Deanery Operations

A deanery is a grouping of parishes in the diocese where the Bishop appoints a pastor to represent him as a Dean, supporting the clergy of the deanery, overseeing the pastoral life of the parishes, coordinating pastoral planning, and advancing those plans.

To accomplish this work, the Dean conducts site visits of each of the Deanery’s parishes, resolves disagreements within and between Catholic communities, and builds fraternity among the priests, active and retired, resident in the Deanery’s parishes. To assist the pastoral planning efforts, the Dean nominates, and the Bishop appoints, a Deanery Chair.  The Chairs are deacons, lay staff, or religious who helped develop and implement the Deanery Pastoral Plans. Those plans are efforts that advance the work of bringing people to Christ in the Deanery. They are based on subsidiarity principles and don’t duplicate the work of the diocese or create expectations on parish leadership. Instead, they are joint initiatives that advance all the parishes through shared formation, coordinated liturgies, or new initiatives in areas of pastoral care, evangelization, or social justice.