History of the Plan

A quick look at the trends

• 1977 l Total Population in the Diocese: 197,915 l Catholic Population: 132,000 l 67% Catholic
• 2017 l Total Population in the Diocese: 238,257 l Catholic Population: 90,293 l 38% Catholic

October 2013

• Bishop Shelton Fabre installed as the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux
• He notices manythings, but notices three things specifically: (1) we have great people in the Diocese, (2) we have a rich history in our Diocese, (3) we lacked a common vision that brought all of us together

January 2015

• Bishop Shelton Fabre begins to consults with his Cabinet, Priests Council, and other consultative groups expressing his desire for a strategic plan
• When asked: "What is the one thing you want to accomplish with the strategic plan?" Bishop Fabre responds: "The renewal of our parishes"
• Bishop Fabre approaches Fr. Mark Toups, then pastor at Christ the Redeemer in Thibodaux, to begin the preliminary coordination of the strategic planning process

Spring 2015

• Fr. Mark interviews several consultants to assist in the strategic planning. After presenting the top three candidates to Bishop Fabre, the Diocese chooses L'Etoile Development Services under the leadership of Marilyn Blanchette and colleague  Mark Dollhopf.

May through December 2015

• Strategic planning leadership focuses on listening to priests and Pastoral Center employees.
• "What do think is great about our Diocese? What concerns to you have? What would you like to see in five years that you can't see now?"
• Every priest is interviewed one on one. Small lunches comprised of five to seven priests are hosted by the Bishop in his home. There are two large meetings of all priests solely focused on listening to the priests.
• Every Diocesan Director is interviewed. Each Diocesan Office engages in the evaluation process. 

January through May 2016

• Strategic planning focuses on listening to the laity.
• "What do think is great about our Diocese? What concerns do you have? What would you like to see in five years that you can't see now?"
• Large scale listening sessions hosted in every region of the Diocese.
• Online surveys emailed to every email address in the Diocesan database. Surveys hosted on Diocesan website.
• Small lunches comprised of various lay leadership are hosted by the Bishop in his home.
• Over 1,000 comprehensive responses give Bishop Fabre valuable insight into the desires of the laity.

What did we hear?

• Feedback from 12 months of listening is gleaned for themes.
• Theme no. 1: Adults. There was a consistent theme that Catholic adults desire more from the Faith, desire more understanding the Faith, and can not at present "defend" the Faith
• Theme no. 2: Youth. There was a consistent theme that we need to more for our youth
• Theme no. 3: Priests. There was a consistent echo from the laity: they love their priests, but notice that there is a need for nenewal within the priesthood, as well as a need for reneal of priestly ministry
• Theme no. 4: Resources. There were consistent concerns regarding the lack of physical and financial resources, as well as the atrophy of volunteerism within parishes
• Theme no. 5: "The Diocese." There were consistent comments illustrating a preceived disconnect between the parishes and the administrative hub at the Pastoral Center.

May thru July 2016

• Strategic planning launches six commissions tasked with creating solutions for the aforementioned concerns
• Nearly 300 laity join over 25 priests in the first six commissions:

1. Adult Formation Commission
2. Youth Formation Commission
3. Parish Life Commission
4. Priesthood Commission
5. Stewardship Commission
6. Pastoral Center Governance Commission

August 2016

• Priests of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux gather at Manresa Reteat Center for a full one-week convocation designed to review the work of the first six commissions and approve their direction, as well as preview the work of six new commissions

August thru December 2016

• Strategic planning continues the work of the first six commission and  launches six new commissions tasked with creating solutions for the concerns during listening sessions
• An additional 200 laity join the process in the next six commissions:

1. Deacons Commission    
2. Preaching Commission    
3. Catholic Schools Commission
4. Parish Social Ministries Commission
5. Vocations Commission
6. Multi-Cultural Commission

1. Adult Formation Commission
2. Youth Formation Commission
3. Parish Life Commission
4. Priesthood Commission
5. Stewardship Commission
6. Pastoral Center Governance Commission

January 2017

• Priests of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux gather at Lumen Christi Reteat Center for a their second one-week convocation. The priests review the strategic plan, offer their feedback, and ratify the plan as a presbyterate.

February thru April 2017

• Strategic planning leadership consults with Pastoral Center leadership, a newly formed Diocesan Pastoral Council, and other consultative groups further editing the diocesan strategic plan.

June 2017

• On Pentecost Sunday, the celebration of our 40th Anniversary as a diocese, Bishop Fabre promulgated our strategic plan, Plans of Hope.   Listen to Bishop Fabre's decree of promulgation at the top of this page.

PHASE I OF IMPLEMENTATION: BUILD STRUCTURE
June 2017 thru August 2018

Phase I, Goal 1: Structure in the parish

• Each parish establishes its own Parish Implementation Team.
• Benchmarks for Parish Implementation Teams from July thru December 2017:

1. Familiarity with the Formation Life Cycle ("The Five")
2. Familiarity with the the Discernment Rosary
3. Familiarity with how to implement adult formation (Why We Believe)

• Benchmarks for Parish Implementation Teams from January thru May 2018:

1. Confidence with the Formation Life Cycle ("The Five")
2. Confidence with the the Discernment Rosary
3. Confidence with how to implement adult formation

• Benchmarks for Parish Implementation Teams from June thru August 2018:

1. Host listening sessions in the parish
2. Summarize feedback from listening sessions

Phase I, Goal 2: Structure from the Pastoral Center

• Establish team of liaisons to assist parishes during Phase I of implementation
• Create best-practice structures within the Formation Department of the Pastoral Center so as to best support parishes during Phase II of implementation

PHASE II OF IMPLEMENTATION: PARISH-BASED PLANNING
 

August 2018

• Priests of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux gather at Lumen Christi Reteat Center for a their third one-week convocation. The priests review process of their own parish-based planning to begin in October 2018
• With their Pastor, Implementation Teams assessed what they heard during the cluster meetings and listening sessions

September - October 2018

• Office of Parish Support thru the Catholic Leadership Institute facilitated round one of the parish strategic planning process, setting priorities and goals to address in the parish what was heard during parish cluster meetings and listening sessions

• Office of Parish Support thru the Catholic Leadership Institute facilitated round two of the parish strategic planning process, setting objectives to meet the goals

January - February 2019

• Office of Parish Support facilitated round three of the parish strategic planning process for parishes needing additional assistance with their priorities, goals, or objectives

• Office of Parish Support worked with Pastors and Implementation Teams pairing “Action Plans” to goals set
• Office of Parish Support worked with Pastors assessing leadership necessary for the reform of CCD, as well as continued ongoing development of Adult Formation and Youth Formation Teams

March - June 2019

• Parishes piloted small groups, comprised of small group leaders themselves, while the Office of Parish Support began formation of Diocesan Youth Formation Support Team

July  2019

• Office of Parish Support facilitated first annual Youth Formation Leaders Summit