CDOP Pastoral Plan

LINK to Catholic Diocese of Peoria

GROWING DISCIPLES ANNOUNCEMENT - FINAL DECISION BY BISHOP LOU TYLKA - May 18, 2024
(This is only part of the letter - see it's entirety here - https://www.growingdisciplescdop.org/letters.)
St. John the Baptist in Clinton, St. Patrick in Wapella, and Sacred Heart in Farmer City will be merged to become one new parish, with a primary worship site at St. John the Baptist in Clinton. St. John the Evangelist Church in Bellflower will not be in use. The process of implementing this change is expected to be completed over the next 12 months.
I have decided to promote Fr. Thomas Szydlik from administrator in Clinton and Farmer City to pastor of St. John the Baptist in Clinton, Sacred Heart in Farmer City, and also to St. Patrick in Wapella, effective July 1, 2024. I have assigned Fr. Derick Mwesiga as parochial vicar of St. Patrick of Merna in Bloomington and St. Mary in Downs. He will remain the chaplain of Central Catholic High School.

Primary Church - St. John the Baptist, Clinton --- the primary church is the principal worship site for the parish. Full pastoral care will be provided at the primary church, including Sunday and other Masses, confessions, and the other sacraments. The primary church is generally where the parish office is located, the parish records are kept, and often where the priest(s) will reside.
Secondary Church - St. Patrick, Wapella & Sacred Heart, Farmer City --- churches under the care of the parish where some pastoral care will be provided. This would include Sunday Mass and other sacraments in so far as possible, as determined by the pastor.
Not in Use - St John the Evangelist, Bellflower.

BISHOP of PEORIA's DECISION

Moving forward, the Diocese of Peoria will be reshaped from 156 parishes to 75 parishes with 129 worship sites. These parishes will be overseen by 71 diocesan and religious order pastors. These modifications include the merging of 12 parishes into neighboring parishes and 107 parishes being merged to create 38 new parishes.
All of our communities are asked to evaluate its schedule of Masses, its programs of pastoral care and evangelization Even in parishes where there is no change to the pastor or parish structure. Every parish is being challenged to be more intentional in cultivating disciples.
Implementation of these plans will begin July 1, 2024 and may continue through 2027.

DECISION BY THE NUMBERS

156 parishes to 75 parishes with 127 worship sites
71 diocesan priests and religious order priests will serve as pastors, with many of them serving more than one parish
12 parishes will merge into neighboring parishes
107 parishes will merge together to create 38 new parishes
39 new priest assignments

5/18/2024 Letter from Bishop Lou to St. Patrick in Wapella - FINAL DECISION

5/5/2024 Growing Disciples Update

2/1/2024 Growing Disciples Update

Jan 5, 2024
An update on Growing Disciples from Bishop Louis Tylka of the Diocese of Peoria.
Thank you to all the priests, key parish leaders and deacons who helped host meetings in October, and to those who took the time to give thoughtful feedback on the most recent round of draft models.

Scroll down past the documents to view videos.

Bishop Tylka’s Two Year Pastoral Planning Process:
Growing Disciples
Since coming to the “Heart of Illinois,” Bishop Louis Tylka has experienced firsthand the faith and good works of our priests, religious and laypeople, and he has listened to the people of the Diocese of Peoria. In response to what he has learned, Bishop Tylka has commissioned a pastoral planning process called Growing Disciples, with the goal of moving further into the mission which Christ has given us: to go and make disciples.
In order to renew discipleship and enhance relationships with Jesus in every corner of our region, Growing Disciples will examine the current structure of parishes and schools in the diocese to evaluate how they can best meet the needs of the faithful and address challenges facing the Church today.

Videos are at the bottom of this page or you may use the links below:
- For a video message from Bishop Lou, FAQ and more, click HERE.
- Each of the "Five Foundations" videos can be seen HERE as they become available.
- The Growing Disciples YouTube Channel has each and every video regarding the process HERE.

St. Patrick Parish, Wapella
Key Parish Leaders:
Fr. Derick Mwesiga
  Dcn. Todd Weber
  Parish Council VP - Rose Szymkiewicz
  Trustees - Patty Hermes and Mark Kingery
Parish Point of Contact:
Pam Elliott

November 27, 2022

January 21, 2023

March 19, 2023

Growing Disciples - The Five Foundations | Part 5: Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
7/13/23
Watch as Monsignor Jason Gray, Priest and Director of the Archbishop Fulton Sheen Foundation, and Katie Bogner, Teacher for the Diocese of Peoria and creator of “Teaching with Fulton Sheen” curriculum, discuss the life of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, his first recorded miracle, and the many ways he modeled how we can pursue our lives as disciples, living and working in witness for Christ.

Growing Disciples Update:
Key Parish Leader Meeting & Parish Models Feedback Session
5/23/23
Father David Richardson shares an update regarding the recent Key Parish Leader meetings, where those in attendance learned about this first round of “parish models” – that is, groupings of parishes that might work together as a new “unified” parish in the future as part of the Growing Disciples pastoral planning process.

