St. Margaret Mary Catholic Community

Strategic Plan

2008 – 2012

Mission Statement

Striving to Know, Love and Serve God

Vision Statement:

Our vision statement is based on five pillars:  Worship, Service, Stewardship, Formation and Community

Worship

To inspire inclusiveness, participation, faith in action, and a loving relationship with Christ

Service

To foster an attitude of joy in serving, an alignment of opportunity and servants, relationships with those we serve and becoming the working face of Christ

Stewardship

To commit to being responsible caretakers and growers of gifts, to the discipleship of giving back from our first fruits, and to unconditional sharing of time, talent and treasure

Formation

To instill education for all ages, a sense of tradition and belonging, spiritual growth as a way of living, confidence in our catholic faith, desire for a faith journey and a welcoming environment for those who have moved away from their faith

Community

To create an environment where all are welcomed and accepted, where people want to belong, where love is shared, where we play and pray together, and where individuals are recognized as children of God

WORSHIP

Goal 1: Address the issues created by the priest shortage within our parish

• Establish a parish vocation ministry whose responsibility is to create vocation awareness in the parish
  • Form an advisory committee and appoint a coordinator by  January 2009
  • Identify the specific duties and goals that vocation ministry will address by June 2009
  • Develop a plan to address those goals by December 2009
  • Implement plan during 2010
  • Evaluate and modify plan during 2011
• Evaluate best options for adjustments in ministry schedule
  • Determine if a decrease in the number of weekday and weekend Masses is necessary by August 2008
  • Determine where Deacons and Lay Ministers can be used most effectively by July 2009

Goal 2: Enhance the Liturgical Experience

• Establish a catechetical program to instruct about the Mass, and liturgical and sacramental events
  • Identify methods and opportunities to instruct about the Mass by December 2008
  • Establish a calendar of catechetical events and an instructional plan by June 2009
  • Implement plan by November 2009
  • Evaluate and modify plan during 2011
• Coordinate with the Administration Committee to reorganize and renew the existing worship space and develop new spaces
  • Develop a plan which provides appropriate storage for liturgical art and environment materials and resources by October 2008
  • Establish a calendar for painting, refurbishing and replacing worn materials in the Worship Space by January 2009
  • Establish options for appropriate gathering space, additional seating, and music rehearsal and storage space by November 2012
• Obtain parishioner’s feedback for enhancing liturgical experiences
  • Perform Worship Survey semi-annually starting 2009
  • Evaluate survey and implement actions steps to improve the worship experience

SERVICE

Goal 1: Develop and implement a non-licensed childcare program with potential for growth.

·        Organize a committee and assign roles by September 2008

·        Determine program capacity and child age range by December 2008

·        Perform space study for short term solutions for a suitable location by December 2008

·        Develop system to schedule childcare services for parish/school events by January 2009

·        Develop extended network of caregivers and volunteers by January 2009

·        Implement short term solutions for child care services by January 2009

·        Perform a cost analysis and budgeting considerations for long-term solution by March 2009, to include the feasibility of a pre-kindergarten program

Goal 2: Coordinate and expand elderly focused efforts and support through Help Our Parish Elderly (HOPE).

·        Evaluate the current needs of the elderly within our community

o       Develop a needs assessment tool by September 2008 to determine the actions/programs to be implemented

o       Utilize assessment tool to gain insights from our elderly parishioners by November 2008

o       Evaluate the responses of the assessment; determine action steps (i.e. frequency of contact means of contact, etc.), develop a timeline for implementation by March 2009

o       Implement action steps by March 2010

Goal 3:  Develop a service ministry philosophy/criterion that guides our philanthropic decisions and service projects. 

·        Form an integrated advisory committee with leaders from appropriate Parish Ministries, School, PTO, Athletics and parish staff by September 2008

·        Obtain parish-wide input on a service philosophy by March 2009

·        Coordinate the input and create a philosophy/criterion statement to determine the scope of action from a parish, local, national, and worldwide basis to present to Parish Council by November 2009

·        Develop process for informing all parishioners, committees, sub-committees the philosophy to be used when selecting service projects by March 2010

·        Develop evaluation method to determine if criterion is being used successfully by August 2010

·        Perform evaluation of process in March 2011

Goal 4: Coordinate service projects within all parish ministries and programs. 

·        Organize an integrated committee with leaders of Parish Ministries, School, PTO and the Athletic Association by July 2008 to perform the following tasks:

o       Establish frequency of routine meetings and guidelines for extraordinary meetings by August 2008

o       Develop an effective communication system for committee members (i.e. network or e-mail system) by December 2008

o       Review proposed current and upcoming stewardship projects to inform all of intended projects, to coordinate efforts and prevent duplication of similar events

o       Share outcome measures for continuation/cancellation of projects or delegation of project to alternate committee(s)

·        Develop a volunteer opportunity list accessible to all parishioners (i.e. website) by June 2009

·        Develop a list of organizations benefiting from SMM (Parish and School) contributions of time, talent and treasure accessible to all parishioners (i.e. website) by June 2009.

STEWARDSHIP

Goal 1: Maintain focus and plans to continue full stewardship of time, talent and treasure.   

