About a year ago, Father Ogg asked a small group of parishioners to serve on an ad-hoc committee to think about the long-range planning of Holy Name Parish. Paula Leuschen, Edre Maier, Jay McGinnis, Michelle Sullivan, and Walt Wragge agreed to serve and have been meeting regularly since that time.

The purpose of the committee is to examine where we are as a Catholic community and to think about where we, as a parish, want to go, as a faith community. The committee was asked to specifically think about the physical needs the parish might need to think about given a long-term vision of the Holy Name community.

The committee quickly realized that any discussion of the future had to begin with a study of the present - especially as it related to the state of Holy Name's physical plant. In turn, and with the blessing of the Finance Council, they contracted with Malone, Belton, and Abel to provide an up-to-date assessment of every structure owned by the parish. This study was completed in September and presented to the committee.

Based on that report, the long-range planning committee made recommendations to the finance council about the investments needed to improve the current physical plant of the parish. These recommendations focused primarily on items that the committee believed posed risks to the health and safety of occupants in the buildings, could improve the energy efficiency of a particular building, or was not reflective of the values of the parish community. The report and the committee's recommendations are available to any parishioner to review and are at the parish offices.

The Long Range Planning Committee also recommended the creation of a building committee that would be responsible for the oversight of building maintenance and the implementation of building projects in the parish.

The Holy Name Long Range Planning Committee has reached another milestone. After the completion of a building needs assessment in September 2006, and a seven year financial projections from the HN Finance Council, the committee set out to listen to members of the Holy Name community by conducting interviews of all organizations and ministries associated with the parish and representative of parish life. The committee prepared a questionnaire and asked groups to discuss our questions ahead of time. Members of the committee then conducted interviews: 17 in all. It was a rich opportunity to be in dialogue with members of our faith community and to hear about their interests, hopes, and concerns. After the committee had completed the interviews, we compiled the responses and met several times to debrief and discuss ( and sometimes argue about) what we had heard. It was very clear to the committee that the Holy Name community has a deep commitment to our parish family, a desire to contribute and and interest in reflecting their faith through their personal stewardship. We learned that there were many shared values among the community, deep talent and a diversity of strengths. People had wonderful suggestions, all of which we tried to compile and acknowledge in our discussions. The school featured prominently in all of our interviews. Its activities and physical presence was seen as a cornerstone of the community by a large majority of those we interviewed.

The Long Range Planning Committee has created a matrix, which illustrates the results of our interviews. A copy of it can be picked up at the parish office.

As a next step, the Long Range Planning Committee will begin working with Susan Sharp of Sharp Consulting & Mediation West, Story, who will facilitate a process with an expanded committee that will take the information gathered and begin to create a tangible strategy for Holy Name. Watch for more information in regards to this effort.