To The parishioners of

the catholic community of meadville

A letter from the pastor:

When our parishes were formed 100 to 150 years ago, they had a very definite mission: to meet the spiritual and educational needs of the German, irish and ital-ian immigrant communities that came to settle here. These communities were steeped in Catholic Christian cultures that were up to 1,500 years old as expressions of the faith going back to Jesus himself. The commu-nities were ready-made; the faith was readily available in the lives of the people and to some extent in the surrounding culture; and the main avenue of evange-lization was through Catholic schools, built with much sacrifice by parishioners in order to educate and to hand on the faith to their children.

Today, every one of these circumstances has changed—some dramatically so. our churches are not being popu-lated by waves of immigrant Catholic communities; our neighbor-hoods are not being filled with Cath-olics; and the surrounding popular culture propagated by the media is largely unchristian, if not hostile to Christianity.

What, then, is our mission now?

Clearly, if we are to meet the needs of today, we will have to be intentional about building up a more unified, vibrant and dynamic Catholic community.

This goal raises many questions. What must happen to make this a reality? how can we reach out to the peo-ple of our area to invite them into the Catholic world centered in the person of Jesus Christ? how can we be the best stewards of the resources we have?

Deciding how we, the Catholic Community of Mead-ville, can best accomplish this goal and answer these questions is the task of pastoral planning.

Beginning in september, we will set this process in motion. We will ask for your input, and keep you informed about the work we are doing and plans that are being made. We will begin by collecting information from all parishioners so that we have the most accurate

data available on which to base our plan. stay tuned.

- Fr. Jeffrey Lucas

pastoral planning process catholic community of meadville

september 2019

OverviewWhen Bishop persico announced his commitment to pastoral planning in 2014, he made it clear we need to understand planning as an ongoing commitment. after the diocesan restructuring plan was implemented, the bishop indicated he wanted any additional planning to be done at the local level. This makes sense: we are the ones who know our communities, our needs and our hopes.

We know that good planning requires good data. Data provides an objective assessment of the current situation. it will help us see how we are changing, who we are serving and where we can grow.

so that’s where we will begin.

YOur first OppOrtunitY fOr invOlvement: the parish census Communication with parishioners will remain a top priority throughout the planning process for the Cath-olic Community of Meadville. Therefore, we will begin by making sure contact information for all parishioners is accurate.

at Masses the weekends of sept. 7/8 and sept. 14/15, each individual or family was asked to review a card with their name, address, phone and email. Your help with this vital step ensures that you will receive infor-mation as it becomes available throughout the pro-cess. if you have not updated your information, please contact the parish office this week at 814/333-6161.

whO is leading the planning prOcess?The decision to explore the future for the Catholic Community of Meadville is the result of conversations by the pastoral and finance councils of st. agatha, st. Brigid and st. Mary parishes, in collaboration with father Lucas. father Lucas discussed the idea of plan-ning with Bishop persico, who had already identified several people within the diocese who could serve as facilitators for parishes taking these steps. a facilitator from outside the parish communities provides several advantages including the skills needed to establish a process and keep participants focused, as well as an unbiased perspective. sister Clare Marie Beichner, ssJ, was selected to serve in this role for the Catholic Com-munity of Meadville, and she has been working behind the scenes to help us outline the steps we need to take and to develop a timeline.

intrOducing sister clare marie beichner, ssJ sister Clare Marie has developed her leadership skills through a number of experiences throughout her ca-reer. she spent 16 years teaching in Catholic schools in

DuBois and erie. as a Licensed social Worker, she ministered at prince of peace Center in Mercer County for 15 years. While there, she oversaw the agency’s ef-forts to grow beyond providing emergency assistance to offer-ing an array of family support-

ive services that addressed the underlying issues, in part, through collaboration with area churches and the business community.

in 2007, sister Clare Marie and sister Marian Wehler, osB, initiated Catholic rural Ministry in the oil City area, where they served 18 parishes and five Catholic schools, witnessing to God’s love in Clarion and Venan-go counties. in 2011, she was elected to the leadership team for the sisters of st. Joseph of northwestern pennsylvania. Widespread experience in facilitation and empowerment has been integral to her pastoral ministry experiences.

in addition to her professional experiences, sister Clare Marie finds daily nourishment in prayer and her love of nature. she lives in the house of Blessing, formerly st. paul’s rectory in erie, where she is involved in a minis-try of presence in the neighborhood. as a sister of st. Joseph, she remains open to the transforming love of God and being responsive to the needs of the people of God.

what happens after the data is cOllected?a preliminary timeline, subject to change, has been developed to usher the project into the beginning of 2020. it includes the following next steps:

> Late-September 2019: introduce the pastoral plan-ning process to members of the Catholic Community of Meadville.

> October 2019: a survey will be distributed to all members of parishes in the Catholic Community of Meadville. The survey will cover several important aspects of community life including leadership, wor-ship, faith formation, stewardship, social concerns and evangelization. We are hopeful most people will be able to submit their responses online, but later in the month, we will make hard copies available for those who prefer.

> During October: The pastoral Council along with father Lucas and father Boyd will identify key mem-bers of the Catholic Community of Meadville who can serve on a task force for pastoral planning. The task force will include people who have the skills and experience to analyze the results and use the infor-mation to begin shaping the recommendations.

what’s next?

We expect to offer the next pastoral planning update to everyone in the Catholic Community of Meadville by early November.