The cataloging of these ministries
is a key component to the development of this goal.
Support the continuing development of the
Newsletter by encouraging the utilization of desktop publishing programs and addition of
pictures to create a visual connection to the parish.
The parish newsletter,
"Share the Spirit", currently serves the communication aspect of this goal. By
investing in appropriate technologies we can make our newsletter even better.
Define the effort, costs and benefits of
performing a parish census that would identify parish demographics, needs, and talents.
In order to be of value, a parish census
needs to be updated periodically. The most recent census was done so long ago that its
value today is questionable. A new census is a tool to help us accomplish this goal.
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Increase active parish
participation by five percent per year.
This goal addresses one of the most important of
our parish efforts, that of Evangelization. ONLY 35% of our registered parish members are
active practicing parishioners. We need to boldly invite and actively encourage our
part-time parishioners to become regular participating members of our parish family.
This goal is one of the most difficult and one of the most rewarding. How happy is the
Good Shepherd at the return of one of His lost sheep? And how good would you feel being a
part of the return of one of our brethren?
"But we had to celebrate and rejoice! This brother of yours was dead, and has come
back to life. He was lost, and is found" (Luke 15:32)
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Form an evangelization committee to
carry out the objectives of this goal.
Develop a group of parishioners who will
work to reach out to our part-time congregation.
Generate a list of barriers to active
church participation from available sources.
What are the obstacles that keep
our brothers and sisters away from our parish family? To develop a plan to address these
barriers, we need first to identify them. This objective will define those problems. Many
studies have been done in this area and can be used to develop this plan.
Identify and implement five methods for
removing barriers to participation and for improving and promoting positive community
awareness of St. Barbara Parish.
Once the barriers are known, a
plan will be developed to address the barriers and create a positive image of St.
Barbara's parish. This will help to create increased participation in all facets of parish
life.
Support the continued development of the
Neighborhood Outreach Concept.
With a large parish like St. Barbara's,
it is sometimes difficult to feel a sense of belonging and community. This objective will
support the development of neighborhood ministries, providing a connection to the larger
faith community.
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Strengthen existing and
create new spiritual formation programs for all parishioners.
Our existing formation
programs are excellent. But like all successful endeavors, we must constantly renew
ourselves by applying creative energy in the form of new programs and ideas. This goal
provides an opportunity for all parishioners to be involved in the Formation process.
Personal Reflection and Self-assessment are an important part of achieving this goal.
"…on the way he asked his disciples this question: "Who do people say that
I am?" They replied, "Some, John the Baptizer, others, Elijah, still others, one
of the prophets." "And you," he went on to ask, "who do you say that I
am?" Peter answered him, " You are the Messiah!"" (Mark 8:27-29)
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Generate a comprehensive written strategy for
the religious formation of all parishioners.
This provides an opportunity for
a committee to write and continually evaluate what works and what needs improvement in the
religious formation arena. In meeting this objective, St. Barbara Parish will have, for
the first time, a comprehensive strategy of religious formation for ALL
parishioners.
Define and implement at least three actions
that will help adults self-assess and discover their need for spiritual formation.
Where am I in my spiritual
development? What do I need in order to develop a closer relationship with the Lord? This
objective will help parishioners identify their needs for spiritual development.
Prepare a written training plan for
Catechetical Leaders to assist them in the continuous formation process.
Trained Catechetical Leaders are
necessary for the effective training of our youth and adults in the faith. This process
will equip and strengthen the faith of our leaders as they respond to the call of sharing
the Catholic Faith with our parish family.
Identify at least three ways to reinforce
the parent / guardian role as primary faith educators of their children.
The church recognizes that parents and
guardians have the primary responsibility for instructing their children in faith. What do
I need to be effective in this important role? This objective supports parents and
guardians in their commitment to this role.
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Build a stronger parish
family by providing opportunities for fellowship and family gatherings.
A parish family needs to address the spiritual
aspects of its members. A STRONG parish family needs to address the social aspects as
well. What can we do to give our parishioners more opportunities to gather in fun and
fellowship? How can we celebrate as a parish family? What should those activities look
like? Where should they be held?
