FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS

To provide essential context for Set Ablaze, the Code of Canon Law defines “a parish (as) a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a diocese whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop” (Canon 515§1). Therefore, while · every parish has only one pastor, only one priest may be pastor of several parishes; and · additional priests (parochial vicars) may be assigned to a parish or a group of parishes to assist the pastor in his responsibilities. “Whenever it is necessary or opportune in order to carry out the pastoral care of a parish fittingly, one or more parochial vicars can be associated with the pastor. As co-workers with the pastor and sharers in his solicitude, they are to offer service in the pastoral ministry by common counsel and effort with the pastor and under his authority. A parochial vicar can be assigned either to assist in exercising the entire pastoral ministry for the whole parish, a determined part of the parish, or a certain group of the Christian faithful of the parish, or even to assist in fulfilling a specific ministry in different parishes together” (Canon 545).

Design – In the context of Set Ablaze, a pastorate is a geographic territory consisting of one or more parishes that is created as a stable structure to be used by the diocesan church for the upcoming 10 years. Within the pastorate there exists an alignment of our priests who are available for assigned ministry with the existing parish resources (e.g. numbers of Catholics participating in the sacramental life of the Church, physical infrastructure, financial resources, etc.). Mechanism of planning – The pastorate is created in order to make this alignment (priests and parish resources) a sustainable planning structure that is meant to be used all throughout the 10-year period for which we are planning. This establishes a workable context in which pastoral planning will occur. The pastoral planning that follows the implementation of the pastorates is an intentional effort to re-orient the resources and ministries of the Church. Set Ablaze seeks to disrupt unhealthy trends, and the re-orienting of the ministries and resources will mark the intentional efforts within the pastorate to disrupt those trends. Purpose – Therefore, the pastoral care of all the people within the pastorate’s boundaries is entrusted to the pastoral care of a single priest, the pastor. The pastor, parochial vicars, deacons (if they are available), consecrated and parishioners of a pastorate are called upon · to grow together as a community of faith; · to worship God through worthy celebration of, and participation in, the Mass and other sacraments of the Church; · to organize the resources of the pastorate to most effectively build up and support parishioners in the pursuance of Lifelong Catholic Missionary Discipleship Through God’s Love in the apostolic mission we have been given; · to foster opportunities to lead people to an encounter with Christ, and to grow in Christian service to their neighbors; · to be good stewards of God’s gifts within the pastorate by calling and equipping people to live their vocations well and fruitfully by optimizing parish staffing, including the use of volunteers, in the pastorate and the organization of a leadership team, advisory council, etc., to be effective, and to avoid duplication of administrative resourcing; · to delegate and empower; and · to assist and support the pastor and with the help of diocesan resources, to develop a pastoral plan which identifies within the pastorate how best to achieve the above aims. Means toward an end – A pastorate is also marked by a locally developed pastoral plan that is subject to the approval of the diocesan bishop. Pastoral plans are the specific measures to be implemented within a pastorate with the purpose of achieving a common vision.

The 117 parishes currently served by 57 different pastors will be redesigned into a new structure for parishes referred to as “pastorates.” Presently, the consultation process is examining a model that would create a new structure to be served by 27 pastors (from 57 parishes/pastoral linkages). The pastors would collaborate with approximately 34 priests who are available for assigned ministry as parochial vicars. The number of pastorates may change in the consultation process; however, the 61 priests (27 pastors and 34 parochial vicars) that are projected to be available for assigned ministry in parishes comes from the Current Reality Report developed for Set Ablaze. Therefore, the number of total priests assigned to the new model will not change substantially. The design of the structure is very intentional about achieving Set Ablaze’s specified goal of creating a more stable structure for the parishes. Per the same Current Reality Report, this stability is in the midst of projections that show the total number of priests available for active ministry will decline due to anticipated retirements and fewer expected ordinations to the priesthood over the next 10 years

