St Joseph Parish Amery, WI

Long Range Planning St Joseph Parish

2016-2019

Long Range Plan

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St Joseph parishioners:

A lot of thought and hard work went into the development of this long range plan. We are deeply grateful and want to thank the Parish staff, Parish Council and the Finance Council for their time and input. We also want to especially thank Fr. Gene Murphy for recognizing the importance of having a long range plan and for initiating and supporting this project.

Since this is our first attempt at developing a long range plan it was our goal to keep the plan relatively simple and focused on two or three key goals. The planning committee developed two rather comprehensive goals that, if successful, could have a very positive on effect on our parish community.

The Parish staff, Parish Council, Finance Council and volunteers will be focused on executing this plan over the next 3 years. Our hope is that you will read this plan and become filled with motivation, excitement and new ideas. Not all of our ideas will be successful, but we will stay focused on the goals we set out to achieve and adjust our strategies as needed to be successful. New ideas and better ways of achieving our goals are always welcomed.

This plan provides a road map and a call to action for all of us. We hope each of you will commit to the goals we have identified and strengthen your own involvement in the life and growth of this parish community!

Long Range Planning Committee

St Joseph Parish

Amery, WI

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Table of contents

Section: Page

Trends and outlook ------3, 4

Mission statement ------4

Vision statement ------4

Values statement ------5

SWOT analysis ------6, 7, 8

Action plans:

Goal #1 ------9

Goal #2 ------10

Goal #3 ------11

What should we do more of ------12

What should we do less of ------12

Metrics/goals: ------12

Communication Plan ------13

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Trends and Outlook

What is going on that might affect our Parish?

What changes are happening in the US?

· The # of Catholics in the US has increased 11% from 2000 – 2014 due primarily to the growth of the Hispanic population.

· The number of Diocesan Priests has declined by 14% and the number of Religious priests has declined by 20%. (2000-2014)

· The number of ordinations has increased by 12% and the number of graduate level seminarians has increased by 5% (2000-2014).

· 79% of parish members in the US attend mass regularly in congregations with 200 households or less (2010).

· Only 32% attend regularly in congregations of 1201 + households (2010).

· 50% attend mass on a regular basis in parishes our size (201-549 households, 2010).

· Catholic churches of all sizes throughout the US utilize approximately 50% of their seating capacity on an average Sunday.

· The average household in Catholic parishes across the US gave $9.57/week in 2010. The average for St Joseph in 2010 was $9.88. That number has increased to $10.32/ week at St Joseph in 2014.

What changes are happening locally?

· City of Amery population is flat from 2000-2014

· Polk County population up 5.1% from 2000-2014

· # Catholics in Polk County declined 24% (2000-2010)

· # Mainline protestants declined 20% (2000-2010)

· # Evangelical Protestants increased 15% (2000-2010)

· Population with no church affiliation increased 55% (2000-2010)

· # of St Joseph families has remained flat. # of members has declined 16%. Family size has declined from 2.7 members to 2.24 members.

· St Joseph congregation has a healthy mix of age groups although the 66+ is the only group that has grown (+13%).

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What changes are happening locally? (continued)

· Budget deficits have occurred the past several years when including CSA.

· Adult contributions have declined 4% from 2009 –2014. Expenses have gone up 2%.

· 21% of the families make up 79% of the contributions. 36% contribute $ 0.

· An estimated 38% of registered parishioners attend mass on a regular basis at St Joseph according to average attendance figures from March 2014 to January 2016.

Mission Statement

Who are we and what do we do?

We the Roman Catholic Faith Community of St. Joseph Church in Amery, Wisconsin declare our parish mission is to know God, to love him and to serve Him in this world. We pursue this mission by celebrating the Eucharist and sharing our faith, love, time, talents, and treasures with our families, our communities and the world.

Vision Statement

What do we want or aspire to be in the future?

Parish Council project for 2016.

Sample: “We strive to be the preferred choice for spiritual enrichment and worship in the area with God at the center of our lives and boldly proclaiming Christ and the Catholic tradition through our words and actions.”

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Beliefs Statement

We the members of St Joseph Parish located in the Diocese of Superior Wisconsin are proud to share in the rich traditions, values and doctrine of the Roman Catholic Faith.

Values Statement

List five or six words that describe the kind of Parish community we want to be:

- God-centered

- Compassionate

- Welcoming

- Vibrant

- Loving

- Open/transparent

Culture = Beliefs + values practiced!

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

· Beautiful/modern church facilities (12)

· Great priest (10)

· Great parishioners (8)

· Religious Formation program (6)

· Strong fundraising programs (3)

· Number of young families (3)

· Relatively stable membership (2)

· Sacramental preparation/liturgy (2)

· Some diversity

· Ability to meet financial needs

· Active finance council

· Community standing

· Broadcast weekly mass

· Music

· Economic advantages

· The Holy Spirit

· Parish administrative staff (knowledge & longevity)

Weaknesses:

· Lack of member involvement / volunteers (14)

· Evangelization/outreach efforts (10)

· Lack of sufficient financial resources (9)

· Low mass attendance (3)

· Lack of spirit/community (3)

· No formal planning/goals/metrics (3)

· Strengthen music program/more musicians (3)

· Youth program/youth involvement (2)

· Lack of active Deacon (2)

