ARTICLES

Many parishes lack pastoral planning reps

By Steve Neill
Of The Catholic Virginian

People from the grassroots parish level have an opportunity for voicing their hopes and concerns in the diocese’s new Strategic Planning Process, an undertaking which is meant to have 100 percent participation from all 152 parish communities.

The Strategic Plan is a five-year plan which will develop new models of inter-parish collaboration which will affect parish staffing through possible clustering that encourages the sharing of resources.

Each parish has been asked to send two lay representatives as well as the pastor to three Vicariate meetings scheduled in the diocese’s Western, Eastern and Central Vicariates this fall. The first meeting will be held Saturday, Sept. 29, at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Salem.

But as of Aug. 29, 39 parishes had not submitted any names to the diocesan Office of Pastoral Planning, said Beth Neu, director of the office. A reminder was sent to pastors by email on Aug. 22.

“They need to do this as soon as possible so the parish can be represented at the meetings,” Mrs. Neu said. “We want the parish representatives to communicate what happens at the meeting with their parish leadership.”

She recognized, however, that she has heard from two pastors of smaller parishes in the western part of the diocese who made the effort to contact her and explained that most of their parishioners are elderly and would be unable to travel to the Vicariate meeting in Salem because of distance.

But Mrs. Neu emphasized the importance of each parish being represented at their particular Vicariate meeting.

“After these fall meetings, the different local planning area groups will meet on their own,” she said.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo established the diocese’s Pastoral Planning Commission in 2005. The commission, whose chair is Father Charles Breindel, pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Danville, was asked to develop a plan for parish structuring.

The strategic planning process named “Our Journey of Faith,” is meant to show a connection with the diocesan document “We Walk by Faith,” which encourages all parishes to make a self-examination.

“The purpose of this strategic plan is to be proactive and comprehensive as we address the challenge of moving the Diocese of Richmond from a one-pastor-one-parish expectation to new models of inter-parish collaboration.” Mrs. Neu explained that all parishes have been grouped into 19 local planning areas which are based on geography. There are 12 geographical regions of the diocese.

“For example, local planning area number 5 is basically greater Hampton, Newport News, and Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha in Tabb,” Mrs. Neu said.

“The further west you go, the greater distance between Catholic churches.”

As an example of such distances, Mrs. Neu said that one local planning area includes Sacred Heart, Danville, and St. Joseph’s, Martinsville, whose churches are 28 miles from each other with a driving time of 36 minutes. The two parishes are not clustered but are part of the same local planning area 19.

Sacred Heart in Danville, however, is in a cluster with St. Paschal Baylon in South Boston and St. Elizabeth of Hungary in Brookneal even though the distance from Danville to either of the two rural churches is greater than to the church in Martinsville. St. Catherine of Siena in Clarksville and Good Shepherd in South Hill are all part of that same local planning area.

The expected clergy shortage is a major concern. In the next five years Mrs. Neu estimates there will be 18–22 fewer active diocesan priests to serve the 152 parishes. This number does not include retired priests.

“The Catholic population in our diocese is increasing at a rate greater than the national rate while the number of priests is decreasing at a rate greater than the national rate,” reports the strategic plan in its overview and background.

“Every effort is made to have a priest for Sunday Mass,” Mrs. Neu said, but added that some parishes are preparing for Sunday Celebration in the Absence of a Priest. Parishioners of Visitation parish in Middlesex County and Francis de Sales in Mathews County recently attended a diocesan-sponsored workshop dealing with this topic.

“I don’t think it’s done anywhere regularly in the diocese except at Good Shepherd in Amelia where it is scheduled three weekends a month on Saturday night at 6:30,” Mrs. Neu said, adding that the Amelia parish has approximately 25 families.

Father Garcia, administrator/parish priest of St. John Neumann parish in Powhatan, presides at the Sunday vigil Mass at Amelia the third Saturday of the month. Deacon Edward Schmidt and Deacon Robert Ewan, assistant director of the diocesan Office of the Vicar for Clergy, take turns presiding at the Sunday Celebration in the Absence of a Priest on the first, second, and fourth Saturday nights.

“It’s still important for people in a community to gather in prayer,” Mrs. Neu said of the celebrations without a priest. “We don’t want people to say ‘I just can’t go at all.’ “

The Office of Pastoral Planning has data on each parish which includes basic statistics, including age breakdown of parishioners, the number of baptisms, weddings and funerals each year, seating capacity of the church and even the number of parking spaces. Most of the data came from the annual report each parish is asked to submit to the diocese.

“The data is important because the 19 different planning areas will each have its own committee.

“Each of the 19 groups will have a chair and a trained facilitator who is hired by the diocese,” she said.

Among the facilitators are Sharon Phillips, administration director of Redeemer parish, Mechanicsville; Frank Squillace, who holds the same position at Incarnation parish in Charlottesville; Neil Walsh, of Sacred Heart, Norfolk; Patty Huffman, executive secretary of the Diocesan Pastoral Council from Blessed Sacrament, Harrisonburg, and Dick Surrusco, of Our Lady of Nazareth, Roanoke.

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