Hello,

The Archdiocesen All Things New (ATN) initiative has just released a second draft model of parish groupings, or pastorates, for the entire archdiocese. For Assumption Parish the model is the same that it had in the previous models, St. Barnabas and Assumption Parishes would become one pastorate. It also has a new Hispanic personal parish located at St. Barnabas facilities. When looking at all of the models it needs to be realized that just because parishes are grouped together does not mean that they will all merge into one parish, but rather that they will become one pastorate.

So what is a pastorate? A pastorate is a community that is under the pastoral care of one pastor and pastoral team. In some cases, an individual parish may remain as its own pastorate. In other cases, it may be that two or more parishes remain financially independent of each other but will become a new pastorate sharing one pastor and pastoral team. Finally, in some cases it may be that parishes merge their resources together and become a pastorate as a single parish under one pastor and pastoral team. Only after it has been discerned which communities ought to come together as a new pastorate (what the draft shows) can the case-by-case examination begin of which structure is most prudent for each existing parish. No matter the chosen structure, some worship sites may no longer be used in the future.   

We are asking you to provide any feedback you may have on the second draft models to me or one of our ATN Key Parish Leaders (Matt Fischer, Mike Lennon, Danielle Lifritz, Lisa Prize and Tom Reichert,) by Wednesday, February 15.

Peace,

Fr. Nick

All Things New Update – Second Draft Models

From the very beginning of All Things New we have been asking the question “Which communities does it make most sense to have come together in light of demographic shifts, evangelization and social outreach efforts, resources, and priest availability?”

You shared your feedback on what our parishes, ministries, and institutions need to look like to effectively share the faith in a way that is suitable and sustainable for our children, grandchildren, and generations to come.

Using the parish feedback summaries, parish workbooks and financial data of every parish in the Archdiocese, the All Things New planning committee has refined the first draft models to a second set of draft models, which offer one draft model per planning area.

• The second draft models for all 15 planning areas are now available for review on allthingsnew.archstl.org.
• Because of your feedback, of the 42 first draft models initially presented to priests, deacons, religious, parish life coordinators, key archdiocesan advisory bodies, and the lay faithful for consideration, none were adopted in the second draft models.
• The models show the Archdiocese being reshaped from 178 individual parish pastorates into 88 pastorates in order to best serve the lay faithful. A pastorate is a community that is under the pastoral care of one pastor and pastoral team.
• Please provide any feedback you have about the second draft models to your pastor or key parish leaders by Wednesday, February 15.
• This will be the last set of draft models and the final portion of feedback gathered in order to enable Archbishop Rozanski to make a well-informed, discerned decision for the spiritual well-being of the Archdiocese, looking at the feedback of the people and the needs of the Archdiocese. This decision will be announced on May 28, 2023 by Archbishop Rozanski

For additional information and to see the second draft models please Click here to go to the All Things New website or scan the QR code.

Here's a look at the map for Planning Area #10. Click here to view all the Planning Area Maps for the Archdioces of St. Louis.