The Director of Planning, Parish Vitality, and Mission Integration serves the Bishop and the Diocese by supporting diocesan leadership in the disciplined evaluation and long-range planning of parish life throughout the Diocese of Portland. The position assists the Bishop, the Vicar General, and pastors in analyzing pastoral, demographic, financial, and structural realities in order to support sustainable, mission-focused parish communities rooted in the Gospel and the mission of the Church.
The Director collaborates with diocesan leadership to assess parish and cluster conditions through careful analysis, broad consultation, and informed discernment, integrating data and pastoral context to help align diocesan and parish resources with pastoral priorities. This role supports pastors and parish leadership by providing objective analysis, facilitating constructive dialogue, and identifying options, tradeoffs, and strategic pathways forward, particularly where questions of sustainability and capacity are involved.
Above all, this position exists to help the Diocese steward its temporal and pastoral resources responsibly, so that parish life may continue to be a credible, stable, and missionary presence throughout the state of Maine.
Qualified candidates will be an active, practicing Catholic in good standing with the Church who has an appreciation for the Church's mission and an understanding of how temporal goods serve the pastoral and sacramental life of the Church. Additionally, it is strongly preferred that the individual have a graduate level or equivalent professional formation in strategic planning, public administration, finance, organizational leadership or a related field as well demonstrated experience in these areas. A working understanding of Catholic parish life and diocesan structures, with the ability to engage pastors and parish leaders credibly and respectfully, particularly when presenting challenging analyses or conclusions is key. Strong written, interpersonal, and presentation skills with the ability to communicate complex information clearly is a must. This position does require extensive travel throughout the Diocese.