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Parish Pastoral Council's Annual Self Assessment of Pastoral Plan

Pope John Paul II wrote in his apostolic exhortation, Ecclesia in America, “it is up to the bishop, with the help of the priests, deacons, religious and lay people to implement a coordinated pastoral plan which is systematic and participatory, involving all the members of the church and awakening in them a missionary consciousness.”(36) The continuing process of pastoral planning in the parishes needs to include assessment of parish pastoral plans and actions taken to implement them. These activities should be carried out at the parish level which will prompt ongoing renewal of parish communities, while recognizing, educating and forming parish leaders. These efforts, as all efforts within the parish or archdiocese, must be begun with intense prayer and be fostered by prayer throughout. It is recommended that pastors and parish pastoral councils participate in days of recollection and retreats as well. It is recognized that the ongoing process of parish pastoral planning and its assessment be:

1. Consistent with and respectful of what the parishes have already accomplished;
2. Oriented toward action and recognize that accomplishing the parish mission is a work in progress;
3. A simple and easy continuation of steps already introduced; and
4. Continually supported by appropriate training.

To that end, it was recommended that in the ongoing process of parish pastoral planning, the assessment should have two phases:

a. An annual assessment of the specific objectives of the parish plan and,
b. A periodic review (e.g., about every three to five years) of the overall goals of the parish pastoral plan .

At their own initiative, individual parishes are encouraged to undertake the annual assessment tasks of the parish pastoral plan. The parish pastoral council, chaired by the Pastor, is the pastoral planning body of the parish and has a primary responsibility in assessing the actions by which the parish pastoral plan is unfolding. It will be necessary to communicate the assessment process and its results to the parishioners as well as to enlist their observations during the process.

Each parish may be at different levels of preparedness and enthusiasm to effectively carry out continuing pastoral planning and assessment. All involved will need to have a deeper understanding of the call to ongoing renewal.

This tool is limited to an annual assessment of the parish’s plan and implementation of the plan.When reviewing the parish pastoral plan, each parish needs to recognize that the cluster of parishes in which it is located is a part of its environment. Parishes need to take into consideration therecommendations of the cluster plan to enhance strengths and minimize limitations in order to address the challenges of the individual parishes.

Self assessment is a necessary part of ongoing pastoral planning. Meaningful, realistic and measurable objectives to accomplish the plan goals need to be clearly identified, and the specific actions required to accomplish these objectives need to be undertaken each year. Without this attention, the hard work of staff and parishioners involved in implementation efforts may result in frustration and disappointment because the envisioned results were either not realized or not recognized when they were realized.

Ongoing pastoral planning requires prayerful reflection, willingness to participate in open discussion, and an openness to the Spirit on the part of many willing and dedicated people. One part of this ongoing activity is for the Parish Pastoral Council to assess on an annual basis the specific objectives to accomplish the parish plan by considering what was called for during the year in review, what was accomplished, and what needs to be changed. The purpose of this document is to propose one way for Parish Pastoral Councils to conduct this assessment.

Consistent with the functions of the Parish Pastoral Council, it is recommended that the Parish Pastoral Council schedule one of its meetings annually to review the Parish Pastoral Plan. This review could take place at the first meeting after the summer break or whenever the council believes that this meeting would be most productive. This meeting also presents an opportunity for new members of the council to become familiar with the parish mission statement and the pastoral plan.

Build on the Work of Your Predecessors

The primary purpose of this annual assessment is to help the pastor, parish staff, pastoral council and others to make a clear connection between the work being carried out in the parish and the formal pastoral plan developed by the parish pastoral council some time ago. Sometimes, that connection is not obvious. Changes in the priorities or the circumstances of the parish, distractions brought about by unforeseen events (fires, major bequests, etc.), changes in personnel (new parish staff or appointment of a new Pastor), goals found to be more easily accomplished than originally thought, or simply the passage of time, may make it difficult to make the connection between what the parish is doing and what was originally in the plan. But these circumstances are all legitimate findings in the annual assessment and give the pastoral council an opportunity to get back on track or to make modifications to their original goals.

