Worshippers fill SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on June 7, 2025, as seminarians and priests process out of the cathedral after a Mass in which three men were ordained priests for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. (Photo by Sally Krause)Go therefore and make disciples of all nations … . (Mt 28: 19)

This “great commission” of Christ is carried out today by each of us—his followers—and by the Church he founded.

“The Church itself is the body of Christ,” Archbishop Charles C. Thompson said in a recent interview with The Criterion. “Everything about the Church that exists is a ministry of [Christ’s] mission. Whether it’s a parish, school, Catholic Charities, … everything is geared toward that primary task of evangelization, leading people to the person of Jesus Christ.”

It’s a vast and perhaps daunting mission.

But with input and involvement from some 1,000 people throughout the archdiocese, a five-year pastoral plan was just released to provide focus and guidance for parishes, schools and archdiocesan ministries in carrying out that mission in central and southern Indiana.

Titled “Go Forth in Joy and Hope as Missionary Disciples,” the document lays out five areas, or “domains,” of focus, each with goals and objectives.

“But the specifics of how [they get] done, that’s going to vary from parish to parish” and for each school and archdiocesan ministry, Archbishop Thompson said.

One member of the pastoral planning team encourages individuals to read the plan.

“It’s relevant to every person in the pew,” said Gayle Schrank of St. Mary Parish in Navilleton. “We are all disciples, and we do have a mission. This is an opportunity to become more involved in our faith.”

Her words support Archbishop Thompson’s statement on the plan’s purpose: “To be intentional, to have a shared vision, and to work together toward that same common, shared vision.”

‘The Holy Spirit was definitely involved’

Archbishop Thompson is quick to note that this is no dictated, “top-down” plan.

Proof of that fact can be found starting two years ago when the archdiocese launched surveys and listening sessions in English and Spanish throughout central and southern Indiana.

“The process was grounded in many hours of listening and prayerful discernment of where we are today, where God is calling us to be, and how we get there together,” archdiocesan chancellor Christopher Walsh noted in an email. “Close to 1,000 people were directly involved in the formation of this pastoral plan.”

Archbishop Thompson was present at each of the listening sessions.

“I think that’s very significant,” said Daniel Conway, the consultant who helped guide the archdiocese’s two-year pastoral planning process. “It says this is not the archbishop’s plan, but it’s the archdiocese’s plan with the archbishop. And that’s really significant.”

A 22-member committee assisted in the pastoral planning process from the start.

Walsh credited the team’s effort in spending “the last two years working together to bring the feedback to life.”

While the archbishop and others in archdiocesan leadership were part of the committee, the entire team represented a demographic cross-section of the archdiocese in terms of age, race, ethnicity, vocation and locale.

Those who created the committee “were very intentional in inviting many, many different people on this team,” said committee member Schrank, who recently retired as pastoral associate of St. Mary Parish in Navilleton.

“There were priests, a [religious] sister, lay people, those who work for the Church, those who work in the community—a very diverse group of people, very holy people.”

She said a member of the team “wrote down every single thing that was spoken from all the parishioners” during the listening sessions throughout the archdiocese.

“People just want to be heard, and I feel like this group very much listened and addressed what was said,” Schrank noted.

Fellow planning team member Yadira Villatoro agrees.

The administrator of religious education for St. Anthony Parish in Indianapolis served on a subcommittee that selected the archdiocesan pastoral plan’s five domains of focus.

First, the subgroup prayerfully considered the listening session and survey results, Villatoro said. They also studied a few Church documents for insight, including Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel.”

When it came time to discern the final areas of focus, “It was easy to narrow down,” said Villatoro. “The five people on the [sub]committee had the same ideas. The Holy Spirit was definitely involved.”

The five domains of the plan are: parish life and worship, evangelizing catechesis, stewardship, vocations, and outreach and ministry.

‘At the core … is evangelization’

The document describes each of these domains as “key elements in the make-up of parishes, schools, and archdiocesan ministries that are Alive in Christ.”

It uses simple phrases to describe each domain’s purpose:

—Parish life and worship: “Encounter the person of Jesus Christ.”

—Evangelizing catechesis: “Teach as Jesus did.”

