Pas·​tor·​ate \ noun.  1: the office, state, jurisdiction, or tenure of office of a pastor
 
You may have read or heard that our parish is part of a pastorate. 
What does it mean that Holy Spirit Parish and St. John Vianney Parish are a pastorate?
 
A pastorate is a parish, or parishes, in which a single pastor, along with associate priests (called parochial vicars) serve.  The Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana has organized parishes in pastorates to better utilize priest resources and allow for greater priestly fraternity and collaboration among priests and faith communities within a particular geographical area.
 
This structure becomes more important as we begin to educate and implement the vision of Uniting in Heart.  Uniting in Heart is our diocesan vision for renewal and missionary discipleship.  It is captured in three pillars – Mission, Community and Witness.  These pillars both reflect what is already being done and directs what we are called to do in our parish life and ministry.  You can learn more about this at the diocesan website -
https://dol-in.org/uniting-in-heart

The Holy Spirit and St. John Vianney Pastorate will take shape over time.  Besides all of the priests offering Sacraments at both parishes, we will be communicating liturgy and Sacramental schedules for both parishes in each bulletin.  This allows for more options for Mass, Confessions, and Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament for parishioners of each parish.
 
It is important to emphasize the pastorate is not a combining of parishes, parish staff or finances.  These remain separate.  However, there are opportunities as a pastorate for cooperation and better management of resources, such as joint purchasing or shared programing in some situations.  The finance councils for each parish remain separate as will the budgets and budgeting process. 

Each pastorate is asked to develop a pastoral plan.  Pastoral refers to the living out of faith life and ministry.  A pastoral plan is a high-level, three-year plan.  I will share more on this as I learn about both the expectations and the process for developing the plan.  
 
Please pray for the renewal of our diocese and parish.  God is always calling us to grow in our faith – both individually and collectively.  That is the vision of Uniting in Heart and the ultimate goal of our pastorate.
 
“Let us never forget that it is the Lord who guides the Church. He is the one who makes our apostolates fruitful.” ~ Pope Francis
 
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Dale