What is a Vision Day?
The visioning day is a guided process to develop a shared-vision of the parish through small group interaction and discernment. Mr. Vince Estrada, a faithful parishioner of Incarnate Word Parish and a worldwide business, philanthropic and parish consultant, has offered his expertise to guide us through the process – free of charge. As a parish community, we'll spend time reflecting on each of the main areas of parish life: Worship, Formation & Education, Social & Service and Finance & Administration. This is an initial gathering for all parishioners to help develop the goals and desires of the Parish.

Who should attend?
All parishioners (age 18 or older) are welcome to join us.

Why should I participate?
It's a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the parish, to meet more people in our community, and to contribute your thoughts about our strengths and opportunities. You can impact the future direction of our parish!

What if I'm new to the Parish, OR, don't feel knowledgeable about our Parish?
If you are a member of the parish – regardless of your tenure or involvement (so far) -- you are qualified! We encourage and welcome diverse perspectives, knowledge and experiences to this visioning day.

If you have questions, or prefer to register via phone, please contact our parish business manager or Libby Dischert (314-600-5881)

Pastoral Planning Update

We’ve embarked on this Pastoral Planning Process as a means to establish a clear strategic vision for our parish. It’s a methodology adopted by over 20 parishes throughout the St. Louis Archdiocese that relies on parishioner engagement to voice our priorities, our aspirations, and insights necessary for developing a mission and plan to achieve those goals.

Step One – Visioning – Complete!

Our Visioning was the first step in this pastoral planning journey. Thank You to the 200+ parishioners who participated. Facilitated by planning consultant of the pro-bono Leadership & Development Institute, Vince Estrada, via Zoom breakout groups, we closely examined many of Sacred Heart’s strengths and aspirations across the four critical aspects of parish life: Service, Formation, Worship, and Finance/Admin.

Step Two – Parish Survey – Complete!
See the results here.

The consolidated list of Strengths and Aspirations formulated by the Visioning Day process is now being presented in the form of a parish-wide survey. Each of us will be asked to review and select what we believe are the greatest priorities for our parish. Please check the bulletin & parish website for more information including a link to the survey, available the week of November 9th. As a community of faith, all our voices are welcomed! Paper copies of the survey can also be mailed to upon request by contacting the parish office.

The insights gained with this survey will become the basis for our refined Mission Statement. Parish Council will utilize the 4-pillar structure of the process (Worship-Formation-Service-Administration) to establish commissions and eventually formulate a detailed 3-5 year plan to execute on this vision.

As each step of the process occurs, updates will be provided. If at any point you have questions or would like more information, please contact a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, listed below. Thanks again for your participation and God Bless!

Step Three - Mission Development
On January 9th, members of the Parish Council met with the leaders of every parish organization. The purpose of this meeting was to provide information surrounding the effort to reorganize our parish clubs/groups/ministries. You can view the full presentation here.

With the survey complete, the Parish Council is now leading the effort to organize our 40+ SHVP groups/ministries into one of the four pillars, also now referred to as Four Commissions.

Each Commission will be comprised of 1-2 Parish Council members along with a designated Representative from each parish organization/ministry.
This structure should allow for better communication across the parish and provide clarity regarding which organizations are leading certain projects.  See visual below.

If you are interested in serving as a Commission Representative or on Parish Council member, please contact the leader(s) of your Parish organization or reach out to Fr. Maassen. The first meeting with Commission Reps is scheduled to occur on February 16th at 7pm.

Points of Contact:

Libby Dischert: 314-600-5881

Jill Baer: 314-265-4695

Dave Jackson: 314-954-3903

Matt Schneider: 314-277-3790