Who are we as a parish? Where have we been? Where is God calling us to go? What do we need to do to respond to God’s call at this moment in our life together?

Every parish, large or small, rich or poor, must answer these questions if it is to grow and become the parish that God calls it to be. Since its inception in late 2002, Saint Sebastian Parish’s Pastoral Council has been praying about those questions and reflecting upon possible responses. The following “green paper” reports on that process of prayer, research and consultation.

In the following pages, we, the Saint Sebastian Parish Pastoral Council, would like to describe our process and propose a revised mission statement and goals that will guide our parish for the next few years. In turn, we hope to receive feedback from you and other parishioners to refine this vision and develop strategies to achieve it.

In this paper, we will refer to goals, strategies and objectives. For the purposes of this process, we will use the terms as follows. A goal is a long term result that we will commit to and strive for over a designated period of time. Strategies and objectives are specific steps that follow from the goals. They are created and implemented to realize a particular goal.

Strategic Process

To listen to how God is calling this community to grow, we combined strategic planning with a prayerful, consensus-based process. Throughout, we drew from the experiences and perspectives of parishioners, the parish staff and those in various forms of volunteer ministry.

Using the diocese’s Parish Resource Manual as a guide, we began with an assessment of the strengths and opportunities our parish faces in five central areas of parish life: education, worship, service, community life and administration. We then gathered statistics on the parish that shows the participation level and growth of the parish. Finally, we also conducted four focus group sessions with parishioners of all ages to gather input from the parish at large. The focus group process was open to the entire parish. After these tasks were completed, we created a revised mission statement and formulated goals for the parish.

Parish Assessment

Education. In Saint Sebastian Parish, we are blessed with an excellent religious education staff and strong programs that cover all aspects of childhood religious education, including our school, CCD and youth ministries. Numerous adult education programs are also offered, and sacramental preparation programs are strong and well attended.

Yet, we still have room for improvement. The parish currently has no provision for facilities for children or adults with special needs. Not enough CCD catechists are certified, and there is a 20 percent turnover of teachers each year.

We also need to do more to reach out to adults, who, as evangelists, bring the faith to their workplaces and community.  In a special way, too, we must encourage parents who are the primary catechists in raising children in the faith. Many parents are not as involved in their children’s religious formation as they could be, and the parish must do more to improve its adult faith formation programs.

Further, our education facilities are, in many ways, insufficient to handle present needs. In the future, Saint Sebastian Parish will have to improve its use of space, either by way of new facilities or more creative use of existing facilities.

Worship. Saint Sebastian Parish is a community of worship and prayer. With a diverse array of high quality worship and sacramental celebrations, worship continues to be a strong area for Saint Sebastian Parish and has, in fact, drawn parishioners to the parish from the surrounding area. Moreover, the parish’s Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults process has helped shape the Diocesan implementation of this Liturgical Rite.

In recent years, however, there has been a general downward trend in attendance at Sunday Mass. Special worship services are all too often poorly attended, advertised and explained. The parish also needs to deepen parishioners’ understanding of the significance of the liturgy and therefore move to a more conscious and active participation.

In addition, young adults are also looking for worship opportunities that are different from their parents and grandparents. The parish will need to explore creative worship experiences and respond to these needs in the years ahead.

The physical environment of the church is also a major weakness, especially the antiquated sound and lighting systems, the lack of air conditioning, the noise of fans, the tiny welcoming space, the poor condition of pews and the uncoordinated decoration styles throughout the church. The Church Interior Restoration Committee has addressed many of these concerns in its 10-year plan. Decisions need to be made in the prioritizing, implementation and financing of these recommendations.

Service. Saint Sebastian Parish is outstanding in the breadth of its social ministry and the depth of its generosity. We are blessed with a full-time Social Services Minister, a broad network of social ministry programs and, finally, an increasing openness within those programs to the idea of delivering services in cooperation with surrounding parishes. As needs increase, we hope to use these strengths to meet the needs of underserved populations, including single parents, new parents, separated and divorced Catholics, and recent widows and widowers.

At the same time, we are faced with challenges. As cultural and social changes are simultaneously reducing the pool of volunteers and increasing the needs for assistance, we must find replacements for the volunteers currently delivering the services the parish provides. In some cases, the loss of a number of the relatively few key volunteers might cause very effective programs to collapse quickly.