• Set direction, structure, and goals for the Parish Stewardship Committee by December 2008 to include broadening awareness of stewardship as a way of life; planning intentional references from the pulpit about stewardship; and researching alternatives to “full stewardship” in the parish

• Set direction, structure, and goals to address Parish Development strategies

FORMATION

GOAL 1: Develop a program for young adults

• Establish a Young Adult Ministry  (22 – 35 yr. olds)
  • Form an Advisory Committee by January 2009
  • Establish a base of interested parties and official committee for programs by July 2009

GOAL 2: Enhance program for teenagers

·        Evaluate the youth program with guidance from the Archdiocesan Youth Ministry office process by December 2008

·        Determine goals and direction for the youth program based on the outcomes of the evaluation by June 2009

·        Develop an implementation plan by October 2009

·        Implement the action steps to the plan by January 2010

·        Develop an ongoing evaluation plan to measure the progress toward identified goals by June 2010

GOAL 3: Develop a program for young married couples

• Establish a Marriage Enrichment Ministry
  • Develop a Couple’s Core Planning Committee by July 2009
  • Have initial couple’s formation activity planned by January 2010
  • Complete 1 year of couple’s spiritual and social activities by January 2011

GOAL 4: Provide consistency and expansion of our Adult Formation Program in areas such as Men’s Ministry

• Establish a Men’s Ministry
  • Develop a Men’s Core Planning Committee by July 2008
  • Plan an initial men’s formation activity by January 2009
  • Complete 1 year of men’s formation activities by January 2010
• Reorganize and renew the Women’s Ministry
  • Develop a Women’s Core Committee by July 2008
  • Develop a structure of Women’s Ministry Committees by October 2008
  • Plan and implement one year of activities by October 2009

GOAL 5:  Renew our focus on “Catholic” education at our school

• Evaluate educational proficiency on an annual basis through ACRE testing
  • Develop a plan to improve scores in the areas of weakness
• Evaluate our current religious education program from K – 8 and in our PREP program by December 2008
•  Identify plan for any appropriate curriculum changes by March 2009
• Implement curriculum and or program changes for the 2009/2010 school curriculum
• Review and evaluate program changes by June 2010
• Ensure ongoing traditional practices related to our Catholic identity, such as
  • Weekly Mass for the school children
  • Emailing school families the “Saint of the Day”
  • Regular reconciliation services for the appropriate grades of children
• Review our Sacramental preparation programs for First Eucharist, First Reconciliation and Confirmation
  • Develop a program evaluation sheet for use by parents and staff to evaluate the Sacramental preparation process for all sacraments by December 2008
  • Gather feedback on the sacramental programs at the completion of each sacrament from March through May 2009
  • Identify any areas of improvement and develop an implementation plan for appropriate changes for program improvement by March 2009
  • Implement plan during 2010

GOAL 6:  Maintain “Catholic Parish School Identity” versus “Elite Private School” 

• Develop an admission policy that ensures acceptance of students based on stewardship criteria as developed by the School Board and approved by the Parish Council by November 2008
• Develop a plan to integrate and promote Parish activities within the school by March 2009
• Promote the Step-By-Step program
  • Annually communicate the Step-By-Step initiatives to the Parish in the Fall of each year
  • Annually evaluate and publish the initiatives of the Step-By-Step program beginning in June 2009

ADMINISTRATION

Goal 1:  Develop a Space Management Plan for Worship, School, Administrative and Ministry needs.

• Develop a space plan for school
  • Evaluate existing utilization of school space for efficiency by October 2008
  • Identify additional space needs and alternatives after evaluation of existing school space by February 2009
  • Select viable options for space needs which includes offsite rentals, etc. by May 2009
  • Complete action plan by the beginning of 2009 - 2010 school year, August 2009
• Develop a space plan for increased capacity of worship area
  • Fund an architectural study for expansion of Worship area by October 2009

o       Evaluate capital funding options by January 2010

• Present to Parish Council for review and approvals by February 2010

• Develop a space plan for needs identified by other organization identified by the Parish.
  • Evaluate existing facility space for utilization in meeting the needs in these areas by October 2008
  • Identify additional space needs and space alternatives by February 2009
  • Select viable options for space needs by May 2009
  • Prioritize various space needs based upon urgency of need and capital funding requirements by September 2009
  • Evaluate and select funding options by January 2010
  • Present to Parish Council for review and approvals by February 2010

Goal 2:   Develop and implement a multi-year Capital Expense Budget Process

·        Identify capital expense items and useful life by September 2008

·        Determine maintenance plans schedules to insure maximum performance, efficiency and useful life by February 2009

·        Develop annual evaluation of existing maintenance plans for necessary adjustments beginning December 2009

·        Procure appropriate capital funding for current and future capital needs by June 2009

Strategic Planning Team:  Brad Rives, Tom Burke, Charlie Hurst, Barbara Oliver and John Selvage and Donna Schmidt. 

Timeline:  September 2007 – June 2008

David Bruce, a consultant with Covenant Development, LLC, was contracted to work with the Parish Council to come up with a Mission and Vision Statement. 

Goals and Action Plans Process:

The Strategic Planning Team invited 45 individuals to conduct focus groups, in their home or at the Parish.  Fifteen groups actually participated.  Each group consisted of approximately 12 persons each.  Four questions were asked at the focus groups; What is St. Margaret Mary Parish doing well at this time; What are the areas in which St. Margaret Mary Parish can improve currently?; What are the biggest challenges facing St. Margaret Mary Parish over the next 5-6 years?; and, What steps should St. Margaret Mary Parish take today to be prepared to overcome the challenges it may face in the next 5-6 years?

Answers were compiled and distributed to the Strategic Planning Team.  As the team analyzed the responses from the focus groups and categorized the areas of attention or change, goals were identified. 

A meeting with the Coordinating Committee Chairs and the Ministry Directors, Business Manager and Principal was held to explain the process, up to that point, and to explain how to use the tool when developing action steps.  Individual committees met to determine their own action steps and, in some cases, to clarify the goals.

The Action Steps were reviewed by the team and another meeting was set up with Doug Bruce for further work on the goals and action steps.

The team reviewed the goals and action steps, made minor revisions and resubmitted the goals and action steps to the Committees and Chairs.  Further changes were made. 

The final document was presented to Parish Council for approval.