“The main goal of the [planning] process is to foster a revitalized and sustainable local Church, one that is responsive to the pastoral needs of all our brothers and sisters in Christ.”

“As I envision the great Archdiocese of St. Paul and  Minneapolis, I want us to Promote and Proclaim a Communion of Faith, Hope, and Love.”

Archbishop John C. Nienstedt

Strategic Plan Update

As a sign of the commitment to increased transparency, intentional collaboration, ongoing evaluation and greater accountability highlighted in the Strategic Plan announced in October 2010, the Archdiocese offers the following highly summarized update of progress regarding the initiatives and structural changes announced in the plan.

The Strategic Plan shapes the vision for the future of the local Church and outlines changes aimed at fostering a more vibrant faith community. It is intended to ensure the Church’s continued vitality for the approximately 800,000 Catholics in the 12 county area it serves. The Strategic Plan was the result of 20 months of study and consultation (pdf) that included the input of thousands of people from across the Archdiocese—pastors and other clergy, parish and Catholic school leaders and staff, parishioners and Catholic school families. Already, the initiatives and changes initiated under the Strategic Plan are helping communities take concrete steps toward more effectively carrying out the mission of the Church in this Archdiocese and be drawn more deeply into a communion of faith, hope, and love.

Strategic Initiatives

The Strategic Plan outlines initiatives in the areas of inspired pastoral leadership, exceptional Catholic education, and infrastructure for the Church of today and tomorrow. Several of these initiatives are underway now. Others are set to launch soon. These initiatives are ongoing and will be evaluated regularly going forward to ensure goals are being met. The timeline below gives an overview of the initiatives during 2011 and 2012.

Parishes

(A list of parishes with their updated status can be found on the Parish Status List page.)

As of January 2012, twelve parishes have merged with nine neighboring parishes under changes announced in the Strategic Plan. Another merger between two Minneapolis parishes happened outside the Strategic Plan in 2011. The remaining six mergers called for under the Strategic Plan are scheduled to take place during 2012 and 2013.

In November 2010, in response to information received from parishioners in their petitions to reconsider parish merger decisions, Archbishop John C. Nienstedt modified two of the original 14 mergers, namely the one involving Holy Cross, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Clement, and St. Hedwig in northeast Minneapolis and the one involving St. Thomas of St. Thomas.

The mergers of St. Thomas of St. Thomas with St. Anne of LeSueur; St. Andrew with Maternity of the Blessed Virgin, both in Saint Paul; St. Francis de Sales with St. James, both also in Saint Paul; and the merger of St. Benedict, St. John the Evangelist, St. Joseph, and St. Scholastica with St. Wenceslaus, all in the New Prague area, were made official on January 1, 2011. The mergers of St. Augustine with Holy Trinity in South Saint Paul and St. Thomas the Apostle with Blessed Sacrament in Saint Paul took effect on July 1, 2011. On January 1, 2012, the following parishes merged: Most Holy Trinity in Saint Louis Park and Our Lady of Grace in Edina; St. Austin and St. Bridget in Minneapolis; and St. Vincent de Paul and the Cathedral of St. Paul in Saint Paul.

A merger decision does not necessarily mean that the merging parish’s church building will close. Decisions regarding the church buildings of the newly combined parish community are made by local leaders in consultation with the Archbishop and Presbyteral Council, a representative body of priests.

In addition, 33 parishes were identified to enter into new cluster relationships under the Strategic Plan.

Furthermore, 25 parishes are identified for structured collaboration, which means they are called to examine ways they could better collaborate with neighbor parishes, including more cooperation on programming and staffing. Many of these parishes may eventually move toward a cluster. These parishes will formally begin structured collaboration soon, but many have already begun cooperating on programming and in other areas.

Archdiocesan staff members are working with pastors, lay leaders and parishioners during this time of transition. Changes will continue to roll out over the coming months and years, with the announced structural changes expected to be complete by mid 2013.

The net effect of the parish structural changes, after implementation of all the announced mergers, including those pending appeal and the one merger which took place outside the plan, is a total of 191 remaining parishes compared to 213 parishes in October 2010.

Schools

School strategic planning continues on two tracks: one broad and strategic and the other school/region-specific. At the strategic level, the Catholic Schools Commission reviewed information from stakeholders from across the Archdiocese, data gathered by the Strategic Planning Task Force, recommendations from consultants from the University of Notre Dame and successful initiatives in dioceses across the country to make recommendations to the Archbishop in four areas aimed at strengthening Catholic schools. The Archbishop announced approved initiatives in August 2011 and established the Archdiocesan Catholic Schools Advisory Council in September 2011.

At the school and regional level, many school leaders began engaging in a structured sustainability review process during the 2010-2011 school year. Ten Catholic schools in the Archdiocese underwent urgent sustainability review in late 2010, due to the critical issues facing their school communities. Local leaders at three of those ten “urgent review” schools chose to close their schools at the end of the 2010-2011 school year. The Archdiocese and local schools and parishes reached out to families, staff and others impacted by these closures.

Shared resources discussions between neighboring schools in several regions began in early 2011. The goal of these discussions is to determine how schools in a geographic area can best work together for academic excellence while strengthening the schools’ sustainability.  A shared resources discussion involving parish and school communities in West Saint Paul, South Saint Paul and Saint Paul’s West Side resulted in the formation of the new Community of Saints Regional Catholic School which is enrolling students for the 2012-2013 school year.

The Archdiocese will continue to provide periodic updates on the implementation of the Strategic Plan during the coming months and years.

The strategic planning process which led up to this plan involved participation by thousands of people, including clergy, parish and school leaders and parishioners. This same spirit of consultation and collaboration will continue as we move forward in making the name of Jesus Christ known and loved.

We all play a role in the realization of the vision set forth in the Strategic Plan. Please pray for the success of our efforts!