Many parishioners may also be unaware of the array of services the parish provides. This lack of awareness also extends to many areas of Catholic Social Teaching on issues that lie beyond the pro-life causes that are so central in public debate. In the coming years, we will have to do more to enlighten parishioners about our parish’s social ministry and the breadth and depth of the  Church’s  social teachings.

Community Life. Several signs point to the strength of our parish community. Personal interviews welcome new members to parish life. Liturgical roles are open to all ages, varying abilities and both sexes. Parish spiritual devotion meets the needs of a wide range of spiritualities. And a youth minister oversees a strong program that encourages youth to participate in liturgical and parish life.

Still, we can do more. Many Catholics in our area and, sadly in our own families have fallen away from the faith, and we need a better program to identify and reach the unchurched or alienated. Also, in a time when many discount the importance of communal life, we must build a sense of belonging that extends beyond worshipping together.

Further, we must focus on all vocations: to the priesthood, religious life, marriage and single life. As a parish, we hope to improve how we identify and then access various talents and interests of parishioners.

Administration. Saint Sebastian Parish is blessed with a well-qualified, educated staff and an active Pastoral Council and Finance Council that ensure that the parish meets diocesan norms. The parish is currently reviewing and implementing recommendations from its recent parish audit.

While it may have to rely on short-term fundraising drives to raise money for short-term projects, the parish’s fundraising efforts, including school fundraising and the Parish Share assessment, are well in hand. A school funding model has been implemented and is being reviewed to ensure that it will meet the current and future needs of the school.

However, as mentioned elsewhere in this green paper, the parish facilities are a recurring concern. They are not adequate for present or future needs of the parish. We must also be more energy aware and efficient as a parish.

As the number of priests decline, parishes today are increasingly partnering with neighboring parishes to meet ministry needs in new ways. While we are clustered with Saint Athanasius Parish and Saint Teresa of Avila Parish, we have been less active in sharing resources and programs than we could be. Though the parish has extended invitations to the parish staffs in our cluster for a common day of reflection, more work needs to be done to meet emerging needs as a wider Catholic community.

Mission Statement

In response to the call of our Baptism, Saint Sebastian Roman Catholic Parish through the presence of the Holy Spirit gives glory to God in Jesus Christ. Empowered by the Word and Sacraments, especially the Eucharist, we address the challenges of our time as we herald the Gospel of Life and joyfully meet the needs of others through Christian service in a welcoming community. Recognizing the need for continuing faith formation that begins in the home, we provide opportunities to encourage and support spiritual growth at every age.

Goal Statements

Recognizing that “love … remains the driving force of mission,” (Redemptoris Missio no. 60), we understand that the evangelizing activity of our parish is implicit in each of the goals listed below.

v     Catechesis: To cultivate a parish consciousness that lifelong faith formation is essential to living as disciples in a changing and challenging age that often contradicts Gospel values.

v     Spiritual Development/Call to Holiness: To foster the desire for spiritual growth through scripture, sacrament and prayer that identifies the Eucharist as the source and summit of our being.

v     Disciples in the World/ Apostolic Vocation: To call people to action as disciples of Jesus through an awareness of Catholic Social Teaching that mandates a life of justice and divine love in the world.

v     Disciples in the Church: To deepen the understanding that through the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation every Catholic is called to participate actively and co-responsibly in the life of the parish.

v     Communication: To develop and maintain structures and systems in the parish that will facilitate a deeper sense of identity and mission and support the flow of functional information.

Assumptions underlying the proposed Goal Statements:

v     Strategies will include the evaluation and possible development of resources and infrastructure needed to accomplish each goal and corresponding objectives.

v     A process will be developed to facilitate the Pastoral Council’s oversight as the Strategic Plan is finalized and implemented within the parish.

v     Implementation of goals and the development of objectives and strategies needs to be a collaborative effort of parish organizations/committees, parish staff and the Pastoral Council.

v     The parish leadership will need to catechize the parish concerning the parish mission and goals and the shared responsibility everyone has for their implementation.

v     Our parish remains fully supportive of our parish school consistent with the diocesan commitment to Catholic schools.