Modeling and the design of pastorates have sought to establish a consistent ratio of priests to parishioners. All parishes were included in this design process (see Guiding Change document for more information). Other essential considerations of the design process include but are not limited to: · Parishes and pastorates do not exist if it were not for a pastor, so the number of priests available to serve in that capacity over the upcoming 10 years was a primary consideration. This number took into consideration expected retirements and ordinations of priests. · The pastorate model places an increased administrative responsibility on the pastor. And so, the number of priests who possess the unique giftedness required to fulfill the additional responsibilities that the pastorate model places on the pastor and whose disposition is one of empowerment and delegation were essential considerations in the design process. · The Sunday Mass obligation is the center of parish life. Priests, per canon law, are permitted to celebrate three on a weekend (including the Saturday vigil). · The seating capacity of churches within the pastorates. · The total number of registered households and the total giving within the parishes. · Regional centers within our diocese where commerce, business resources, and/or social activities are more prevalent. · Distance between parish churches. · The presence of Catholic schools, an important ministry of the Church, within parishes. · We are blessed in this diocese to be served by two different communities of religious order priests. The importance of their rule, the guide which orders the way they carry out their priesthood, was an essential consideration. All of these were factored when arriving at a current design that seeks to create a relatively consistent ratio of priest-to-Sunday-Mass attendees (“worshippers”) across all pastorates. Other considerations that also were made when developing the current model for pastorates included the current/historical pastoral linkages, school district and county boundaries, and the physical condition of parish facilities.

There is really one essential distinction: a pastorate is erected with the explicit purpose of creating a context in which a pastoral plan is written and implemented. They begin with the directive to collaborate with neighboring parishes in their ministry offerings, to cooperate in mission, and to find solutions that work for the good of all souls within the pastorate. This includes cooperation and collaboration in the administration of parishes. One essential reality that remains: all ministry activities, particularly those carried out by the staff and appointed volunteers, is to be carried out under the direction of the pastor. This is the case in our current model of pastorally linked parishes and will remain the case under the pastorate model.

Feedback from priests is that, for many, so many of the administrative duties are not life-giving nor is the model of the pastor having to fulfill them all sustainable. The pastorate model will allow our priests to focus more on offering sacramental, spiritual and teaching ministries to parishioners entrusted to their pastoral care. The pastorate model addresses the needs of our priests by providing a consolidated lay staff that better supports the priests serving within the pastorate. The intentional development of a lay, employed/volunteer operational staff serving all parishes within the pastorate is meant to take away much of the administrative duties that our priests and pastors typically carry out under our current model.

No. A Mass schedule is not determined in the pastorate modeling process. This is a decision to be made within the pastorate as part of the implementation process and the pastoral planning that coincides with it.

The pastorates will thus encompass multiple parishes as we know them to exist today. The pastorate will be under the pastoral authority of one priest, the pastor, whose appointment will take effect on July 1, 2023. In most pastorates, that priest will be accompanied by a parochial vicar(s). Implementation will, then, be ongoing with the assistance of a pastoral planning process that will begin immediately following the July 1 effective date.

Feedback will be received through November 21, 2022. Bishop DeGrood will receive all of this input to complete his discernment. A final design will be announced in late January 2023.

To provide essential context for Set Ablaze, the Code of Canon Law defines “a parish (as) a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a diocese whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop” (Canon 515§1). Therefore, while · every parish has only one pastor, only one priest may be pastor of several parishes; and · additional priests (parochial vicars) may be assigned to a parish or a group of parishes to assist the pastor in his responsibilities. “Whenever it is necessary or opportune in order to carry out the pastoral care of a parish fittingly, one or more parochial vicars can be associated with the pastor. As co-workers with the pastor and sharers in his solicitude, they are to offer service in the pastoral ministry by common counsel and effort with the pastor and under his authority. A parochial vicar can be assigned either to assist in exercising the entire pastoral ministry for the whole parish, a determined part of the parish, or a certain group of the Christian faithful of the parish, or even to assist in fulfilling a specific ministry in different parishes together” (Canon 545).