Growing Disciples - The Five Foundations | Part 4: The Eucharist
5/16/2023
Do you believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist? Did you know that the Mass is our invitation to join in Christ’s sacrifice and participate in communion with God and love for Jesus? Father Luke Spannagel, Priest and National Eucharistic Preacher for the Diocese of Peoria, and Ana Rodas, Assistant Director of Divine Worship for the Diocese of Peoria, discuss how we can come to know and experience Christ’s true presence in the Eucharist, so that our participation in the Mass produces the fruit our Lord intended when He gave us the gift of sharing in communion through the Eucharist – a foundational understanding essential to the Growing Disciples pastoral planning process.

Growing Disciples Update:
Priest Assembly Day
4/3/2023
Father Chase Hilgenbrinck, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Peoria, shares an update regarding the recent Priest Assembly Day and Pastoral Planning Commission meeting.

Growing Disciples - The Five Foundations | Part 3: Strengthening Vocations
3/15/2023
How did God make you to love? Which path will lead you to holiness? Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck, Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Peoria, and Sr. M. Bernadette, FSGM, discuss our universal call to holiness, how to listen for the path God is calling us to take, and why they each felt called to enter the religious life – a foundational understanding essential to the Growing Disciples pastoral planning process.

Growing Disciples Update: Catholic Schools
2/27/2023
Most Reverend Louis Tylka, Bishop of Peoria, shares an update on how Catholic schools in the Diocese of Peoria will be addressed in the Growing Disciples pastoral planning process.
Read more in the statement HERE.

Growing Disciples Update:
2023-2024 Planning Process
2/15/2023
Most Reverend Louis Tylka, Bishop of Peoria, outlines the Growing Disciples planning process from now through Pentecost 2024. He discusses information about parish draft modeling milestones, timelines and key consultative bodies involved in providing feedback. A graphic which illustrates this information can be found HERE and seen below.

Growing Disciples Update:
More Than Numbers
1/31/2023
Father David Richardson discusses the important aspects of our parishes–aside from numerical data–that are essential to consider as we plan for the future in advancing the Five Foundations for Growing Disciples, and creating an even more vibrant, mission-driven and sustainable network of parishes.

Growing Disciples - The Five Foundations | Part 2: Inspiring Discipleship
1/17/2023
What did Jesus intend for all of us when he called his first disciples--and what does that mean for us as a Church today? Matt Faley Chief of Mission for the Diocese of Peoria, and Jenny Witt, Director of Evangelization at St. Philomena Parish, discuss what we mean when we use the word "discipleship," how to discern what Jesus intended for all of us, and how to live out vibrant discipleship--both in our personal apostolates and in our parishes--which is an important goal of the Growing Disciples pastoral planning process.

Growing Disciples Update:
Key Parish Leaders
1/17/2023
Monsignor Mark Merdian explains the role of Key Parish Leaders, and how their feedback and insights from the parish level support the Growing Disciples pastoral planning process.

Growing Disciples - The Five Foundations | Part 1: Empowering Evangelization
12/20/2022
What does "evangelization" really mean, and how are we called to evangelize as Catholics? What does this have to do with the Growing Disciples Pastoral Planning initiative? In this video, Bishop Lou Tylka and Father Adam Cesarek, pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Pontiac, discuss their perspectives–and address common challenges and questions–related to evangelization and
Growing Disciples.

Growing Disciples Update:
"Who's Who?" 12/20/2022
Father Chase Hilgenbrinck introduces the individuals and teams who are guiding the vision and process for the Growing Disciples Pastoral Plan in the Diocese of Peoria.

Growing Disciples Leadership
-Core Team:
The Growing Disciples Core Team works very closely with Bishop Tylka, advising him in the pastoral planning process and helping to disseminate information to the faithful of the Diocese of Peoria.
-Tom Lenz, Leadership Consultant, Catholic Leadership Institute
-Father Chase Hilgenbrinck, Vocation Director of Recruitment, Diocese of Peoria
-Monsignor Mark Merdian, STL, Pastor of Ottawa Catholic Community, Diocese of Peoria
-Father David Richardson, Episcopal Vicar for Junior Clergy and Pastor of St. Philomena, Peoria, Diocese of Peoria
-Matt Faley, Chief of Mission, Diocese of Peoria
-Amanda Connon, Director of Information Management, Diocese of Peoria
-Pastoral Planning Commission:
The Pastoral Planning Commission is comprised of 12 team members who represent each of the 12 vicariates of the Diocese of Peoria, and act as liaisons between their vicariate and the diocesan Core Team, advising the Core Team based on local-level information.
-Parish Points of Contact (PPOC) and Key Parish Leaders:
A PPOC has been appointed within each parish of the diocese. Each parish has a team of five Key Parish Leaders to gather information and provide feedback and insights to the Pastoral Planning Commission and Core Team.

Growing Disciples:
Pastoral Plan for
the Catholic Diocese of Peoria
2/20/2022