INTRODUCTION
The Parish Strategic Plan offers a vision for where we want to go, and a plan for accomplishing that vision. Its goal is to reinvigorate and enliven the Church of the Incarnation so that it can stand as a beacon of the Gospel and a tangible incarnation of Jesus in the city of Centerville, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and in our great state and country.

The plan is not intended to be a comprehensive outline of all parish activity, which would be impossible given the large and active parish community that we have.

Our Parish Strategic Plan document is intended to be a working document that can be updated periodically and will remain fluid as parish needs and wishes change.

All parishioners are invited to join in the effort it will take to support our parish ministries and organizations to implement our Parish Strategic Plan.

Our Parish Strategic Plan will be reviewed annually by the Pastoral Council. The Pastoral Council is always open to comments and support from our parishioners that will help guide our parish.

BACKGROUND
Prior to the beginning of the strategic planning process the parish had formed a Pastoral Leadership Team with the goal of supporting the pastor and working with him to better serve Incarnation Parish. The Parish Leadership Team (PLT) spent several months praying and reflecting on their call and mission in the parish and identifying the unique gifts that are present at Incarnation. A time of discernment, which included prayer, study and reflection took place around two important questions:

1. Why does this particular parish exist? What is our purpose in Centerville and in the Church at large?
2. What are our core values? These Core Values are the guiding principles and/or behaviors that reflect our parish and describe how we will achieve our Mission.

The answers that emerged as a result of this discernment process provided the following responses to the above questions:

1. The Church of the Incarnation exists to incarnate Jesus in our community.
2. As reflected in our strategic planning prayer, it was recognized that as a parish we commit 100%; we are in with both feet. We are also generous in our responses to each other, the broader Church and the community; we reach out with both hands. Finally, in all that we do, we are always seeking to encounter Christ in ourselves and others.

Despite the reality of Covid-19, our strategic planning process began in March 2020. A broad range of 30 people were brought into the process so as to understand and build the best profile of the parish at this time. Data was gathered from their input. This data was then reviewed, discussed and summarized by the 25 member strategic planning group. From all this information it was established that the heart of what was needed for Incarnation revolved around the areas of Communication, Growth and Culture.

Strategic Plan Priority Areas
The first priority area in the strategic plan revolves around communication. Each priority area identifies goals (what needs to be done), offers a plan of action to accomplish those goals, and identifies a staff member who will be responsible for seeing that goal to its accomplishment.

Note: A complete copy of the strategic plan is available upon request to anyone who would like to review it. Since this is a summary, this document will provide an overview and is not as extensive as the plan.

Priority Area 1: Communication
The following are the major goals for this key strategic priority:

1. To evaluate the current marketing capabilities of the parish
2. To raise the awareness within the parish, and the community at large, of the wide range of services and opportunities that are offered and available at Incarnation Church
3. To communicate who we are and why we exist to those outside the parish
4. To actively develop greater communication and collaboration between our school and church.
5. To consciously invite and utilize the many talents that already exist in our parish
6. To create an organizational structure that will facilitate the accomplishment of the strategic plan
7. To better understand who it is we serve and what needs they have

Priority Area 2: Growth
The following are major goals for this key strategic priority:

1. Review the music played at mass and determine what modifications can be made to broaden its appeal
2. Review homily messages and seek ways to make them more relevant to people’s lives.
3. Identify quarterly events that can be utilized to bring the parish together and to engage the broader community
4. Explore ways to help more people be engaged in the mass
5. Provide family outreach to encourage families, especially young families, to become more engaged and active in the parish
6. Create the best youth ministry program in the area
7. Create the best young adult ministry program in the area (By providing 6 & 7 we attract and engage our young people who are the future of the church)
8. Provide programming that will attract parishioners and non-parishioners to consider, discuss and/or develop/deepen their appreciation for Christianity and Catholicism
9. Review school funding
10. Identify a structure that will motivate school families to the highest level of parish engagement possible
11. Determine the benefit/cost of building a preschool, targeting the long term growth of our school and parish
12. Unify the cultures of school and church
13. Increase community outreach and reenergize volunteerism at Incarnation
14. Look at branding Incarnation social outreach endeavors
15. Increase community outreach by developing a Crisis Response Ministry
16. Hire a marketing leader

Priority Area 3: Culture
The following are major goals for this key strategic priority:

1. Create a welcoming culture by having key parish leaders available at the weekend masses on a regular basis
2. Increase and expand our current greeters and ushers into a team of “welcomers” to be present at masses and other parish events
3. Capitalize on community events to tell our good news
4. Assess ways to “publicize” our spirit of welcome
5. Renovate the church building to make it more welcoming
6. Partner with other parishes and churches to establish more effective youth/young adult ministry and outreach programs
7. Develop means to keep the parish financially solvent and growing
8. Hire a volunteer coordinator to solicit and train new volunteers and help current volunteers best utilize their talents and skills
9. Create an onboarding process for both church and school so that new parishioners and school families will be matched with a sponsor family who will help them feel at home and become engaged
10. Increase local awareness of the many aspects of our parish outreach program (need to get more people actively involved in social outreach)
11. Communicate/create examples that express our reason for being as a parish and our core values