Father Ben Announces the Development of a Pastoral Plan

As I begin my sixth year as pastor at St. John’s, I continue to reflect on the beautiful blessing it is to shepherd this flock. The Lord has provided me with many graces over the last five years and I am grateful for the many friendships I have developed in my time here.

We have experienced much in these last few years, beginning with a historical pandemic, several staff transitions, a campus master plan and successful capital campaign initiative, and the establishment of a Synod Evangelization Team, along with several new small group formations. We also continue to evolve our largest ministry: forming our youth in the faith with our school and religious education programming. During all of this we have maintained a strong sense of community, growing deeper in friendship with Christ and each other.

Through many months of prayer and in consultation with our trustees and members of our Finance Council, I have decided we are at a point to enter a time of discernment, asking God for His plan for the future of our church and school. I have recently established a small team of people from staff, councils and the community to be part of a project to develop a parish pastoral plan to move us into a new phase of friendship with Christ in our time. This is an effort that I envision to be steeped in prayer and that will focus on our missional call. As I have shared over the past few years, we are no longer in a period of Christendom; our secular culture is necessitating that we must re-evaluate how we live out the Gospel and bring others to encounter Jesus.

This project will be led and facilitated by Jim Weiland and others from Emmaus Partners (formerly Catholic Finance Corporation). We initiated the work in early December and hope to bring it to completion shortly after Easter. Emmaus Partners has supported several parishes in the archdiocese in this process and I am confident they will provide the support we need to deliver a fruitful outcome. Once this planning and discernment is completed, I envision a newly-formed and newly-inspired Parish Pastoral Council carrying this
work forward.

I ask that you pray for me in my role as pastor and for the team and this effort, that we may let the Holy Spirit guide this work and trust in his wisdom as we seek the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

-Father Ben Little, pastor