Question 1

1. What role will the staff and advisory councils have in serving the pastorates?

Accepted Answer

The use of employed staff and the effective development of advisory councils collectively is meant to empower others through delegation and at the same time reduce unnecessary duplication of meetings in each parish of the pastorate. Experience shows that doing so permits the priests to allocate more time to the pastoral care of souls.

Exactly how the staff and advisory councils will be utilized is a decision to be made  locally, within the pastorate.  Such decisions will presumably be based on, among other considerations, the particular needs of the parishes, the gifts and professional expertise of those who are hired to serve in this capacity, and the personal dispositions of the pastor. Additionally, the location from where staff members carry out their duties would be the decision of the pastor and would presumably be based on facts and circumstances particular to the pastorate and the persons involved. While examples from other dioceses have been examined, the intention will be to provide resourcing so that each pastorate develops an administrative team that best fits its needs.

Question 2

2. Why 2023? Why not wait?

Accepted Answer

Having begun the planning process, prior planning experience shows that any delay beyond the summer of 2023 will jeopardize our hope of achieving a stable, 10-year plan.

Previous planning processes in the diocese would also suggest that delay is more likely to continue or intensify some of the undesired trends identified in the Current Reality Report and which Set Ablaze is meant to disrupt.

Question 3

3. What are the goals for clergy as we implement the pastorate model for our diocese?

Accepted Answer

The desired stability in parish structures that the pastorates are meant to provide will promote the spiritual, physical, and emotional health of our priests. Our experience suggests that healthy, happy, and holy priests who are ministering as missionary disciples and who routinely empower those whom they minister alongside, both clergy and lay, employee and volunteer, will foster a profound impact on the spiritual lives of the faithful in the parish. The time gained will permit priests to be more focused on their priestly duties (teaching the Catholic faith, offering the sacraments, presiding at liturgies, and offering pastoral care to those facing difficult challenges in their lives).

Pastorates will also provide a mechanism by which recently-ordained priests might be able to continue in their priestly formation by being provided lengthened periods in which they are able to serve as a parochial vicar and in collaboration with a pastor. The goal is to disrupt a current trend of having to ask priests to take pastor assignments with significantly less experience serving under other pastors than was once the norm in our diocese.

Question 4

4. How many priests are available for assigned ministry?

Accepted Answer

Sixty-one (61) priests, as reflected in the Current Reality Report.

There are two major moving parts within the calculation: the anticipated number retirements from assigned ministry and the anticipated number of ordinations to the priesthood. This means that the actual number of available priests will fluctuate from year to year. Our modeling is based on 61 because it is the number of priests that our Current Reality Report projects the bishop can reasonably expect to have from year to year. There will be years when more than 61 may be available over the upcoming 10 years. But, if all assumptions hold (ordinations, when priests retire, continued good health, etc.), we as a diocese can expect that at least 61 priests will be available for carrying out assigned, pastoral ministry in a given year.

Question 5

5. What is the typical age of retirement for priests serving in assigned ministry?

Accepted Answer

While priests are free to serve beyond the age of retirement, for planning purposes, 70 has been assumed to be the age at which priests would step away from assigned ministry.  This aligns to diocesan policy.

A “retired” (referred to as senior priest in our diocese) is free to nonetheless continue offering ministry. Typically this is as a substitute or fill-in priest, providing relief to an assigned priest who needs to be away from his ministry assignment for a short period. This form of ministry is very different from assigned ministry in that it does not have the administrative and other responsibilities that are fundamentally associated with serving in a particular assignment.

Question 6

6. Will all priests be asked to move their assignment locations?

Accepted Answer

No. But some will.

Question 7

7. How will new priest assignments be determined?

Accepted Answer

Beginning in the fall of 2022 and with the help of the Clergy Personnel Committee and others, Set Ablaze will develop a series of criteria for how priest assignment recommendations will be made to Bishop DeGrood. Assignments are, of course, a decision reserved for the bishop.

The criteria developed by the Clergy Personnel Committee and with the help of clergy is likely to include, but not be limited to, things such as:

· time at current assignment

· time until expected retirement

· previous experiences

· embodiment of a missionary discipleship approach to ministry

A priest’s ability to delegate and empower others will be absolutely essential in the advent of pastorates. This new structure holds significantly greater scale (distance, numbers of souls entrusted to pastoral care, numbers of physical buildings, experience with working with associates, etc.) and will inform the Clergy Personnel Committee’s recommendation given to Bishop DeGrood after the pastorates have been finalized and announced.

Question 8

8. When will priest assignments be announced?

Accepted Answer

Priest assignments will likely be announced near the end of the first quarter of 2023 (March). This projected date will be, however, refined as the consultation process continues.

Question 9

9. Will all priests assigned to a particular pastorate be asked to live in the same rectory?

Accepted Answer

No.

Question 10

10. How will the priests get to know the people whose spiritual care is entrusted to them when there are more parishioners spread across more churches and a great distance?

