Senior director says the focus is on fulfilling Archbishop Miller’s priorities
Eight Archdiocese of Vancouver offices have become one in a massive shift aimed at improving how are run and focusing on what really matters.
“What’s important is our evangelizing mission, connecting people with Jesus, and accomplishing Archbishop Miller’s priorities,” said Pavel Reid, the senior director of the new Ministries and Outreach Office.
Before the creation of Ministries and Outreach, eight offices carried out everything from running marriage preparation programs to putting on retreats for catechists to sponsoring refugees.
Those offices – Catechetics; Life, Marriage, and Family; Youth and Young Adult Ministry; Service and Justice; First Nations Ministry; Evangelization; Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, and Stewardship – are now under one umbrella.
“We’re thinking more about the user experience from the parish side rather than from the organizational structure,” Reid said.
The reorganization will also help the 29 staff members in the new office accomplish the priorities and goals that Archbishop Miller released in 2016, Reid said.
“What we want people in parishes to notice is that the priorities are being accomplished. That’s what’s important,” Reid said.
Those priorities are Make Every Sunday Matter, Get Closer to Jesus, Strengthen Marriages and Families, and Develop Parish Leadership and Support.
“When people start to notice that there are 100 people in their parish going through the Discovery series, and their parish catechists feel supported, and there are 20 people getting baptized when last year there were only two, these are the kinds of impacts that we are planning to have.”
The hope is “parishes are stronger, people are encountering Jesus, and Catholics are starting to evangelize their neighbours and coworkers,” Reid said. “If that isn’t happening in a few years, then this was just an interesting exercise in organizational development.”
The restructure has been in the works since last year.