Design – In the context of Set Ablaze, a pastorate is a geographic territory consisting of one or more parishes that is created as a stable structure to be used by the diocesan church for the upcoming 10 years. Within the pastorate there exists an alignment of our priests who are available for assigned ministry with the existing parish resources (e.g. numbers of Catholics participating in the sacramental life of the Church, physical infrastructure, financial resources, etc.). Mechanism of planning – The pastorate is created in order to make this alignment (priests and parish resources) a sustainable planning structure that is meant to be used all throughout the 10-year period for which we are planning. This establishes a workable context in which pastoral planning will occur. The pastoral planning that follows the implementation of the pastorates is an intentional effort to re-orient the resources and ministries of the Church. Set Ablaze seeks to disrupt unhealthy trends, and the re-orienting of the ministries and resources will mark the intentional efforts within the pastorate to disrupt those trends. Purpose – Therefore, the pastoral care of all the people within the pastorate’s boundaries is entrusted to the pastoral care of a single priest, the pastor. The pastor, parochial vicars, deacons (if they are available), consecrated and parishioners of a pastorate are called upon · to grow together as a community of faith; · to worship God through worthy celebration of, and participation in, the Mass and other sacraments of the Church; · to organize the resources of the pastorate to most effectively build up and support parishioners in the pursuance of Lifelong Catholic Missionary Discipleship Through God’s Love in the apostolic mission we have been given; · to foster opportunities to lead people to an encounter with Christ, and to grow in Christian service to their neighbors; · to be good stewards of God’s gifts within the pastorate by calling and equipping people to live their vocations well and fruitfully by optimizing parish staffing, including the use of volunteers, in the pastorate and the organization of a leadership team, advisory council, etc., to be effective, and to avoid duplication of administrative resourcing; · to delegate and empower; and · to assist and support the pastor and with the help of diocesan resources, to develop a pastoral plan which identifies within the pastorate how best to achieve the above aims. Means toward an end – A pastorate is also marked by a locally developed pastoral plan that is subject to the approval of the diocesan bishop. Pastoral plans are the specific measures to be implemented within a pastorate with the purpose of achieving a common vision.

The 117 parishes currently served by 57 different pastors will be redesigned into a new structure for parishes referred to as “pastorates.” Presently, the consultation process is examining a model that would create a new structure to be served by 27 pastors (from 57 parishes/pastoral linkages). The pastors would collaborate with approximately 34 priests who are available for assigned ministry as parochial vicars. The number of pastorates may change in the consultation process; however, the 61 priests (27 pastors and 34 parochial vicars) that are projected to be available for assigned ministry in parishes comes from the Current Reality Report developed for Set Ablaze. Therefore, the number of total priests assigned to the new model will not change substantially. The design of the structure is very intentional about achieving Set Ablaze’s specified goal of creating a more stable structure for the parishes. Per the same Current Reality Report, this stability is in the midst of projections that show the total number of priests available for active ministry will decline due to anticipated retirements and fewer expected ordinations to the priesthood over the next 10 years

Modeling and the design of pastorates have sought to establish a consistent ratio of priests to parishioners. All parishes were included in this design process (see Guiding Change document for more information). Other essential considerations of the design process include but are not limited to: · Parishes and pastorates do not exist if it were not for a pastor, so the number of priests available to serve in that capacity over the upcoming 10 years was a primary consideration. This number took into consideration expected retirements and ordinations of priests. · The pastorate model places an increased administrative responsibility on the pastor. And so, the number of priests who possess the unique giftedness required to fulfill the additional responsibilities that the pastorate model places on the pastor and whose disposition is one of empowerment and delegation were essential considerations in the design process. · The Sunday Mass obligation is the center of parish life. Priests, per canon law, are permitted to celebrate three on a weekend (including the Saturday vigil). · The seating capacity of churches within the pastorates. · The total number of registered households and the total giving within the parishes. · Regional centers within our diocese where commerce, business resources, and/or social activities are more prevalent. · Distance between parish churches. · The presence of Catholic schools, an important ministry of the Church, within parishes. · We are blessed in this diocese to be served by two different communities of religious order priests. The importance of their rule, the guide which orders the way they carry out their priesthood, was an essential consideration. All of these were factored when arriving at a current design that seeks to create a relatively consistent ratio of priest-to-Sunday-Mass attendees (“worshippers”) across all pastorates. Other considerations that also were made when developing the current model for pastorates included the current/historical pastoral linkages, school district and county boundaries, and the physical condition of parish facilities.

There is really one essential distinction: a pastorate is erected with the explicit purpose of creating a context in which a pastoral plan is written and implemented. They begin with the directive to collaborate with neighboring parishes in their ministry offerings, to cooperate in mission, and to find solutions that work for the good of all souls within the pastorate. This includes cooperation and collaboration in the administration of parishes. One essential reality that remains: all ministry activities, particularly those carried out by the staff and appointed volunteers, is to be carried out under the direction of the pastor. This is the case in our current model of pastorally linked parishes and will remain the case under the pastorate model.

