Now that we have taken the time to discern what it means to be a Viable Parish, hopefully there are some new insights or fresh inspiration about the future.
The next steps are to animate.
Now is a good time for clergy and parish leaders to utilise the Viable Self-Reflection tool found below. For in-house use only among the team, this tool is quite different from the Self-Reflection tools used in the Vibrant and Vital Parish dimensions.
What this tool offers, among other things, are the minimum criteria for viability—a more objective assessment of whether or not a parish has the resources to sustain parish land and property in an ongoing way. The responses to that criteria will determine what next steps to take. If one or more of the five criteria are not met, then there are teams within the Archdiocese of Melbourne you can and should reach out to for support, including the Finance Office and Parish Support Office, Human Resources, Safeguarding, and the Development and Philanthropy Office.
Assessing or growing our viability is best done in collaboration with people who are experts in their domains. There are many such people in the Archdiocese eager to help our parishes steward for mission however they can.
But the Self-Reflection tool also helps examine important sustainability and growth characteristics. These will help parishes think about their overall viability plan, about how to increase sustainability and growth in the areas of building a capable and effective team, financial sustainability, and the optimal use of land and property.
The pages below offer tools, resources, and reflections on what to pay attention to when seeking to animate any of these three areas.