· Parish website needs a lot of work

· Mediocre support of Diocesan Appeal

· Mass schedule does not fit members schedules well

· Insufficient depth in church positions

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· Lack of industrial base

· Distance from Twin Cities

· Catholic Church is slow to change

Opportunities:

· Evangelization, reaching out & growing our parish community (9)

o Fallen away Catholics

o Non-practicing Catholics

o New members

· More youth involvement & participation (7)

· Growing/strengthening our faith community (6)

· Make better use of church facilities (5)

· Promote Father Gene (3)

· Do a better job of marketing who we are/what we do (3)

· Increase giving with more on-line donations (2)

· Enhance music ministry

· More adult socialization

· More parishioner involvement in various ministries

· More involvement in Ministerial association

· Provide more help to local less fortunate

· Improved communications with church members/social media

· Generate more interest in missions/global community

· Catholic Charities outreach opportunities

Threats:

· Families too busy (sports etc.) to go to church on Sunday (7)

· Changing attitudes toward religion / Secularism (6)

· Aging parish membership (5)

· Poor economic conditions (4)

· Church scandals (4)

· Shortage of Priests/vocations (4)

· Declining contributions (3)

· Threat to religious freedom, new administration (2)

· Sharing priest with another parish, mass times (2)

· Apathy, anger toward church (2)

· Climate change

· Broken families

· Losing parishioners to a “fun” church

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· Poor member engagement

· Too much money going to debt retirement

· Lack of cross parish support/cooperation/best practices within diocese

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Action Plan

Goal #1: Increase the number of members in our parish faith

community.

Objective: Attain a net increase in the total number of parishioners

by 5% in the next 3 years. (929 in 2016 to 975 in 2019).

(8% growth or 75 new members needed to net 5%)

Strategy

Accountability (Person responsible)

Action plan (steps)

Resources needed

Timeline

Reach out to Hispanic community

Spiritual Life & Worship committee

Feature one mass/month in Spanish.

1. Interpreter or priest who speaks Spanish.

2. Spanish prayer/song books. /

By July 1, 2016

Invite back fallen away Catholics

Evangelization committee

1. Prepare list of potential members.

2. Assemble list of volunteer sponsors.
3. Letter/personal visit or invitation
4. Promote catholiccomehome.org /

1. Parish staff to identify & prepare contact list

Contact 2 individuals/month for 6 months, then evaluate.

Attract new members

Evangelization committee

1. Enhance marketing efforts. Update and refresh web site & Facebook

2. Activate new parishioner welcoming committee
3. Quarterly breakfast for new members (KC’s)
4. Volunteer sponsors / /

By September 2016

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Goal # 2: Deepen the faith & involvement of parish members

and strengthen the parish community.

Objective: Increase average mass attendance by 10% per year for

the next 3 years. Increase participation in the sacraments

by 10% per year. Maintain # of volunteer readers at 15,

EMC’s at 45 and ushers at 75. Introduce 2 new social

activities to build parish community.

Strategy

Accountability (Person responsible)

Action plan (steps)

Resources needed

Timeline

Enhance liturgy

Spiritual Life & Worship committee

1. Hire part time music director

2. Children’s liturgy (volunteers)
3. Personal prayer petitions
4. Social media interaction /

1. Finance committee to budget for additional expense.

ASAP

Reach out to non-practicing Catholics

Evangelization committee

1. Identify non-active parishioners.

2. Focus on parents of religious ed students-class involvement strategies & volunteer requests.
3. Involve parents in classes.
4. Encourage participation in Catholicism series of classes on Wednesday evenings.
5. Re-energize Family Guild
- Cookie baking w/children /

1. Parish staff to identify non-active parishioners.

Develop plan by Fall, 2016 classes.

Social activities menu:

Hospitality & Social committee

Ideas:

1. Birthday club

2. Blessing of pets
3. Blessing of homes, businesses, farms
4. Ball team
5. Couples club or “Cana club” / /

By September 2016

Increase # of volunteers /

Spiritual Life & Worship committee

/ Ministry Fair / /

Summer 2016

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Goal # 3: ______.

Objective: ______.

Strategy

Accountability (Person responsible)

Action plan (steps)

Resources needed

Timeline

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What kind of things should we do more of?

Build community

Welcome new members

More social opportunities for all ages

Encourage diversity

Enhance liturgy

Better Long Range Planning

Better use of social media

Enhanced marketing. Who we are & what we do.

Recognize our volunteers

Promote stewardship

Increase adult contributions so less reliance on fund raising activities

Look for new ways to involve youth in parish activities

Make better utilization of our parish hall

What kind of things should we do less of?

Rely on others to volunteer

Activities that do not add value to our mission statement

Metrics/Goals

How will we measure our results?

Membership growth target 75 new members in 3 years

(# of members)

Increase mass attendance 10% increase/year for next 3 years

(Current weekly non-summer average 343)

Sacrament participation 10% increase/year for next 3 years

Social events Add 2 new, successful events in next

year

Add a Spanish mass In 2016

Volunteer goals 15 readers

45 EMC’s

75 ushers

Hire a part time music director

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Communication Plan

The Long Range Plan was approved by the Parish Council on ______and subsequently made available to the parish membership. Periodic reports and updates shall be delivered to the Parish Council as needed but not less than quarterly.