I'm the Bishop I am the "first teacher" in my diocese or archdiocese. My goal is to provide evangelization and catechesis for all members of the community but always and only in ways that are thoroughly and faithfully Catholic. |
| In carrying out the duties of his office, a bishop stands among his people as one who serves. He is to be a shepherd. Decree on the Bishop's Pastoral Office in the Church #28 from Vatican II in Plain English |
| Dear Bishop, Whether you're the cardinal archbishop of a large, urban area, or the bishop of a rural community, your job today is both joyful for you and full of challenges! Thank you for your episcopal leadership! What would we do without you? We know that as bishop, you want to insure that a fire gets lit in every one of your parishes, but you also have to be careful that it doesn't become a run-away forest fire that burns down the church! For that reason, the resources we recommend and provide here are ones that are thoroughly Catholic! They are imbued with our sense of the sacramental, with our Eucharistic piety, and with the doctrines, customs, and rites of the church in mind. The materials show a love for the poor and rejected, a heart for those whose faith has grown cold, and strong support for the lay, religious and ordained staff of today's parishes. Many of them have an Imprimatur from one of your brother bishops (or yourself!), and we have tried very hard to be completely faithful. We also offer notes on pastoral planning for multiple parish situations, based on the actual experiences of pastors working in those setting. To see those notes, click here. Parish Vision 2009 is a powerful planning process which we offer here at no charge to your parish leaders! Thousands are using it and finding it a great way to implement Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us. To see this or download it yourself, click here. And we assist parish leaders (mostly through diocesan level training workshops) to do the pastoral planning that is so needed in order to implement adult formation. To see the curriculum planning we recommend, click here. To see the library of resources explaining the principles and practices of lifelong faith formation, click here. There's been a lot of talk in recent years about "whole community catechesis" and some have felt it might be a threat to our traditional child-centered approach to catechesis. In fact, though, everything we recommend to parish leaders suggests retaining and strengthening the children's program by using it as a springboard to the adults! We hope you've read Dreams and Visions: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation. If not, we will be happy to send you a copy as our gift. Click here to send a confidential e-mail and simply request it, along with your postal address for mailing. In this book, you'll find a road map for parishes to follow providing both catechesis for children and youth, as well as for young adults and adults at every age and stage of life. Many dioceses have already begun using Dreams and Visions to implement diocesan goals for evangelization and lifelong catechesis. So once again, Bishop, thanks for everything you do for your diocese. The "holy order" which results from your leadership is certainly the work of the Spirit in the church. We wish to take our place among the many who work within that holy order to help bring about the Reign of God. Good wishes for your ministry, Bill Huebsch and the Pastoral Planning Crew |
| Resources offered on this site |
| Have a Member of Our Team Visit Your Diocese We are providing dioceses with day-long workshops: Dreams and Visions for Your Parish: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation We tailor each and every event to your local needs and policies and we leave behind a good spirit, good energy, and some great ideas! Click here to see a general outline and notes about such a workshop. Send us a message and let's talk dates and arrangements! Click here to get started. |
| Pastoral Planning A step-by-step guide: Dreams & Visions: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation by Bill Huebsch A new book which includes a chapter outlining those all-important Planning Team Meetings. Sold in bundles to save you 20% New Book! Welcome the People! Ways to Gather & Nourish Adult Catholics by Jim Smith A parish team workshop-in-a-book. Helps you create the team you want for lifelong formation. Sold in bundles to save you 20%. New book! Good News Parish Leadership Trust-Building Guidelines, Tools, Ideas by Michael Papesh This rich resource helps you form your parish team with the very same pastoral theology in which we all believe. Sold in bundles to save you 20% Training How to teach your parish about lifelong formation including excellent PowerPoint presentations to download and use, complete with presentation notes. A series of FREE articles Reproduce these to put in your bulletin or to use for team & committee training. They're all in plain English! Into the Fields: Catechist & Ministry Formation Create a "religious community" with formation, prayer, & study right in the midst of your parish. This is the engine of lifelong faith formation, the foundation in your parish. Implementation How to start and sustain faith sharing throughout the parish using the Question of the Week With free prayer sheets and suggestions for training and use. A guide for using Growing Faith A powerful resource for doing adult faith formation in the parish. It's the Catechism in plain English! También es disponible en español. Communal Prayer for Parish Councils & other groups to accompany faith sharing. You can download and use these in 5 minutes! Rooted in the Second Vatican Council. Outlines for adult or intergenerational Faith Gatherings linked to your children's textbook series. Outlines for adult Bible Studies which are in plain English! Download each session and get all you need in one item. Complete plans for Parish Based Retreats in several practical scheduling formats. |