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Church

1.2 Meet as a Pathway Team

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Your Pathway Team should be grounded in both prayer and a spirit of discernment. From the very beginning, the team will take time for prayer, find ways to listen to people within the Family and discern steps that may be taken to build community within the Family.

Church Reversed

“By September 1, 2022, every Family of Parishes must form a Planning Team, led by the pastor, to coordinate pastoral planning geared toward the unification of the Family by June 30, 2027.”

Your Pathway Team will ensure that the work of the Church principle will be accomplished for the Phase 1 milestone:

“Begin building a faith community through common prayer, social time among parishioners and gatherings of leaders.”

Your Pathway Team will establish a regular rhythm of meetings. Members will take responsibility for engaging others in prayer, activities, gatherings and initiatives to unify the Family over time.

To-do: Schedule and hold meetings regularly.

1.1 Form a Pathway Team

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Leadership is the first phase of the Pastoral Planning Pathway. Having the right leaders in place is foundational to any successful initiative, and Beacons of Light is no exception. During Phase 1, your Family of Parishes will form a Pathway Team to guide the early stages of bringing people together. The team will also foster belonging in your Family of Parishes to more fully engage people in your faith community and to encourage them to live their faith in their homes, local community and the world. Forming a Pathway Team is specified in Parameter 3:

Church Reversed

“By September 1, 2022, every Family of Parishes must form a Planning Team, led by the pastor, to coordinate pastoral planning geared toward the unification of the Family by June 30, 2027.”

Your Pathway Team should include representatives from each of the parishes within your Family and will likely include parishioner leaders and staff members. Your pastor will lead the team and may delegate a staff person as the coordinator or point-person of the team.

To-do: Use the resources in the Materials tab to understand the role of your Pathway Team and to discern team members.

Church Overview: Phase 1

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The Church principle offers a call to look beyond your individual parish in order to broaden your perspective of the Church to your Family of Parishes, deanery*, archdiocese and the Universal Church. This principle also invites you to be mindful that everyone is a member of Christ’s Body (the Church) who brings Christ’s presence to the world.

During the first phase of the Pastoral Planning Pathway, your Family of Parishes will form a Pathway Team to guide your Family in the early stages of Beacons of Light. Your Pathway Team will create opportunities for people of all the parishes in your Family to get to know one another, will serve together in common ministries, discern a name for your Family, foster belonging within your Family and much more. All of this will help your Family of Parishes to gradually come together as a faith community that shares a common vision for living Christ’s mission in the future.

If any parish has not already taken the Parish Inventory for the Church principle, please do so soon and, through your Pathway Team, begin sharing the inventory with the other parishes in your Family.

*A deanery is a region within the archdiocese that is led by an archdiocesan dean.

“Begin building a faith community through common prayer, social time among parishioners and gatherings of leaders.”

I am convinced that Beacons of Light, born of great hope, will enable us to form stronger parishes, centered on the Eucharist, that radiate the love of Christ and joy of the Gospel… God has abundantly blessed our first two centuries and will certainly bless the next.

— ARCHBISHOP DENNIS M. SCHNURR