—Stewardship: “Foster a culture of joyful and intentional stewardship.”

—Vocations: “Respond to the universal call to holiness.”

—Outreach and ministry: “Implement Catholic social teaching.”

“We felt it was very important that each domain specifically led us to the person of Jesus Christ, … to answer Jesus’ call to holiness and to be people who reach out to others and share his love and his teaching,” Conway told The Criterion.

The plan calls parishes the “most prominent and far-reaching” of the Church’s ministries. “That’s why the primary focus of our new pastoral plan is to develop vibrant parishes,” it states, with the two words intentionally italicized.

And “at the core” of a vibrant parish “is evangelization,” said Archbishop Thompson.

“How is it evangelizing to people within the walls of that church? How is it evangelizing to people outside the walls of that church, not just within the parish boundaries or the church’s property, but beyond … ?”

The plan strikes a chord with archdiocesan vicar general Msgr. William F. Stumpf. A pastoral planning team member and pastor of St. Matthew the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis, he had this to say:

“In all the years I’ve been involved in archdiocesan planning, I feel this is a plan that really focuses on the primacy of the parish and its work in the life of the archdiocese.”

But the domains equally apply to archdiocesan schools and ministries in terms of their vibrancy in carrying out the Church’s mission.

“Again, it’s a shared vision,” Archbishop Thompson said.

‘Guidance, allowing space for creativity’

It may be a shared vision, but in an archdiocese that spans the majority of central and southern Indiana with parishes large and small, urban and rural, the implementation of that vision is bound to differ.

For that reason, the objectives and goals outlined under each domain are “pretty broad, and they’re meant to be broad,” the archbishop said.

“The action steps are where it becomes a little different” for each parish, school and archdiocesan ministry, he continued.

He gave an example of an objective for a parish to help its members develop a deeper relationship with Christ in the Eucharist. One possible action step might be to institute perpetual eucharistic adoration.

“That might work for a large parish,” Archbishop Thompson said. “But a rural parish that only has 50 households and is spread across half a county, that’s probably harder for them.

“We can all get behind what it means to strive to deepen our identity and appreciation for the Eucharist. But the specifics of how that gets done, that’s going to vary from parish to parish, from community to community,” perhaps even with some parishes or a deanery working on an action step together, he noted.

“Hopefully [the plan is] giving some direction, some vision, some guidance, allowing space for creativity as well.”

Conway agreed.

“The genius of the Catholic Church is that we believe so strongly in the principle of subsidiarity, that what is done best is at the local level,” he said.

‘An invitation for each of us’

However the implementation looks in the end, Archbishop Thompson said the first two action steps are the same for every parish, school and archdiocesan ministry.

“The first one is to read it,” he said. “Secondly, how do we dialogue with others so that we can have others help us share insights and discern?”

Some pastors might choose a route like Msgr. Stumpf at St. Matthew.

“Our pastoral council will read it and engage in a synodal process to reflect on the plan and how we need to implement it,” he said.

Other parishes, schools or ministries might “create small groups to read and study the plan then come together in prayer to discuss and discern,” Conway suggested.

Whoever reads the plan, he said, should “read it prayerfully with an open mind and heart.”

Schrank encourages every member of the archdiocese to read the document in the same way, saying it is “not meant to be pie in the sky.”

“This [plan] is an invitation for each of us to get out there and do our part,” she said. “I would just invite people to read it and take personal steps to grow in their own life based on what’s in the plan.”

Msgr. Stumpf agrees.

“The Church is really calling us to be missionary disciples and to evangelize and share the good news,” he said. “That’s part of the mission to each of us as Catholics. It doesn’t rest with the institution but with each of us. The plan is a reminder and a way for us to help people take on that responsibility.”

His comments reflect the name of the document: “Go Forth in Joy and Hope as Missionary Disciples.”

“It’s offered to be a means of us sharing a vision together,” said Archbishop Thompson. “Working together, moving forward together, being together, being centered not on any particular ego or ideology or agenda but on Christ Jesus alone.”
 

(The pastoral letter and domains of “Go Forth in Joy and Hope as Missionary Disciples” can be found on page 9 of this issue. To read the goals and objectives, go to www.archindy.org/PastoralPlan.) †