Template

Dreams and Visions:
Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation

Annotated Table of Contents
Read the Dreams & Visions Blog:
Bill's "story from the road."

Resources offered
on this site

Table of Contents

Introduction
Read it here in its entirety.
For a print-ready version of this page, click here.
Permission is granted to reproduce this for use in your own parish.

Part One: Essential Background
Chapter One
Where does the drive for lifelong faith formation come from in the church?
Why the Catechumenate is so important to this work.
Who does the planning for your parish?
Volunteer Leaders, the Pastor, Parish Staff, and Volunteer Ministers

Chapter Two
What do Church Leaders want you to do?
The past fifty years of development in faith formation as a Church have produced great results.
It's important for everyone to know the background.
How we got to consider conversion of the heart to Christ as such a central goal.

Chapter Three
What exactly is conversion?
If conversion is so central, then we must understand it more fully.
What are the signs of conversion in our lives? How do folks experience it?

Part Two: The Pastoral Plan Itself
Chapter Four
The first four dimensions of every parish plan: Word, Worship, Service, and Administration
We have always had these ministries in the church, even before Vatican II.
Now we organize our budget and annual plan around them.
But what's missing in this picture? The answer: A plan to help folks experience conversion.

Chapter Five
The fifth dimension of a pastoral plan: Opportunities for deeper communion with God.
How can a parish organize to provide such opportunities for people?
And not only provide them, but make them part and parcel of parish life?
Without this work, no fire will be lit in the parish and the pastoral plan will remain uninspired!
This chapter is packed with practical suggestions.

Chapter Six
The sixth dimension of a pastoral plan: Sustaining the excitement of faith
Anyone who has ever experienced the excitement of "new faith" knows it must be sustained.
If not, it will cool or even grow cold again.
This chapter presents a plan to reach adults with a content-laden yet enjoyable process.
This chapter is packed with practical suggestions.

Chapter Seven
Three essentials in lifelong faith formation
Before we write our actual plan, we must consider three other key aspects of planning:
1. How to plan for a more participatory and welcoming Sunday liturgy.
In the end, Sunday liturgy is our real goal.
2. How to quickly and adequately form catechists and teachers for the work ahead.
We'll need many more of them!
3. How to help households develop as "places of faith."
If we don't send it all home, we can't succeed.

Part Three: Getting It Done!
Chapter Eight
Writing the Pastoral Plan itself.
This chapter presents a step-by-step guide to writing the actual plan.
It includes notes from Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us from the US Bishops.
And it follows a ten point planning process:
The Dreams and Visions Planning Procedure
1. Make a firm decision to do this, commit yourself to the vision and process
2. Identify and name your Coordinator and get the right people on (or off) the bus!
3. Identify and gather a Team
4. Identify the specific groups you hope to reach within the parish
5. Begin forming catechists and teachers for the work ahead
6. Hold a series of meetings as a Team over about six months
We give you the actual meeting agendas and worksheets.
7. Prepare a short, written Pastoral Plan document – consider it “in process”
8. Invite each affected group to feedback sessions, listen and respond
9. Slowly begin implementing while continuing to hold monthly Team meetings
to evaluate and adjust the Plan
10. Keep doing this forever

Pastoral Planning
A step-by-step guide:
Dreams & Visions:
Pastoral Planning
for Lifelong Faith Formation
A new book which includes a
chapter outlining those
all-important Planning Team
Meetings.

Training
How to teach your parish
about lifelong formation
including excellent PowerPoint
presentations to download and
use, complete with presentation
notes.

Implementation
How to state and sustain faith
sharing throughout the parish using
the
Question of the Week
With free prayer sheets.

Prayer Services
to accompany faith sharing.
You can download and use these
in 5 minutes!

Outlines for adult
or intergenerational
Faith Gatherings
linked to your children's textbook
series.

Outlines for adult
B ible Studies
which are in plain English!
Download each session and get all
you need in one item.

Complete plans for
Parish Based Retreats
in several practical scheduling
formats.

Background Material
All the current books
you need to better understand
lifelong formation, plus free articles
you can download, copy, and use.

Vatican II
Lots of strong resources
to help you teach about the
Council.
We are approaching the 50th
Anniversary of the date on which
John XXIII called Vatican II: Jan
25, 1959.

Take me:
to the
H ome P age

to the
Resource
Center

to
"Getting
Started"