Here & Happy to Help!

The growth and liveliness of your parish rely on the Parish Pastoral Plan. 

A plan that addresses the spiritual needs of the parishioners and outlines the way forward to fully live out the vocations to which we all have been called – to spread the Good News.

The archdiocese has enthusiastic experts available to assist you in pastoral planning from start to finish. 

We encourage you to work with this team to fast track your parish planning process. Imagine the vitality that comes from your community as they grow in their faith formation and desire to live with an open and giving heart. Contact details at end of this page.

There’s no doubt that planning may seem a daunting task. We want you to be successful, so we offer our facilitators to assist you. They have done the hard work before and have all the tips and tricks you will need to:

• Access and strengthen your planning team;
• Develop planning skills; and
• Acquire the necessary Spirituality of Communion knowledge to begin the listening and discernment process within your parish.

Along with our facilitators, we have other resources readily available to you:

• Step by Step Planning Guide
• Pastoral Planning Booklet
• Sample Demographics Report
• Kickoff Meeting Agenda
• Spirituality of Communion Prayer
• Pastoral Planning Prayer
• Pastoral Planning Intercessions
• Parish Life Assessment Forms and Analytic Model
• Action Plan & Tracking Form
• Checklist for Completed Action Plan
• Ministry Charter template

Tracking your Parish Pastoral Plan ensures you are driving towards your goals and allows you to reflect on what’s working and what isn’t. The Action Plan Tracking team is here to help you share your plan, your progress and tasks completed.

Share your pastoral plans with us! We will share the Good News, accelerate our knowledge and keep a backup for you! email them to [email protected] with the title: PASTORAL PLAN FOR *insert-parish name-and-date-of-plan.

Are you a big reader? Here are some great books and documents for your study and to help serve as starting for further research:

• The Gospel, according to John.

• Nuovo Millenium Ineunte. By John Paul II.

• Evangelii Gaudium. By Pope´s Francis

• Revisioning the Parish Pastoral Council. By Gubish, Jenny & McGannon.

• Discernment, reading the signs of daily life. By Henri Nouwen.

• What is Ignatian spirituality? By David Fleming,  SJ.
  
  Call us or drop us an email with your questions, suggestions or just to share with us how your pastoral planning is going! The Office of Pastoral and Educational Ministries can direct you to the appropriate resources
  
  

W2K (Words to Know!)

Archdiocese – The district for which an archbishop is responsible. The word diocese comes from the Greek word meaning "administration." A diocese is a geographical area under the administration of a bishop. Each diocese is divided into local parishes. – www.churchyear.net

Apostolic Letter - Apostolic letters are documents issued by the Pope or in his name. The letters of the Apostles to Christian communities or those in authority, i.e. the Pauline Epistles, including the Epistle to the Hebrews, together with the seven Catholic epistles of the other Apostles. – www.catholic.org

Archbishop Joe Vasquez – is the present metropolitan archbishop of Galveston-Houston and pastor to its 1.7 million Catholics (and over 4 million non-Catholics) and more than 400 priests in nearly 150 parishes and 60 schools spread over 8,880 square miles. 

Daniel Cardinal DiNardo – His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop Emeritus.

Discernment – Spiritual discernment is faithful living and listening to God’s love and direction so that we can fulfill our individual calling and shared mission. There is discernment of gifts, spirits, actions, intents, and the course of the times we live in. –Henry Nouwen

Discipleship – Discipleship is the process of embracing the life and ethic of Jesus Christ, because of the hope laid out in the Gospel.

Exhortation – A discourse or address conveying urgent advice or recommendations. The Greek word translated "exhortation" (paraklesis) signifies, originally, "a calling near or for" (as an advocate or helper who should appeal on one's behalf), and carries the twofold sense of "exhortation" and "consolation" (which see). 

Formation – The Church's catechetical mission aims to help the faithful of all ages to grow in both human and Christian maturity, enriching the whole of life with the leaven of the Gospel. Consequently, appropriate goals and content will embrace all the faith dimensions of an adult life—for example, understanding and be communicating the faith, skills needed for personal growth, the experience of family life, relationships, public service, and concern for the common interest. www.usccb.org

Incarnation – The Incarnation of the Son of God is the terminology used to describe what happened when the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God, "became flesh" as he was miraculously conceived in the womb of the Virgin Mary according to the Bible. 

Liturgical – Related to our specific way of performing the Eucharistic service. On the one hand, liturgy often means the whole complex of official services, all the rites, ceremonies, prayers, and sacraments of the Church, as opposed to private devotions. Even in Western Rites, the word "official" or "canonical" will do as well as "liturgical" in the general sense, so that we too may use Liturgy only for the Holy Eucharist. – www.newadvent.org 

Parish Pastoral Plan.  A prayerful and methodical practice by which the pastoral council assists their pastor to establish spiritual priorities and goals through listening, discernment, and prioritization. It addresses the current parish community’s spiritual needs and lays the path for how best the parish is going to achieve its mission, leading parishioners in furthering their call to Jesus and their ability to lead others to Jesus.

Pope Leo XIV- Born as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the 267th Bishop of Rome is first Augustinian Pope and is the second Roman Pontiff from the Americas. he spent many years as a missionary in Peru before being elected head of the Augustinians for two consecutive terms.

Pope Francis- Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church in March 2013, becoming Pope Francis. He is the first pope from the Americas.

Pope John Paul II- Pope John Paul II was born Karol Józef Wojtyla on May 18, 1920, in Wadowice, Poland. He was ordained in 1946, became the bishop of Ombi in 1958, and became the archbishop of Krakow in 1964. He was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1967, and in 1978 became the first non-Italian pope in more than 400 years. He was a vocal advocate for human rights and used his influence to effect political change. He died in Italy in 2005. It was announced in July of 2013 that he would be declared a saint in April of the following year.

Pope Paul VI - Blessed Paul VI, original name Giovanni Battista Montini (born September 26, 1897, Concesio, near Brescia, Italy—died August 6, 1978, Castel Gandolfo; beatified October 19, 2014; feast day September 26), his pontificate was confronted with the problems and uncertainties of a church facing a new role in the contemporary world.