Accepted Answer

This is an important consideration that will take the insights and assistance of the lay employees and advisory committees for how to interact with the faithful of each parish. It is important, however, to remember that the challenge already exists; the pastorate model does not introduce it.

Intentional efforts to be present, to focus on ministries that can only be carried out by priests, and to delegate other responsibilities to others, does not preclude a priest from forming relationships with parishioners. It simply challenges the priest to be more intentional about forming these relationships in ways they may not be accustomed to doing under the current model of parishes.

Question 11

11. Why are their currently two pastorates that have been reserved for religious order priests?

Accepted Answer

It is a gift that our diocese is able to entrust the pastoral care responsibilities of multiple parishes to (currently) two religious orders, the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCJ) and Pro Ecclesiae Sancta (PES). As confirmed through communication with the religious superiors who currently lead these respective communities of religious order priests, the unique charisms, the reality of a shared community life, and the rule to which members of religious communities are bound to uphold have been given a particular reverence during this consultation process. Thus, pastorates where religious orders are expected to be serving were treated differently than pastorates where diocesan priests are planned to serve and were modeled using different parameters.

Question 12

12. What is meant by “change readiness”?

Accepted Answer

An intellectual, emotional and spiritual preparedness for changes that can be reasonably expected, in this instance as a result of a consultative planning process. Change readiness can be marked by one’s ability to articulate the changes about to happen accurately and effectively, to reflect a positive disposition toward change, to be able to authentically reference the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance in the midst of the changes, to distinguish fears from anxieties, and/or to model needed changes in personal behaviors or patterns after others who have experienced similar change.

FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS

1. What is a parish?

2. What is a pastorate?

3. What happens on July 5, 2023?

4. What considerations and parameters went into designing the pastorates?

5. How is a pastorate distinct from our current model of pastorally linked parishes?

6. How will the pastorate model address the needs of our priests identified in the Current Reality Report?

7. Does the pastorate model also determine the Mass schedule and/or which priests will preside at those Masses?

8. What is the initial effect of implementation?

9. When will the pastorates be formally announced?

Priestly Resourcing

1. What role will the staff and advisory councils have in serving the pastorates?

2. Why 2023? Why not wait?

3. What are the goals for clergy as we implement the pastorate model for our diocese?

4. How many priests are available for assigned ministry?

5. What is the typical age of retirement for priests serving in assigned ministry?

6. Will all priests be asked to move their assignment locations?

7. How will new priest assignments be determined?

8. When will priest assignments be announced?

9. Will all priests assigned to a particular pastorate be asked to live in the same rectory?

10. How will the priests get to know the people whose spiritual care is entrusted to them when there are more parishioners spread across more churches and a great distance?

11. Why are their currently two pastorates that have been reserved for religious order priests?

12. What is meant by “change readiness”?

1. In the context of pastoral planning, how is a pastorate different from our current model of pastorally-linked parishes?

2. Pastoral planning, set to begin after July 5, 2023?

3. Will there be diocesan-trained facilitators to serve as resources to guide pastorates through a pastoral planning process?

4. Since a pastorate is made up of multiple parishes, can they become one parish and keep one, some, or all of their church buildings in operation for holding regular Sunday Masses along with other parish functions?

5. Is my parish changing on July 5, 2023?

6. Timeline for pastoral planning?

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What is a parish?

2. What is a pastorate?

3. What happens on July 5, 2023?

4. What considerations and parameters went into designing the pastorates?

5. How is a pastorate distinct from our current model of pastorally linked parishes?

6. How will the pastorate model address the needs of our priests identified in the Current Reality Report?

7. Does the pastorate model also determine the Mass schedule and/or which priests will preside at those Masses?

8. What is the initial effect of implementation?

9. When will the pastorates be formally announced?

Priestly Resourcing

1. What role will the staff and advisory councils have in serving the pastorates?

2. Why 2023? Why not wait?

3. What are the goals for clergy as we implement the pastorate model for our diocese?

4. How many priests are available for assigned ministry?

5. What is the typical age of retirement for priests serving in assigned ministry?

6. Will all priests be asked to move their assignment locations?

7. How will new priest assignments be determined?

8. When will priest assignments be announced?

9. Will all priests assigned to a particular pastorate be asked to live in the same rectory?

10. How will the priests get to know the people whose spiritual care is entrusted to them when there are more parishioners spread across more churches and a great distance?

11. Why are their currently two pastorates that have been reserved for religious order priests?

12. What is meant by “change readiness”?

1. In the context of pastoral planning, how is a pastorate different from our current model of pastorally-linked parishes?

2. Pastoral planning, set to begin after July 5, 2023?

3. Will there be diocesan-trained facilitators to serve as resources to guide pastorates through a pastoral planning process?

4. Since a pastorate is made up of multiple parishes, can they become one parish and keep one, some, or all of their church buildings in operation for holding regular Sunday Masses along with other parish functions?

5. Is my parish changing on July 5, 2023?

6. Timeline for pastoral planning?

FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS