October 30, 2009
Town hall meetings underway for strategic planning
Table discussions take place during a Town Hall meeting at Mater Dei High School in Evansville, Oct. 26. (Message photo by Paul R. Leingang) Click for a larger version.
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
A small number of people from several parishes attended the first of four Town Hall meetings, as part of the Strategic Planning Process underway in the Diocese of Evansville.
No registration was held, as part of the design to keep comments confidential.
Participants sat together at three tables, each with a member of the diocesan Discernment Team to record the comments made during the discussion, and to present a brief summary afterwards.
Two topics were proposed: “Describe a situation in your life, where the Church has been most meaningful to you,” and “Fast forward to the year 2015. What are your hopes, dreams and vision for the diocese and/or your parish? Be as specific as possible.”
By way of introduction, Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger continues the analogy he used in a Sept. 25 letter to all members of the Diocese, published in the Message.
He described how wheat, in years past, was first cut and brought in bundles to a thrashing machine. Then, the machine separated the wheat from the chaff. The wheat would be taken to a mill, flour would be produced, and people would use the flour to make bread and other baked goods.
Describing the town hall meeting and its place in the planning process, Bishop Gettelfinger said, “We are carrying the bundles to the threshing machine.”
The table participants discussed the first topic for about a half-an-hour, then following a break, spent another half-hour on the second topic. The meeting concluded with a general summary of comments, none identified by person or parish.
The situation described as most meaningful was variously described as “being welcomed,” “being part of a small group,” “being part of a community,” “feeling at home” and “being filled with the Holy Spirit.” Other comments included good homilies, experiencing the sacraments, “participating in TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) or CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish), and typically involving some kind of “bonding.”
Comments gathered for the second topic, looking ahead to 2015, included “having a better job descripiton for priests” so that more lay people could be involved in the parish and the priest would be freed up for the sacraments; continuing education and more opportunities for women in church leadership roles.
Other hopes for 2015 included having a diverse, multi-cultural parish; having “really strong schools” with a strong Catholic identity; having a church where the people have a strong Catholic identity; parishes that are economically self-sufficent; having parishes, each with a priest and a deacon who work well together; a Church where the youth are engaged, as in the Source and Summit weekend, for example; a Church that has education programs for adults, and where good communication takes place.
In his opening remarks, Bishop Gettelfinger had noted that he just recently celebrated his 74th birthday and would be submitting his resignation at age 75 – while pointing out that the pope might not accept his resignation for a year or more, before allowing him to retire.
Bishop Gettelfinger has previously expressed an intent to live in the diocese after he retires. At the end of the meeting, he said he hoped he would “be here in 2015 to see what happens to this diocese.”