St. Philomenas' Apostolate

Parish Plan

St. Philomenas' Apostolate acknowledges that all priests and parishes are unique, and thus, it's impossible to create a one-size-fits-all plan for every parish. The plan below is designed for an incoming pastor starting in July. The purpose of the plan is to help you get a glimpse into our vision for transforming a parish and hopefully get your mind churning about how we might develop a plan that works best for you and your parish.

The first year focuses on becoming the spiritual father of the parish. To do this we focus on

1. Increasing Grace
1. Consecrate your parish to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
2. Increase prayer and penances in the parish.
3. Put the Eucharist front and center.


2. Fatherhood
1. Become the spiritual father of the parish.
2. Run a St. Joseph Boot Camp to form young men and fathers of the parish.
3. Start a Families of the Immaculata.


3. Organization
1. Understand your parishioners, structures, employees, committees/councils, etc.
2. Develop a vision and plan to transform the parish.
3. Re-organize and reset expectations to hit the ground running in the fall of year 2.

Meetings: We typically set up weekly meetings in the summer when things tend to be a little slower in the parish. This helps build a relationship with the pastor. Once things heat up in Aug/Sept the meetings move to every two weeks. In the summer meetings we typically focus on the topics below. (We know vacations, etc. will get in the way, and that's expected.)
         - Leadership and spiritual fatherhood
         - Knowledge of the parish(es)
         - Stress and anxiety management


July: The First Month

First Homily - Build trust and open the desired lines of communication.

1. It is an opportunity for them to get to know you, more importantly to know what you’re about (Eucharist, Mary, etc.) and what you’re going to do for them (lead them to Heaven).
2. Stories open up future conversations with parishioners. If you can give a good story about things you enjoy discussing and highlight favorite devotions it can encourage conversation.
3. Ask them to pray for you. Acknowledge your weakness, but also the battle you are undertaking, and that you will need their help and prayers to lead them to Christ and to heaven.

Daily Mass crowd - Go to breakfast with them. Win them over and ask them to be your prayer warriors for the future of the parish. They will be a source of grace for the parish. Staff, Councils and Ministries - Break down barriers. Meet with them as a group and as much as possible individually. Force them to get to know you as a person so they cannot make a caricature of you. Alleviate unwarranted fears and begin to build trust. Let them see that you care about them, and help them know and understand your motives.

August: Things start heating up in the parish so meetings are transitioned to every two weeks.
- Recruit 12 or so men to start a St. Joseph Boot Camp.
- On the Feast of the Assumption publicly or privately consecrate our efforts to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
- Start discussions on ways to shift the parish culture, with a particular focus on the Eucharist, the Blessed Virgin Mary and Confession.


September:
- St. Joseph Boot Camp which kicks off in early September
- Meetings will focus on analysis of staff, councils, committees, ministries, charters, schools, etc. with the purpose of centering all things on Christ and freeing the priest from too much administration to allow him to be the priest God has called him to be.


January - May
Meetings focus on designing an ideal parish structure (staff, councils, committees, ministries, charters, schools, etc.), placing the pastor as the head with less office work and responsibilities, freeing his time for prayer and priestly ministry.


July
Begin implementation of new parish structure, etc.


September
Begin Families of the Immaculata starting with the families of the men from your St. Joseph Boot Camp.

If you are interested in working with St. Philomenas' Apostolate to build a vision and plan for your parish, please don't hesitate to contact us.

Resources

• Attributes of a Great Leader and Father - Fathers, natural and spiritual, have a duty and gift given by God to lead souls to Christ.
• St. Joseph Boot Camp - Form and build habits in the men of the parish to instill the faith in families and transform the parish.
• Families of the Immaculata - Place the families of your parish under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary and create authentic Catholic community.
• Office Spirituality - An 18 week program designed to develop a simple, yet deep prayer life in your staff.
• Precepts of the Church and Pastors Expectations bulletin addition
• Parish Year of Prayer - Methodically teach your parishioners to pray.
• How to Make Stress Healthy and Helpful - Ways to shift your mindset on stress and habits to combat against being overwhelmed.