WHAT IS ENVISION?
ENVISION is a focused, long term planning process for parishes. It is faith-based and highly participatory. Pastors and parishioners work together over the course of nine months to discern how God is calling their community to carry out the evangelizing mission of the Church. Part of this work is developing a three-year plan for the parish based on their discernment. This is followed by three years of implementing the plan.
THE HEART OF ENVISION: THE EVANGELIZING MISSION OF THE CHURCH
The evangelizing mission of the Church is the heart of ENVISION. This mission, in brief, is to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19) by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people, living gospel values in our own lives, and inviting others to join us in doing it.
Like the first followers of Jesus, we gather in communities of faith. We seek strength and support as we share our faith, our time, our talent, and our treasure to extend the mission of Jesus. We reach out to our families, our neighborhoods, our communities, and the world. As we serve this mission, we are converted more and more into the likeness of Christ.
Our environment is not the same as that of Jesus' first followers. We experience Christ in a different setting and share his mesage with a world that has changed a great deal. The human hungers for unity, goodness, wisdom, and truth.
THE GOAL OF ENVISION: EVANGELIZING CATHOLICS IN AN EVANGELIZING PARISH
Being an evangelizing Catholic does not come naturally; it requires formation, training, and discipline. It requires conscious effort to focus parish attention and resources on the evangelizing mission. These efforts are most sucessful, both in the short-term and in the long-term, when they are the result of an effective parish-wide planning process.
THE APPROACH OF ENVISION
ENVISION proposes that all parishioners participate in discerning how God is calling them to become a more evangelizing community. It uses a planning rooted in listening and prayerful discernment, which has parishioners identify the specific attitudes, behaviors, and activities that would better reflect a Christ-centered and mission-focused parish. In addition, parishoners recommend specific steps to accomplish these aims.
ENVISION is:
- Christ-centered: all the phases of the process help parishoners move closer to Christ and live more fully as his disciples.
- Mission-focused: it helps participants work towards specific results and deliberate actions that reach out to inactive Catholics and people with no church family.
- Results-oriented: the planning process is designed to achieve continuous short-term cycles of results to accomplish long-term impact.
- Participatory: it is based on the active involvement of the parishioners, encouraging them to use their gifts to serve the mission of the faith community.
- Flexible: it is a structured planning process that is designed to accomodate the unique strengths and needs of St. Pius X.
- Inclusive: the method of planning encourages all members to become involved in setting the future direction of our faith community.
- Comprehensive: it reaches into all aspects of community life in order to determine which iniatives will most effectivly propel the faith community toward its preferred future.
- Repeatable: the process initiates ongoing annual cycles of planning and action. Participants see the benefit of planning and aligning themselves around a common purpose to which they hold themselves mutually accountable.