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Parishioners join hands at the Archdiocese of Atlanta Multicultural Mass. Photo by Michael Alexander, The Georgia Bulletin |
Archdiocesan Planning Committee
During the summer of 2006, Archbishop Gregory formed a planning committee to review the future pastoral, educational, social service, and social justices needs of the archdiocese. This Planning Committee is composed of 18 members including the archbishop, both vicars general, a pastor, a deacon, a Catholic school principal, and various members of the laity who have served within their parish communities.
From September 2006 through June 2007, the planning committee’s work focused on developing a fact-based understanding of historical and projected changes in the demographic composition of the 69 counties in the archdiocese and on identifying the key issues and challenges facing the archdiocese in the next 10 years.
In September and October of this year, the Planning Committee conducted three “Awareness” meetings around the archdiocese to update pastors, principals, and parish leaders on the progress of the Planning Committee. Attendees were encouraged to provide their feedback and ask questions during the meeting. The full “Awareness” meeting presentation is now being made available to everyone in the archdiocese.
The “Awareness” meeting presentation covers five topic areas:
- Background and progress to date of the Planning Committee
- Demographic analysis findings – both historical findings and future projections
- Findings from pastor, principal, archdiocesan staff and parishioner interviews, independent third-party surveys of parishioners and other recent studies commissioned by the archdiocese
- Strategic framework components – vision elements, mission elements, values, and critical success factors
- Initiatives and next steps for 2007-2008
Awareness Meeting Presentation Notes
The Planning Committee Chairman delivered the presentation and provided additional descriptive comments that were not included in the presentation. Some of the additional descriptive comments included were:
- Demographic projections for 2015 are projections only. The Planning Committee believes the projections are directionally correct with an approximate order of magnitude but that there are no future facts – only estimates based on accepted drivers and assumptions.
- Parishioners were surveyed through statistically valid phone interviews, online survey available to all parishioners, and targeted ethnic surveys of the African American, Brazilian, Hispanic, Korean, and Vietnamese parishioners.
- The Planning Committee developed an initial Strategy Map which is a visual representation of our plans and focus areas for the next 3-5 years. The strategy map is a communication tool to make sure that everyone – parishioners, priests, staff, principals, etc. understand the priorities of the Archdiocese. The components of the Strategy Map include:
- Vision Elements: the aspirations for the Archdiocese. The elements reflect where the Planning Committee wants the Archdiocese to be in the future.
- Mission Element: the six focus areas for the Archdiocese over the next 3-5 years. The Planning Committee believes that additional focus on the Mission Elements will help us get closer to achieving our Vision for the Archdiocese of Atlanta.
- Critical Success Factors: The list of Critical Success Factors summarizes and condenses the issues and priorities that were identified during the interviews and the market research. All of the listed critical success factors map back and support the six Mission Elements. These critical success factors represent the highest priorities for the Archdiocese in the coming years.
- The strategy map should be read from the bottom to the top. The bottom represents the foundation which we will need to build first to support our critical success factors which in turn are necessary for achieving our mission elements which leads to the realization of our vision.
Learn More About The Planning Study
November 15, 2007: Committee Reveals ‘Blueprint’ For Church Growth
Questions And Comments
As part of the Archdiocese of Atlanta’s efforts to improve communications (one of the identified critical success factors), the Planning Committee has established an email account for anyone to use to provide comments about the planning study to the Planning Committee. Comments received are logged and distributed to the appropriate person on the Planning Committee for review and recommendation.
If you think of a Suggestion, Comment or Question, you can email it to PlanningStudy@archatl.com.
Letter
with questions on the Planning Process
GA
Bulletin letter on Discipleship