This social need is found in our young people,
in our chronologically superior parishioners, and in all those in between. Can we provide
a social setting to appeal to this broad range of parishioners?
Those parishioners contributing to the
objectives of this goal will have the opportunity to shape the social events for years to
come. Trying new ideas to see what will work could be the norm for this team.
"Love your fellow Christians always. Do not
neglect to show hospitality, for by that means some have entertained angels without
knowing it." (Hebrews 13:1-2)
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Create a Youth Council comprised
of students and adult advisors to assist our youth in increasing valuable involvement in
their Parish Family.
If we are to succeed in gaining the
commitment to our parish family of our current youth, then we need to address their needs
today. This objective should appeal to all that truly enjoy working with youth and helping
them to develop into the responsible parishioners of tomorrow.
Increase and diversify the number of parish
social activities.
Attracting our parish family members to
come together in fellowship will require the creativity, ingenuity, inventiveness, and
organizational skills of many or our parishioners.
Publish a new St. Barbara Family Pictorial
Directory.
Do you know the name of the person who sat
beside you at Mass this past Sunday? This parish directory will help us to get to know the
folks we pray with every week. The current directory is badly dated and a new one is due.
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Provide Services to those in
need while working to change the social conditions that create such needs.
Technology has ushered us into an age of
instantaneous communications and information exchange. Cellphones, 24 hour-a-day-TV-news
services, FAX, e-mail, and the Internet are wonderful technological marvels. However, the
irony is that often we lapse into "information overload" when there just isn't
enough time to do everything we would like. The effort to keep up makes us extraordinarily
busy and, if we are not careful, leads us to an inward focus. Our responsibility to our
fellow man goes beyond our immediate family, our parish, and our diocese. The Body of
Christ is indeed universal and we have an obligation to connect physically and spiritually
with others
"…as often as you did it for one of my
least brothers, you did it for me" (Matt. 25:40).
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Complete a study of the possibility of adding
a coordinator of Social Services Ministries to the parish staff.
With all those in need, managing this
process could be a full time job. This study will be used to answer many questions. Why do
other parishes have such a minister? What would this minister do? Is it appropriate for
St. Barbara?
Adopt a parish in a Third World Country.
This is an opportunity to expand our
horizons and make a real connection to another portion of the Body of Christ. We would not
only be the givers, but also the receivers of the riches of friendship and shared faith.
"The heart cannot be changed by what the eye has not seen." (Haitian Proverb).
Communicate to the parish on a quarterly basis
the services provided by Catholic Charities.
Many of the St. Barbara parish family are not
aware of the many existing Diocesan services currently provided. This objective will
provide for a periodic update to our parish family of these services.
Establish an Ecumenical Day of Caring
for the larger community of Penn Township.
As a member of the Penn Township community we
are encouraging an outreach day sponsored by the St. Barbara parish family. This would
give us a way of providing leadership while gaining visibility in the Penn Township
community.
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Lord God, we seek Your strength and guidance as
we strive to do Your will through our parish Goals.
We are committed to continuing our spiritual
formation, living our Christian values, building community and responding to membership in
our parish family and celebrating Your real presence in the Eucharist.
Empower us, through the Holy Spirit, to …
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Goal
1
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Promote
Stewardship of time, talent, and treasures as a priority of our lives. Help us to
recognize and appreciate Your generous gifts to us, and to share them with others in ways
that are pleasing to You.
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Goal 2
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Gather in all
members of our parish family, to continually and actively worship You. Help us to remove
any obstacles which prevent any of our brothers and sisters from joining together in our
parish community.
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Goal 3
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Increase our
thirst for knowledge of You. Help us to strengthen existing and create new spiritual
formation programs for all parishioners, so that we may all mature in our faith.
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Goal 4
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Build a
stronger parish family by providing opportunities for fellowship and family gatherings.
Help us to imitate You by showing unconditional love, acceptance, and hospitality to all
Your people.
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Goal 5
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Recognize You
in the poor, lonely, and suffering of the world. Help us to provide services to those in
need while working to change the social conditions that create such needs.
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We call upon the Holy Spirit to light a fire in
our hearts and inspire us to take action to achieve this parish goal.
Help us to remain faithful to our mission to
proclaim Your name to all people.
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