Parish Report on the Diocesan Pastoral Planning Process ~ Barbara Vaughan and Frances Pope

This was the letter given to our parishioners yesterday:


Bishop DiLorenzo established a Diocesan Pastoral Planning Commission (DPPC) for this diocese and one of their tasks is to develop a 5-year strategic plan for all parishes and ministries of this diocese. The purpose of the plan is to proactively and comprehensively address moving the Diocese of Richmond to an inter-parish collaboration. The plan is to be implemented in stages between 2009 and 2013 and will be updated every 5 years. Many dioceses around the United States are going through strategic planning processes, not just our diocese.

Local Planning Areas (LPA) have been established throughout the diocese. Our Local Planning Area (LPA) is 11 with the following Parishes: St. Elizabeth, St. Paul, St. Patrick, St. Peter, Holy Rosary, Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, St. Benedict, St. Bridget, Church of the Redeemer, St. John in Highland Springs, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Quinton, and St. Timothy in Tappahannock. The planning area committee is made up of priests and 2 representatives from each parish. Serving with Fr. Andrew, the representatives for St. Elizabeth are Barbara Vaughan and Frances Pope.

LPA committees are responsible for providing a working plan to the DPPC by the end of May. The committee has to consider in the working plan the needs of all Parishes, Hospitals, Prisons, Schools and Universities. Our challenge is to think about all resources, Priests, professional staff and trained lay leadership. What are the possibilities, how can the needs of God's people be served? This is what we are discussing and discerning during this process. As you can see, there is much work to be done so that we continue building the kingdom of God. The full plan is scheduled to be completed by November 2008. The focus of the plan is inter-parish collaboration and should include three outcomes: staffing allocation changes to accommodate the reduction in active priests in the next 5 years; changes in parish structure necessary to support the staffing changes to include recommended models of clustering; and changes that will help us to better serve by sharing resources and ministries.

In several weeks, we will be asking you to listen to the report from our LPA 11; we will need you to listen to the proposal, comment on what is presented and as your representatives, we will submit your comments to the full LPA 11 committee. Remember, the entire diocese is going through the same process.

Please keep us in your prayers. This is an important time in our Church and we need each of you to participate when we hold the parish meeting. We will continue to pray together as a parish for all who are involved in this process.


Barbara Vaughan and Frances Pope
St. Elizabeth Parish Representatives - LPA 11