Feedback from priests is that, for many, so many of the administrative duties are not life-giving nor is the model of the pastor having to fulfill them all sustainable. The pastorate model will allow our priests to focus more on offering sacramental, spiritual and teaching ministries to parishioners entrusted to their pastoral care. The pastorate model addresses the needs of our priests by providing a consolidated lay staff that better supports the priests serving within the pastorate. The intentional development of a lay, employed/volunteer operational staff serving all parishes within the pastorate is meant to take away much of the administrative duties that our priests and pastors typically carry out under our current model.

No. A Mass schedule is not determined in the pastorate modeling process. This is a decision to be made within the pastorate as part of the implementation process and the pastoral planning that coincides with it.

The pastorates will thus encompass multiple parishes as we know them to exist today. The pastorate will be under the pastoral authority of one priest, the pastor, whose appointment will take effect on July 1, 2023. In most pastorates, that priest will be accompanied by a parochial vicar(s). Implementation will, then, be ongoing with the assistance of a pastoral planning process that will begin immediately following the July 1 effective date.

Feedback will be received through November 21, 2022. Bishop DeGrood will receive all of this input to complete his discernment. A final design will be announced in late January 2023.

To provide essential context for Set Ablaze, the Code of Canon Law defines “a parish (as) a certain community of the Christian faithful stably constituted in a diocese whose pastoral care is entrusted to a pastor (parochus) as its proper pastor (pastor) under the authority of the diocesan bishop” (Canon 515§1). Therefore, while · every parish has only one pastor, only one priest may be pastor of several parishes; and · additional priests (parochial vicars) may be assigned to a parish or a group of parishes to assist the pastor in his responsibilities. “Whenever it is necessary or opportune in order to carry out the pastoral care of a parish fittingly, one or more parochial vicars can be associated with the pastor. As co-workers with the pastor and sharers in his solicitude, they are to offer service in the pastoral ministry by common counsel and effort with the pastor and under his authority. A parochial vicar can be assigned either to assist in exercising the entire pastoral ministry for the whole parish, a determined part of the parish, or a certain group of the Christian faithful of the parish, or even to assist in fulfilling a specific ministry in different parishes together” (Canon 545).

Design – In the context of Set Ablaze, a pastorate is a geographic territory consisting of one or more parishes that is created as a stable structure to be used by the diocesan church for the upcoming 10 years. Within the pastorate there exists an alignment of our priests who are available for assigned ministry with the existing parish resources (e.g. numbers of Catholics participating in the sacramental life of the Church, physical infrastructure, financial resources, etc.). Mechanism of planning – The pastorate is created in order to make this alignment (priests and parish resources) a sustainable planning structure that is meant to be used all throughout the 10-year period for which we are planning. This establishes a workable context in which pastoral planning will occur. The pastoral planning that follows the implementation of the pastorates is an intentional effort to re-orient the resources and ministries of the Church. Set Ablaze seeks to disrupt unhealthy trends, and the re-orienting of the ministries and resources will mark the intentional efforts within the pastorate to disrupt those trends. Purpose – Therefore, the pastoral care of all the people within the pastorate’s boundaries is entrusted to the pastoral care of a single priest, the pastor. The pastor, parochial vicars, deacons (if they are available), consecrated and parishioners of a pastorate are called upon · to grow together as a community of faith; · to worship God through worthy celebration of, and participation in, the Mass and other sacraments of the Church; · to organize the resources of the pastorate to most effectively build up and support parishioners in the pursuance of Lifelong Catholic Missionary Discipleship Through God’s Love in the apostolic mission we have been given; · to foster opportunities to lead people to an encounter with Christ, and to grow in Christian service to their neighbors; · to be good stewards of God’s gifts within the pastorate by calling and equipping people to live their vocations well and fruitfully by optimizing parish staffing, including the use of volunteers, in the pastorate and the organization of a leadership team, advisory council, etc., to be effective, and to avoid duplication of administrative resourcing; · to delegate and empower; and · to assist and support the pastor and with the help of diocesan resources, to develop a pastoral plan which identifies within the pastorate how best to achieve the above aims. Means toward an end – A pastorate is also marked by a locally developed pastoral plan that is subject to the approval of the diocesan bishop. Pastoral plans are the specific measures to be implemented within a pastorate with the purpose of achieving a common vision.

