Bishops' pastoral planning

I'm the Bishop
I am the "first teacher" in my diocese or archdiocese.
My goal is to provide evangelization and catechesis
for all members of the community
but always and only in ways that are thoroughly and faithfully Catholic.

In carrying
out the
duties of his
office, a
bishop
stands
among his
people as
one who
serves. He is
to be a
shepherd.
Decree on the
Bishop's Pastoral
Office in the Church
#28
from Vatican II in
Plain English

Dear Bishop,

Whether you're the cardinal archbishop of a large, urban area, or the bishop of
a rural community, your job today is both joyful for you and full of challenges!
Thank you for your episcopal leadership! What would we do without you?

We know that as bishop, you want to insure that a fire gets lit in every one
of your parishes, but you also have to be careful that it doesn't become a
run-away forest fire that burns down the church!

For that reason, the resources we recommend and provide here are ones that
are thoroughly Catholic! They are imbued with our sense of the
sacramental, with our Eucharistic piety, and with the doctrines, customs, and
rites of the church in mind. The materials show a love for the poor and
rejected, a heart for those whose faith has grown cold, and strong support for
the lay, religious and ordained staff of today's parishes. Many of them have an
Imprimatur from one of your brother bishops (or yourself!), and we have tried
very hard to be completely faithful.

We also offer notes on pastoral planning for multiple parish situations, based
on the actual experiences of pastors working in those setting. To see those
notes, click here. Parish Vision 2009 is a powerful planning process which we
offer here at no charge to your parish leaders! Thousands are using it and
finding it a great way to implement Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us. To see
this or download it yourself, click here.

And we assist parish leaders (mostly through diocesan level training
workshops) to do the pastoral planning that is so needed in order to implement
adult formation. To see the curriculum planning we recommend, click here. To
see the library of resources explaining the principles and practices of lifelong
faith formation, click here.

There's been a lot of talk in recent years about "whole community
catechesis" and some have felt it might be a threat to our traditional
child-centered approach to catechesis. In fact, though, everything we
recommend to parish leaders suggests retaining and strengthening the
children's program by using it as a springboard to the adults!

We hope you've read Dreams and Visions: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong
Faith Formation. If not, we will be happy to send you a copy as our gift. Click
here to send a confidential e-mail and simply request it, along with your postal
address for mailing. In this book, you'll find a road map for parishes to follow
providing both catechesis for children and youth, as well as for young adults
and adults at every age and stage of life. Several dioceses have already begun
using Dreams and Visions to implement diocesan goals for evangelization and
lifelong catechesis.

So once again, Bishop, thanks for everything you do for your diocese. The
holy order which comes about as a result of your leadership is certainly the
work of the Spirit in the church. We wish to take our place among the many
who work within that holy order to help bring about the Reign of God.

Good wishes for your ministry,

Bill Huebsch
and the Pastoral Planning Crew

Resources offered
on this site

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.

Have a Member of Our Team Visit Your Diocese
We are providing dioceses with day-long workshops:
Dreams and Visions for Your Parish:
Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation
We tailor each and every event to your local needs and policies
and we leave behind a good spirit, good energy, and some great ideas!
Click here to see a general outline and notes about such a workshop.

Send us a message and let's talk dates and arrangements!
Click here to get started.

Take me:
to the
H ome P age

to the
Resource
Center

to
"Getting
Started"