Other Modifications

• The Diocese of Lansing will hire a director for the Hispanic / Migrant Ministry Office immediately. UPDATE: Hispanic Ministry has become part of the Multicultural Evangelization Office.

• Facilitators from the Office of Pastoral Planning will be available to any parish that will experience a canonical status change when appropriate.   UPDATE: Three facilitators were contracted to date.

• The office of Campus Ministry will develop and implement action plans for each region of the diocese.

• Data from parishes will be collected annually. To improve the data collection process, all parishes will use an online data input process that will be made available within the next two years.
UPDATE: This initiative began implementation Spring 2010.

• To safeguard parish assets, every parish will have an external audit performed regularly. The diocese will contract with a firm large enough to supply auditors for this purpose. The parish being audited will be responsible for its individual audit.
UPDATE: Twenty parishes were audited at the end of fiscal year 2009. Another 17 will be audited at the end of this current fiscal year. Audits are done by Plante-Moran from East Lansing, the same accounting firm that audits the diocese each year.

• Under necessary circumstances, priests will celebrate a maximum of three Masses on Sundays, including a Saturday evening Mass. UPDATE:  Where parishes have closed or merged with another parish, the advice is to follow this guideline. Where it is not possible, additional help is being sought by the pastor.

• The four high schools of the diocese - Fr. Gabriel Richard Regional High School, Ann Arbor; Fr. Luke M. Powers High School, Flint; Lumen Christi High School, Jackson; Lansing Catholic Central High School - will each retain a chaplain who will be assigned to sacramental ministry on the weekends. The chaplains will choose another day off during the week.UPDATE:  This continues to be our desired practice and holds true today!