The 117 parishes currently served by 57 different pastors will be redesigned into a new structure for parishes referred to as “pastorates.” Presently, the consultation process is examining a model that would create a new structure to be served by 27 pastors (from 57 parishes/pastoral linkages). The pastors would collaborate with approximately 34 priests who are available for assigned ministry as parochial vicars. The number of pastorates may change in the consultation process; however, the 61 priests (27 pastors and 34 parochial vicars) that are projected to be available for assigned ministry in parishes comes from the Current Reality Report developed for Set Ablaze. Therefore, the number of total priests assigned to the new model will not change substantially. The design of the structure is very intentional about achieving Set Ablaze’s specified goal of creating a more stable structure for the parishes. Per the same Current Reality Report, this stability is in the midst of projections that show the total number of priests available for active ministry will decline due to anticipated retirements and fewer expected ordinations to the priesthood over the next 10 years

Modeling and the design of pastorates have sought to establish a consistent ratio of priests to parishioners. All parishes were included in this design process (see Guiding Change document for more information). Other essential considerations of the design process include but are not limited to: · Parishes and pastorates do not exist if it were not for a pastor, so the number of priests available to serve in that capacity over the upcoming 10 years was a primary consideration. This number took into consideration expected retirements and ordinations of priests. · The pastorate model places an increased administrative responsibility on the pastor. And so, the number of priests who possess the unique giftedness required to fulfill the additional responsibilities that the pastorate model places on the pastor and whose disposition is one of empowerment and delegation were essential considerations in the design process. · The Sunday Mass obligation is the center of parish life. Priests, per canon law, are permitted to celebrate three on a weekend (including the Saturday vigil). · The seating capacity of churches within the pastorates. · The total number of registered households and the total giving within the parishes. · Regional centers within our diocese where commerce, business resources, and/or social activities are more prevalent. · Distance between parish churches. · The presence of Catholic schools, an important ministry of the Church, within parishes. · We are blessed in this diocese to be served by two different communities of religious order priests. The importance of their rule, the guide which orders the way they carry out their priesthood, was an essential consideration. All of these were factored when arriving at a current design that seeks to create a relatively consistent ratio of priest-to-Sunday-Mass attendees (“worshippers”) across all pastorates. Other considerations that also were made when developing the current model for pastorates included the current/historical pastoral linkages, school district and county boundaries, and the physical condition of parish facilities.

There is really one essential distinction: a pastorate is erected with the explicit purpose of creating a context in which a pastoral plan is written and implemented. They begin with the directive to collaborate with neighboring parishes in their ministry offerings, to cooperate in mission, and to find solutions that work for the good of all souls within the pastorate. This includes cooperation and collaboration in the administration of parishes. One essential reality that remains: all ministry activities, particularly those carried out by the staff and appointed volunteers, is to be carried out under the direction of the pastor. This is the case in our current model of pastorally linked parishes and will remain the case under the pastorate model.

Feedback from priests is that, for many, so many of the administrative duties are not life-giving nor is the model of the pastor having to fulfill them all sustainable. The pastorate model will allow our priests to focus more on offering sacramental, spiritual and teaching ministries to parishioners entrusted to their pastoral care. The pastorate model addresses the needs of our priests by providing a consolidated lay staff that better supports the priests serving within the pastorate. The intentional development of a lay, employed/volunteer operational staff serving all parishes within the pastorate is meant to take away much of the administrative duties that our priests and pastors typically carry out under our current model.

No. A Mass schedule is not determined in the pastorate modeling process. This is a decision to be made within the pastorate as part of the implementation process and the pastoral planning that coincides with it.

The pastorates will thus encompass multiple parishes as we know them to exist today. The pastorate will be under the pastoral authority of one priest, the pastor, whose appointment will take effect on July 1, 2023. In most pastorates, that priest will be accompanied by a parochial vicar(s). Implementation will, then, be ongoing with the assistance of a pastoral planning process that will begin immediately following the July 1 effective date.

Feedback will be received through November 21, 2022. Bishop DeGrood will receive all of this input to complete his discernment. A final design will be announced in late January 2023.