In one way or another, every parish is already involved in a process of ongoing pastoral planning. The Pastor, parish staff, and those parishioners who are involved in implementation efforts, take actions as part of the ongoing development of the parish community. To continue the work that has gone before is good stewardship and it respects the work of these dedicated people. As a part of this ongoing process, Parish Pastoral Councils need routinely to:

1. Review what is being done,
2. Consider whether what is being done is moving the parish toward its stated goals,
3. Develop objectives for the next year to continue to accomplish their goals.

Preparation by the Pastor and Parish Staff

In preparation for the Annual Self Assessment of the Pastoral Plan, the Pastor:

1. Obtains copies of the current parish pastoral plan and provides them to each member of the Parish Pastoral Council for them to read prior to the Annual Self Assessment .
2. Contacts those in the parish who are taking actions on each of the plan’s goals (parish staff, parish organizations and individual parishioners) to learn what actions have been taken to accomplish the goals of the Parish Pastoral Plan.
3. Synthesizes the information and develops a brief report of all the implementation actions for each plan goal, (if the connection between all the activity of the parish and the parish pastoral plan goals is not obvious, he simply needs to report that).
4. Plans with the Coordinating Committee of the Parish Pastoral Council to include these reports in the education section of the agenda of the Parish Pastoral Council meeting (s) prior to the Annual Self Assessment of the Pastoral Plan.

Preparation of the Parish Pastoral Council: It is recommended that the Education Section of the council’s agenda (about 15 minutes) for one or two meetings prior to the Annual Self Assessment meeting be devoted to preparing the council for this annual review.

There are three parts to this education component:

Part 1. The basis, both in Church teaching and in organization theory, for parish pastoral planning. It would be beneficial if parish staff and those parishioners who are involved in implementation efforts be present for this educational part of the meeting. This may be presented by the pastor or his delegate.

A. Church Teaching

• Review Church Teaching in light of purpose of the Parish Pastoral Councils
• Review Church Teaching in light of connection to the parish mission statement
• Both topics can be reviewed from current Church documents related to parish life such as Ecclesia in America and Novo Millennio Ineunte, etc.
• Review Church Teaching and elements of faith and practice found in the goals and actions taken to accomplish the plan.

B. Organization Theory

• Advantages of working in a group
• How to involve the right people in this assessment
• Need for trust, and an honest assessment, and openness to learn from failures as well as successes
• Need to foster effective communication among those taking action

Part 2. The brief report of all the implementation actions accomplished for each plan goal.

Part 3. A review (preview) of the agenda for Annual Self Assessment of the Pastoral Plan.

Parish Pastoral Plan Implementation Report

Every parish is already involved in a process of ongoing pastoral planning. The Pastor, parish staff, and parishioners take actions as part of the ongoing development of the parish community. To continue the work that has gone before is good stewardship and it respects the work of these dedicated people. As a part of this ongoing process, Parish Pastoral Councils routinely review the progress that has been made and form objectives for the next year to continue to accomplish the goals the plan has proposed. One of the responsibilities of those (parish staff, organization leaders, volunteers or others) carrying out the actions required to accomplish the parish pastoral plan is to keep the Parish Pastoral Council up to date on the progress being made.

In preparing your report of implementation efforts for the Parish Pastoral Council, the following may be helpful in focusing your thoughts: As you review the actions that you have taken to implement your area of responsibility for the Parish Pastoral Plan, you may want to ask:

1. Are the actions being performed the right ones to achieve the objective?
2. Were these actions successful? If they were not successful, what are the challenges?
3. Were there any discoveries/surprises?
4. Is something further required?
5. What is the next step?

If you come across recommendations for which no actions have been taken, you may want to ask:

1. Why has action not been taken on these recommendations?
2. What are the barriers to action? (i.e., vagueness of intent, fear, lack of resources)
   • Is a goal, objective or action unclear?
   • Is responsibility for an action unclear?
   • Is the time line for an action specific?
   • Does an existing program, service or activity need to be redefined?
   • Does an existing parish organization need to be redefined?
   • Does an existing staff position need to be redefined?
   • Does a new program, service or activity need to be created?
   • Does a new parish organization need to be created?
   • Does a new staff position need to be created?
   • Is there a need for a change in personnel?
3. What actions will be taken?
4. When will some action take place? Who will be responsible?

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