Serving God's People

Parish Survey Results click here

In 2009, parishes in the Citrus and Lower Pinellas deaneries piloted and completed the first phase of a diocesan wide planning initiative called Serving God’s People. The remaining parishes of the other five deaneries are beginning work on the initiative now.

The purpose of the planning process is intended to address three realities:

declining number of priests available to serve
shifting in local demographics
stewardship challenges of available resources

The key parish activities involved in the planning are a parish survey and parish town hall meetings. The survey and the town hall meetings are now complete.

Next Steps:

Parish Cluster teams are formed - representatives from St. Timothy, St. Paul, St. Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary and Most Holy Redeemer (including the Santa Maria Mission) will meet to review the surveys, town hall meeltings and parish profiles of each parish.
Parish visits by the cluster teams
All aspects of parish life will be assessed
The cluster team will draft recommendations and forward them to the Diocesan Commission for further review (due 1/31/11).
Dialog between the Diocesan Commision and the Parish Cluster teams
Diocesan Commission to send final recommendations to Bishop Lynch and the Presbyteral Council
The St. Timothy Parish Leadership team and the St. Timothy Parish Council will review the issues that were discussed during the Town Hall meetings and draft a 3 year Parish Plan to address the concerns and opportunities identified during the meetings. (Meeting will take place in January of 2011).

Diocessan Website for more information http://blogs.dosp.org/pastoralplanning/

Parish Leadership reports (password required)