Beacons of Light is a process of pastoral planning to best arrange all the resources of the archdiocese to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples in this particular time and place.
Everyone wants to belong to a vibrant parish.
Full, joyful and centered on the Eucharist.
Nurturing an ever-closer relationship with Jesus.
Spreading the love of Jesus through charitable outreach.
Beacons of Light is a multi-year process that began in 2022 with the arrangement of 208 parishes into 57 Families of Parishes. These new Families of Parishes have come together as one faith community, using their collective resources to focus more on mission than on maintenance. Pastors and parish leaders are collaborating on the future of their Family of Parishes.
Our Guiding Principles
Vibrant communities of faith that radiate Christ – thereby joyfully inviting people to know, love and serve Him through this life and into the next – will be realized by living out these six guiding principles:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Beacons of Light
A process of pastoral planning to best arrange all the resources of the archdiocese to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples in this particular time and place.
What is a Family of Parishes?
A Family of Parishes is a grouping of parishes led by a common pastor and unified lay leadership, and characterized by collaboration and shared resources. A parochial vicar (or multiple parochial vicars) or retired priest may also serve in a Family of Parishes.
Why is Beacons of Light happening now?
We have a responsibility to make the best use of all the means which God has provided us to pursue the mission of the Church to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples. With this as our goal, parishes need to be vibrant, evangelizing communities that continuously draw parishioners and attract new members into a more intimate relationship with Jesus. This is of urgent importance because:
- Religious practice has been declining in both the United States and in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
- Our current infrastructure and schedules were built for a different era. In many cases, our church buildings are grossly underutilized.
- Our resources have often been largely consumed by efforts to maintain the status quo and are spread too thin to be truly effective.
After careful consideration of these factors, along with input from priests and other leaders in the archdiocese, it was determined in 2020 that this pastoral planning initiative is needed.
How did the archdiocese form Families of Parishes?
The draft was created based on a comprehensive analysis of data and reviewed by teams comprised of priests, Pastoral Center and Catholic Schools Office staff, and Archbishop Schnurr. Data was collected from the parishes and schools of the archdiocese, spanning the previous 5 to 10 years on average but excluding the COVID-19 year of 2020. Demographic data was also examined and balanced against the pastoral considerations that affect life in our various communities. The data set included:
- Number of weekend Masses, including non-English Masses
- Church seating capacity and Mass attendance records
- Parish sacramental, faith formation and funeral records
- Catholic households, both registered and unregistered
- Catholic school enrollment, student counts by grade and demographics
- Parish and school finances
- Projected number of priests available for assignment over the next 10 years
- Chaplaincies such as hospital, prison, etc.
- U.S. Census data and demographic trends including percent Catholic, age and ethnicity
How is Beacons of Light different from previous planning processes?
The previous planning processes resulted in “clusters” or “regions” of free-standing parishes under a common pastor. Beacons of Light intends to go further by supporting each Family of Parishes in becoming a fully integrated community of faith with the expectation of becoming, over time, one canonical parish, possibly with multiple churches.
Will churches close as a result of Beacons of Light?
The disposition of all parish assets, including church buildings, will be decided within each Family of Parishes based on particular circumstances and opportunities. The planning for the future of each Family of Parishes will be done at the local level by the pastor in collaboration with his staff and Family leaders. It is important to remember that a parish can be made up of a single church or multiple churches.
How are lay people involved in Beacons of Light?
Lay people who are interested in being involved in the pastoral planning process within their Family should contact their pastor and visit the Pastoral Planning Pathway at https://pathway.catholicaoc.org.
How will Beacons of Light impact Catholic schools?
Catholic schools serve the evangelizing mission of the Church. The operation of Catholic high schools will not be impacted by Beacons of Light. Catholic elementary schools within a Family of Parishes will be included in the pastoral planning within that Family.
Are financial donations shared between parishes within their Family of Parishes?
Parishes are individual juridic persons that retain money donated to them. Individual parish finances will remain separate and not be comingled with other parishes in the Family of Parishes unless that parish undergoes a canonical change, i.e. is suppressed or canonically altered in some way.
What work has the pastoral center of the archdiocese been doing in the area of the New Evangelization?
Since 2013, an Office for the New Evangelization has existed at the Pastoral Center. Now called the Center for the New Evangelization (CNE), its work includes training, equipping and supporting parish staffs in four areas of evangelization:
- Marriage and Family
- Youth and Adult Faith Formation
- College and Young Adult
- Hispanic Evangelization
In addition, large-scale evangelization events are conducted by the CNE to augment parish evangelization efforts. The CNE annually ministers to hundreds of engaged couples, organizes Eucharistic adoration for thousands of youth, supports comprehensive campus ministry on three university campuses, engages in Spanish language outreach to a large and growing Hispanic community, and fields retreats for hundreds of parish workers.
Each Family of Parishes is following the Pastoral Planning Pathway to guide its future. This Pathway assists each Family in creating a pastoral plan for the parishes in the Family, articulating how they will live out the six Beacons principles and abide by each of the parameters, all aimed towards vital, mission-driven parish life within the Family of Parishes and ultimately, as one canonical parish.
