As the Bishop mentions in United in Christ, the two motivating factors for this pastoral planning were Pope Francis’ call to the entire Church for a Synod on Synodality (the worldwide listening of what we do well and what can we do better) and Bishop Koenig’s meetings with the priests of the Diocese when he first arrived. Those listening sessions produced a list of Ten Best Practices (focus points) for the future.
If the desire of both Pope Francis and our Bishop is for our diocese to become more vibrant, our future pastoral planning must realistically address the present realities and challenges. While there are many issues that our pastoral planning will need to address, I’d like to note two at this time: The first is the reduction in clergy numbers and how our clergy minister within the parish community.
In 2007 we had 93 priests in active ministry, Diocesan and religious, as well as the help of visiting clergy. In 2015 that number was 81. In 2023 it’s 69, a 25% decrease from 2007. Right now, 10 priests could retire but are continuing to serve, two of whom are in their 80’s, and in five years 10
additional priests can retire. In five years, we hope to have five new priests, presuming
everyone continues in their seminary formation. This pastoral planning process invites us
to consider creative ways to share resources and personnel so that we can become more
effective with fewer resources and to support the well-being of our clergy.
Secondly, while the total population of the Diocese is growing, the number of people
attending Mass has decreased 42%, from 56,600 in 2007 to 32,700 in 2022. We are also
spending more on maintenance and aging buildings, which leads to less time being spent
on evangelization and faith formation.
So, “Although we’re profoundly grateful for the diligent efforts of many faithful and dedicated people over the decades, much of what we’ve known and always done is no longer as effective as it once was in handing on the faith. Too many of our inherited structures, institutions, and ways of doing things now regrettably inhibit rather than serve the Church’s unchanging mission and the formational needs of people today. As such, rather than “doubling down” on once effective but now inadequate models and strategies from a previous era, it is time for us, to courageously “cast into the deep” by letting go of these things – as challenging as it can be for all of us – so that with God’s help we might reimagine and realign our parishes, structures, and other resources for the sake of evangelization, discipleship, and mission in our increasingly post-Christian culture. This
is especially true if we are going to fulfill more faithfully Jesus’ mandate to “go make disciples” in the present as well as build a healthier and holier reality to leave for future generations.
A profound question for all of us to ponder is: What do we need to do to energize our parishioners in the pews and how do we reach out to invite those who have stopped coming to church to encourage them to come back home?