Our Pastoral Plan: What & Why

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.” This saying is most often attributed to Benjamin Franklin. It is quoted frequently, especially by business leaders. The word play contained within the saying means that having no plan is a plan, a plan to fail. Does this saying have meaning for the Church and her entities, including parishes? Some would say that it does; others would say that it does not. 

Those who say that it does not might argue that it reduces the Church to an earthly reality, a business, a human organization. While there is an administrative and managerial dimension to the Church and we need to plan for that part of the Church’s life, it is not the whole picture of the Church. What about the pastoral and spiritual side of the Church? Should we plan for that or is failing to make a pastoral plan a plan to fail. In Luke 14:28-32, a section of Luke’s gospel about the cost of Christian discipleship, Jesus uses two parables, two images, the images of constructing a tower and a king going to battle, that highlight the need to plan and prepare. 

Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 

The tower we seek to construct is not a physical tower, but a vibrant collaborative of two parishes that seeks to do our part in making disciples for Christ. The battle we seek to win is not an earthly battle, but a battle for souls and eternal life. Shouldn’t we make a plan for that? 

Some who argue that the saying with which this post began does not apply to the Church say that the Church is not about success and failure. They would bring another saying to the table, a saying most often attributed to Saint Teresa of Calcutta. “We are not called to be successful; we are called to be faithful.” There is some truth in their argument. The Church does not think about success and failure as a business does. The Church does not set out to seek success and avoid failure, as the world defines it. 

In Matthew 7:20, Jesus, after using the image of fruit trees producing either good or bad fruit, says, “So, by their fruits you will know them.” We’re expected to produce good fruit. Even more pointedly, Jesus presents the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. I won’t quote it here, but make sure to take out your Bible and read it. We’re expected to do something with what has been entrusted to us. 

A third and final point that some make in response to the call to create a pastoral plan is that it doesn’t leave room for the Holy Spirit. Jesus, during an initial conversation with the Pharisee Nicodemus says, “The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) A plan is a human creation. True enough. However, any pastoral plan writing process should begin in prayer with discerning and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Even once a plan is created and is being implemented, discerning and following the promptings of the Holy Spirit need to continue. This is coupled with an awareness of and responsiveness to conditions and events in the local, regional, national, and universal communities in which the Church lives out its mission. 

Over the past 12-18 months, members of the Pastoral Council, whose membership includes representatives from each parish in the collaborative, have been creating a pastoral plan to guide our life together through the fall of 2026. This process has clarified our mission, identified three priorities, and created goals for each priority. Our mission is to contribute to the making of disciples for Christ in our communities and the greater south shore area through worship, service and teaching, by word and example. Our three priorities are Eucharist, respecting life, and vocations. In prioritizing the Eucharist, we seek to strengthen our two-parish community by fostering a greater belief in and devotion to Christ’s true presence in the Eucharist. In reorganizing ourselves around respecting life, we seek to advance respect for life from its conception to a natural death, and at every point in between. In using our material and spiritual resources for vocations, we seek to create a culture of vocations in our parishes. 
 
Over the next three blog posts, you will learn more about each of the three priorities in our pastoral plan and the goals we have created for each of the priorities.