In 2004, the Archdiocesan Planning Commission issued directives to the Sheboygan parishes, in anticipation of the dwindling number of priests - Sheboygan has three priest/pastors, one parish director and an assisting priest providing sacramental celebrations and pastoral care for their six parishes - telling them "Include in your discussion and planning the possibility that some parish site(s) may have to close." But a citywide pastoral plan had already been in the works since fall of 2000, in response to the lack of priests to pastor all of Sheboygan's parishes. ...
So they were in the middle of one planning process when the next one comes down from Lake Drive? Watch your parish bulletin for Listening Sessions on a new Planning Process Planning Process to deal with this lack of coordination.
The steering committee came up with an original possibility - why couldn't the six parishes jointly hire an executive director who would take responsibility for the physical, financial and personnel resources of the parishes, freeing up the priests to do what only the ordained can do? ...
They might need to also retain psychologists to get the pastors to let go. Speaking of letting go ...
The archdiocese accepted the plan in May 2004. Since then, said Bader [Dick Bader, chair of the steering committee], it has been fine-tuned, including designating the newly created position "parish facilitator" rather than "executive director."
Perhaps the title "executive director" has connotations of authority with the dreaded accountability.
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