From the Bishop

THE FUTURE OF THE DIOCESE OF ORANGE: AN UPDATE

An overview of the progress being made to ensure the Church in Orange County remains strong and vibrant.

By The Most. Rev. Timothy Freyer, Auxiliary Bishop, Diocese of Orange     7/27/2018

 

The Diocese of Orange is in the midst of a historic transformation. Our parishes are growing, young men are hearing the call to serve Christ by becoming priests and Christ Cathedral, our spiritual home, will be dedicated in less than a year. It is truly a wonderful time to be a Catholic in Orange County! 

As our Diocese continues its transformation, we want to ensure Our Church remains strong and vibrant.  

Under the direction of Bishop Kevin Vann, work began in 2016 by Diocesan leadership, clergy and staff to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to guide our faith community far into the future. The plan, is a proactive and trailblazing approach setting a clear, sustainable path forward for our Catholic community.  

The planning process seeks to create a unified vision across the Diocese and increase collaboration among our 62 parishes and Catholic centers spread across Orange County. The plan focuses on six key areas: evangelization, faith formation, financial stewardship, governance, schools sustainability and the Christ Cathedral Campus experience. 

An important part of this process is soliciting feedback from stakeholders across the Diocese. To that end, workgroups comprised of staff and talented lay leaders met through the spring to listen, interviewed and surveyed hundreds of stakeholders from across the Diocese, researched, prayed and discussed how to make the best recommendations to Bishop Vann for consideration. The workgroups wrote their reports and recommendations in late May and early June. Those reports were submitted to Bishop Vann on June 20. The recommendations were then presented to a Diocesan leadership team and then to a group of pastors.  

After listening carefully to the presentations and reading the reports, Bishop Vann met with his Episcopal Council for further review and discussion. Bishop Vann will continue to pray and discern about the recommendations and will soon begin to make decisions about the vision of the Diocese and the priorities that will be adopted from the strategic planning process.  The strategic plan is expected to be finalized by the end of September.  

This plan will help ensure the future growth of our Diocese, so that generations far into the future will be able to be a part of a rewarding faith journey in a Catholic community that continues to bring people to know God’s great love.