About Planning Area 15

• Located in the Ste. Genevieve deanery, this planning area comprises Ste. Genevieve and Perry Counties. There are 14 territorial parishes, 2 missions and 4 elementary schools.
• 34% of the resident population is Catholic; this is the most Catholic planning area in the diocese.
• This largely rural area is anchored by the cities of Ste. Genevieve and Perryville.
• The parishes of Ste. Genevieve and St. Vincent de Paul comprise 61% of the Catholics of the planning area. Both parishes administer a Catholic high school.
• An aging Catholic population with funerals consistently higher than baptisms.
• Though both Catholic elementary school enrollment and PSR enrollment continue to decline, Catholic school enrollment is consistently 40-50% higher than PSR enrollment.
• Despite declining elementary enrollment, both high schools have maintained stable to slightly increasing enrollment over the past decade.
• A 21% decline in mass attendance during the past decade.
• Currently, there are 7 diocesan and 2 order priests assigned to this group.
• Long term, there may be only 4 diocesan priests available for ministry in this planning area.

Parish Feedback Summaries

A team of nearly 50 volunteers, including religious orders, Kenrick-Glennon Seminary faculty and staff, associate pastors, permanent deacons and lay people recently synthesized all the information the Archdiocese of St. Louis has received regarding its 178 parishes during the All Things New process. Information gathered included feedback from key parish leaders, parish listening sessions, online surveys, individual letters and emails. All of this is geared toward Archbishop Rozanski making a well-informed, discerned decision for the spiritual well-being of the Archdiocese, looking at the feedback of the people and the needs of the Archdiocese.

Volunteers were asked to follow four guidelines: that they offer a fair representation of what people said; include the real contradictions and tensions reflected in the feedback; offer the good ideas and key insights shared; and ensure they are concise. Volunteers were not allowed to synthesize any information for parishes in their own planning area.

The All Things New planning committee is expected to refine the draft models to one model per planning area. Armed with the feedback summaries, parish workbooks and financial data, the team will analyze each model to ensure each one has the resources to sustain the new structure. The question to be answered, whether they have the resources to invest in a more vibrant parish staff and ministries than what they currently have Another round of draft model options will be shared with the priests in early February, with a period of feedback and the final proposed plan expected after that. Other factors will come under consideration, including redrawing maps of the archdiocese and priest reassignments.

It is expected that by the end of April, Archbishop Rozanski will have met with Consultors to review final draft models, and then he will have a month to pray and discern before announcing a final decision on May 28, the feast of Pentecost. Implementation of these plans will take effect beginning in fall 2023 through 2026.

The Draft Model Process:

• Father Chris Martin Intro Video
• Archbishop Rozanski Intro Video

English

• Listening Session Presentation
• All Things New Overview: PDF | video
• Planning Area Overview: map | video

First Draft Models- Fall

• Model Option A: map | video
• Model Option B: map | video
• Model Option C: map | video

Second Draft Models- Winter