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the following aspects of current pastoral practice:
leadership and team
preparation, Scripture and homiletics, catechesis and faith formation, life
and dignity
of the human person, inculturation, solidarity and subsidiarity,
evangelization and conversion, marriage
and family, and the preferential
option for the poor and vulnerable.
6. Planning for Ministry Requires
Intentional Stewardship
All ministry and pastoral care relies on the availability of human and
financial resources applied by
leaders with good management and admin-
istrative skills. A parish can develop superior plans and strategies,
but they
will be effective only when human and financial resources are made avail-
able to implement them. Below is a review of several foundational skills
that are necessary for the effective use of human and
financial resources in
pastoral planning.
Managing, Supervising, and Developing People
Pastoral leaders have a responsibility to ensure that talented and qualified
staff and volunteers, who
are dedicated to the mission of the Church, are
developing into missionary disciples. This also includes
seeking to improve
personal and pastoral performance, valuing sustained personal growth in
knowledge and
skills, and encouraging continued growth.
Sound Business Practices and Ethical Standards
Stewardship of church finances requires adherence to the most stringent
ethical, legal, canonical
and fiscal standards. Additionally, pastoral leaders
must be open, consultative, collegial, and accountable in
the conduct of
their affairs. Parishioners exercise responsibility for the viability of their
parishes, schools,
related ministries, and outreach by generously contrib-
uting—both financially and through personal service—to the life of the
parish. The local parish community must be willing to provide financial
support for its
own pastoral ministries as well as for the Church’s charita-
ble works carried out within the diocese, nationally, and
internationally.
Demonstrating and cultivating a culture of generous contribution and
stewardship is an
extremely effective way of evangelizing.