NEW YORK—Patrick Turner, Director of Strategic and Pastoral Planning for the Diocese of Bridgeport, recently spoke to a group of sixteen Armenian Church of America priests who were gathered in Armonk, NY, for a three-day Parish Management workshop.
The workshop was organized by Villanova University’s Center for Church Management and Business Ethics. The internationally-recognized Center, the first of its kind in the country, provides faith-based managerial education to church leaders to help in parish administration.
Patrick outlined key elements and challenges in pastoral planning using the Synod and the planning process implemented last year in the Diocese of Bridgeport as a case study.
Best practices in creating parish priorities, setting goals, and implementing action steps to achieve those goals, were highlighted and discussed. In addition, national trends in society and within faith-based communities on such issues as declining regular church attendance, engagement of youth, and battling secular influences on families were analyzed.
Patrick Turner joined the Diocese of Bridgeport in 2014, when he was named Deputy Director of Synod 2014, the fourth synod of the Diocese of Bridgeport. The major themes of Synod 2014 were Empower the Young Church; Build Up Communities of Faith; Foster Evangelical Outreach; and Promote Works of Charity and Justice.
The diocese has worked to respond to needs identified by the Synod through a series of initiatives including the new Diocesan Leadership Institute, the Catholic Service Corps, the Diocese Youth Choir and other programs to supports priests and religious, introduce new catechetical directions, and make parishes more welcoming.
For additional information about the pastoral planning process in the Diocese of Bridgeport, please visit: www.bridgeportdiocese.org/strategic-planning/home.
For videos and major synod documents visit: http://www.2014synod.org/
