Process for Financial Decision-Making

In the October 2006 issue of Today's Parish Minister, Patricia Talone, RSM, refers to budeting as a theological reflection process. The process for decision making that she suggests is listed here:

• Plan within the context of prayer
• Gather the facts (financial, human resources, status of parish plant)
• Identify the stakeholders (including those who are not at the table, but who nonetheless stand to benefit or lose from parish budget discussions)
• Articulate the operative values or principles (e.g., parish mission statement, church teaching, common good, etc.)
• Weigh viable options
• Arrive at a decisions
• Articulate the decision, explaining the process (and be able to respond to challenges)
• Evaluate the decision (quarterly, at parish council meetings, finance meetings, or other suitable venues).

Some questions that might assist in this process include:

• Given our history and stated values, which decision best fits our mission?
• Given our history and stated values, is any option clearly incompatible for us?
• Whose voices are not being heard as we engage in this decision-making process?
• How will this affect our intangible assets?
• How will this further our parish mission?

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• TodaysParishMinister
• stewardship