A plan is usually a detailed method of carrying out a purpose or goal.  A plan is more than just an idea or a dream.  Although it may start with that, it is ultimately a course of action.  Planning, as a process, is a way of integrating the past and present with the future.  Through planning we are empowered to deal with the future proactively.  Planning helps alleviate anxiety; creates excitement and energy; resolves frustration; and helps to distribute limited resources more effectively.

 

Planning is a universal human experience.  It can be formal or informal.  In smaller contexts planning can be informal.  In larger more complex situations, a planning process needs to be more formal and structured.  A more formal planning process incorporates need assessments, organizational vision, mission, goals, strategies, policies, objectives, and evaluation as part of its makeup.

 

Our observations of the created world in which we live reveals to us an imprint of a design and plan.  We often speak of the "Divine Plan of Creation".  Through our observations of the created world we discover what that plan is.  Our participation in the created world continues the plan.

 

"In the fullness of time" as St. Paul writes in the Epistle to the Galatians (Gal 4:4); the Son of God came to us with a mission and plan.  He committed Himself to that mission in a public way at the Jordan.  He gathered resources and formed leaders and disciples and stayed with it all the way to Jerusalem.  The four Gospels unfold the details of that plan and reveal the Spirit in which it was accomplished.

 

The planning process unfolded in the Gospels depends on God's grace and our free human response.  From the Annunciation to the Ascension, both were necessary.  No amount of human planning alone, nor any amount of prayer or grace alone, will bring about the Kingdom.  Both are necessary.  So, not to plan is as foolish as not to pray.

 

Jesus, through the Church, invites us as His disciples, to continue His mission and plan for the transformation of the world of our time.  Since the beginning, the Church has owned resources, provided service, and supported ministerial personnel.  It carries out its mission by effectively addressing the needs and situations of its day through careful planning and prayer.

 

The direction of pastoral planning in the Church today is given to us most clearly in the Documents of Vatican II and especially in #4 of the Vatican Document of the Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the modern world by saying: "…the Church has always had the duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel."

 

In the pastoral letter on stewardship, Stewardship: A Disciple's Response, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops spoke directly to the importance of pastoral planning for good stewardship.  As true stewards of the church, "All members of the Church have their own roles to play in carrying out its mission…(specifically) parishioners, who work in concrete ways to make their parishes true communities of faith and vibrant sources of service to the larger community."  Pastoral planning ensures this.  "Parishes must be, or become, true communities of faith within which this Christian way of life is learned and practiced.  Sound business practice is a fundamental of good stewardship, and stewardship as it relates to church finances must include the most stringent ethical, legal, and fiscal standards.  That requires several things:  pastor and parish staffs must be open, consultative, collegial, and accountable in the conduct of affairs.  And parishioners must accept responsibility for their parishes and contribute generously—both money and personal service—to their programs and projects.  The success or failure of parish programs, the vitality of parish life or its absence, the ability or inability of a parish to render needed services to its members and the community depend upon all."

 

Pastoral planning needs to address all human needs and make certain that all interests are represented.  This takes place best at the parish and the vicariate, the association of parish communities, where the Church lives out its life on a daily basis.  Cardinal Maida in his address to the presbyterate at their convocation in October of 1995 has called the Church of Detroit through their leadership to a vicariate planning process.  Taken all together, the vicariates represent the life of the local Church of Detroit.