In early 2008, Bishop Robert N. Lynch charged the Vicar General, Fr. Robert Morris with launching and facilitating a process to reevaluate the use of resources and personnel throughout the diocese in an effort to improve the vitality of parish life as well as the quality of ministry provided throughout the Diocese of St. Petersburg in the local faith community level..

This process, Serving God’s People,  was initiated in the Citrus and Lower Pinellas Deaneries almost 2 years ago.  These two deaneries have completed the initial phase and have submitted their reports with recommendations to the Presbyteral Council.   (For more information about the status of the process, please click the link above entitled Deaneries.)

Currently, the Serving God’s People initiative is being introduced to the remaining 5 deaneries.  The individual parishes of these deaneries – Hernando, Pasco, Upper Pinellas, East Hillsborough, and West Hillsborough – have been participating in orientation and training sessions at Bethany Center over the past few weeks.  The purpose of these orientation and training sessions are to help introduce the Serving God’s People process to the parishes in which this initiative will be taking place in the months ahead.

This process was initiated principally in response to the following three factors:

1. The number of priests available to serve in the diocese is decreasing.
2. The local demographics have shifted substantially in the past 10 years, and are projected to continue to shift.
3. The continual challenge posed by maintenance and upkeep of facilities, especially when coupled with the recent decline in the economy.

After completing the Pastoral Planning Process, it is hoped that:

1. Awareness of the needs, ministries, people, facilities, finances, and future opportunities for growth of each parish, deanery, and of the diocese as a whole will be increased.
2. Participation in the stewardship and leadership of the parish by the lay Catholic population will be enhanced.
3. Specific recommendations for best positioning the local parishes and deaneries for service to their local communities will be identified.

We invite you to browse through this site and its resources to further your understanding of this process, and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact your parish priest or the Diocesan Pastoral Center Offices.

Downloads

1. Initiative Overview
2. Initiative Assumptions
3. Initiative Goals

See Also

1. Initiative Timeline