As Beacons of Light progresses into its fourth year, the Center for Parish Vitality – after consultation with Archbishop Casey – will be working with all Families of Parishes to assist them in discerning the best use of all resources (especially physical, financial, and personnel) for the renewed mission of bringing the Gospel to our communities by forming and sending missionary disciples. Families of Parishes will consider, in a synodal way, if they have sufficient resources as well as how best to deploy or reconfigure those resources to do missionary discipleship and meet the challenge of our apostolic age. Families within a deanery will do this at the same time, between April 2026 and June 2027, to explore strengths gained from collaboration.
Archbishop Casey explains the purpose of Family Unity Discernment
“In order for the journey of the Word to continue, the Christian community must make a determined missionary decision ‘capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation’…This means a pastoral activity that, through an effective and vibrant collaboration between priests, deacons, religious and laity, as well as among different Parish communities of an area or region, occupies itself with identifying together the questions, difficulties and challenges germane to evangelization, seeking to integrate ways, methods, proposals and means suitable to confront them.”
Instruction “The pastoral conversion of the Parish community in the service of the evangelizing mission of the Church”, of the Congregation for the Clergy, VI 5, VI 123
The Process
The Family Unity Discernment (FUD) process will synodally discern the best use of temporal resources (buildings, revenue, staff, etc.) towards the mission of forming & sending missionary disciples. This process includes three main steps and several in-person events:
Steps
Events
Family
Investigate
The Center for Parish Vitality (CPV) will work with a point person at the Family to coordinate schedules, confirm participants, and gather data.
Deanery
Deanery Day
The CPV will facilitate an orientation to the Family Unity Discernment (FUD) process to all Family Leadership Team (FLT) and Family Pastoral Council (FPC) members for all Families within the deanery.
9:00am – 12:30pm
See deanery schedule below.
Family
Reflect
The CPV will assist the Family Leadership Team (FLT) and Family Pastoral Council (FPC) use the data gathered in the Investigate step to conduct an analysis of opportunities to better utilize the temporal resources of the Family towards the mission of forming & sending missionary disciples.
Family
Reflect Prep
The CPV will assist the FLT finalize data and prepare for the Reflect Synod.
90 minutes
Family
Reflect Synod
The CPV will facilitate a Reflect Synod with parishioners (& school parents) using Conversations in the Spirit to prayerfully discern the best use of temporal resources for the Family.
9:00am – 3:30pm, Saturday
or
6:00 – 9:00pm, two consecutive evenings
Family
Recommend
The CPV will assist the FLT & FPC review the recommendations from the Reflect Synod and advise the pastor on the best use of temporal resources to support the mission of forming & sending missionary disciples.
All Families of Parishes will participate in Family Unity Discernment, including single-parish Families and those Families who have already unified canonically. The work of discerning the best use of our buildings, our resources, and our personnel to serve the Gospel in the new apostolic age is an ongoing endeavor that requires the partnership of all Families within a deanery. The meetings and the work of Family Unity Discernment have been designed so as to not be an additional burden but rather to assist Families of Parishes in carrying forth the goals and objectives of Beacons of Light.
The CPV has created detailed methodology documents, agendas, forms and materials and is currently piloting this process with one Family of Parishes. The CPV will make appropriate forms available to you on Google Drive as we begin working with your deanery.
Any questions, please contact [email protected]