{ From The Monitor, Feb. 4, 2016 issue }
In parishes across the Diocese of Trenton, information about the new strategic planning initiative,Faith in Our Future, is finding its way to parishioners via websites and surveys, town hall meetings, presentations at Mass and specially prepared hand-outs.
Introduced during Advent, Faith in Our Future aims to bring the Diocese together with its parishes and ministries
in a planning process to meet challenges and respond to new opportunities for serving the Church’s mission. The initiative is now in its most fundamental phase: when parishes – through the work of their designated core teams — conduct a self-evaluation in the four basic areas of parish life:
Parish core teams, which were formed and trained in the fall, will be engaged in conversation with their parish communities and consultation with parish leadership in order to conduct their evaluations. Their aim is to assess where the parish has been, where it is now and where it might be in the future. Another responsibility to be completed will be to verify data on file with Diocese looking back over five years – particularly as it relates to sacramental life and fiscal realities.
Msgr. Leonard F. Troiano, episcopal vicar for planning, pointed to the importance of this parish self-evaluation phase and the role of parishioners. “We are hoping that they will respond to their parish surveys, show up at town hall meetings; in essence, take part in whatever means will be established to solicit their input. It is very important that they have an opportunity to express their hopes and dreams for their parishes, that their voices are heard.”
In March, the Faith in Our Future process will enter its next phase – when parish core teams submit the results of their self-evaluations and come together in cohort groups. Cohorts, which will be formed by combining three to five core teams from neighboring parishes, will share the findings from the parish studies, and make suggestions about ways that the parishes in a given area might work together and respond to the goals of the process. The more than 20 cohorts encompassing the 107 parishes of the Diocese will begin to train together in mid- March. The composition of the cohorts is set to be finalized soon; once announced, the cohort list will be posted to the Faith in Our Future website and published in The Monitor, both in print and TrentonMonitor.com.
According to the timeline, the cohorts will submit their findings in June. A planning commission that has yet to be formed will work with the findings of the cohorts and make preliminary
recommendations. Those recommendations will be returned to the cohorts for review and response. Final recommendations will be submitted to Bishop O’Connell by October, 2016.