Seven areas of mission will lead to stronger faith communities

In a major step on the "Journey in Faith and Grace," Bishop Edward U. Kmiec has issued Our Journey in Faith and Grace: The Strategic Plan for Our Future, a document that was developed over the past two years by the diocesan Strategic Planning Commission and a number of commission subcommittees.

"As we celebrate spring – a time of growth, renewal and the cycle of life beginning again – we also mark the start of new parish life in the Diocese of Buffalo," Bishop Kmiec said. "This is a broad plan for the future of our diocese and will keep the journey alive well into the next decade. It is the premiere work of the Strategic Planning Commission. I encourage everyone to join us on this journey."

Bishop Kmiec said there has been extensive lay involvement and collaboration in the drafting of the strategic plan, for which he is very grateful. "The leadership of the laity is crucial to the vibrancy of parish life. Their role will become even more significant as we build a new Church that will continue to be responsive to the spiritual, educational and community needs of the people who live in our cities, towns and villages.

"This plan will have a positive impact on Catholics and non-Catholics alike throughout Western New York," the bishop added. "We are on our way. We are arriving at some positive conclusions and I am optimistic that over time, it will become even more evident that a lot of thought, very hard work and extensive prayer went into this document that is the blueprint for the future of our Church here in Western New York."

The plan focuses on seven areas of mission: spiritual revitalization, parish life, lifelong faith formation, finance and administration, Catholic elementary school education, community involvement, and outreach and ministerial leadership.

In each area of mission, goals and objectives were identified, lead agents named and a timeline/effective date established.

"I believe that as the parishes begin to act on these areas of mission, the Catholic Church will have an even stronger local presence as we create faith communities that are responsive to the many needs of their members and those living within their parish communities."

Bishop Kmiec calls spiritual revitalization the most important of the seven missions. "This will allow us to keep the focus of the planning process on the building of the Kingdom of God and the great commission of Jesus Christ by providing resources that will maintain a spiritual focus within the process."

Father James Vacco, OFM, chair of the Spiritual Revitalization Subcommittee, said the basic objectives of the committee’s work are to assure the diocese that ‘right-sizing’ is not just a euphemism for closing. "Right-sizing means for the Church of Buffalo a re-capturing of our evangelical energies and allowing them to respond to the current composition and situation of the people who live within the diocese," Father Vacco said. "The process calls us to focus on good stewardship with our resources so as not to keep spinning ourselves in the direction of becoming more atrophied." Father Vacco is a faculty member at St. Bonaventure University and chaplain at South Buffalo Mercy Hospital.

Among the highlights of the six other missions, goals and objectives of the plan, the parish life area will lead to the restructuring of parishes in order to ensure that parishes have the membership, leadership and resources necessary for vibrant parish life.

Lifelong faith formation will foster an environment within the diocese that supports and facilitates parish-based lifelong spiritual formation.

Finance and administration will develop "best practices" policies for parishes to strengthen administration and internal controls and facilitate increased lay administration in view of the declining number of priests. Thomas Beecher, a member of the Finance and Administration Subcommittee, said there has been an intensive review of all aspects of diocesan financial strategies.

"The establishment of the St. Joseph Investment Fund in September 2006 has provided parishes and other Catholic institutions in the Diocese of Buffalo the opportunity to participate in a professionally-managed fund to maximize the short- and long-term investment objectives of parishes and other Catholic institutions. The earnings from this fund will enhance Catholic ministries here in the Diocese of Buffalo." Beecher is president of Ballynoe, Inc., a Buffalo-based investment advisory firm.

One of the objectives of Catholic elementary school education is to strengthen the role of a school’s Catholic identity so that the Catholic faith is a prominent characteristic of all aspects of the school.

Community involvement and outreach will provide an assessment tool for each parish and/or cluster to ascertain what community outreach is already being done and how it can grow in the future. Sister Denise Roche, GNSH, president of D’Youville College, was chair of the Community Involvement Subcommittee. "The committee had the task of looking at the very heart of what it is to be a follower of Jesus and how that commitment mandates how we live in our diocese," Sister Denise said. "We worked to develop a broad outline for ways that parishes can put the reasons for their existence into practice." Sister Denise is also a member of the Strategic Planning Commission.

Ministerial leadership will provide parishes with models of ministerial leadership and collaborative ministry including job descriptions for those leadership roles. "There are great possibilities for professional lay leadership in our parishes," said Kathleen Heffern, director of Church Ministry for the diocese. "More than 30,000 lay ministries across the country already share the public ministry of the Church. Our committee has developed goals that include the guidelines for pastoral administrators, informational brochures on the path to professional lay ministry, and an expanded educational program for professional lay ministers at Christ the King Seminary.

"Equipping our laity in this diocese for the various leadership roles available to them will lead to even stronger, more vibrant faith communities. I hope this will become a priority of this Journey in Faith and Grace," Heffern added.

Our Journey in Faith and Grace: The Strategic Plan for Our Future has been distributed to parishes throughout the diocese. It also is available on the diocesan Web site: www.buffalodiocese.org/plan