By Marie Mulvenna

Our Lady of the Assumption Parish has been selected to take part in a unique concept of professional parish planning to be conducted by the Center Applied Research in Apostolate (CARA) under the direction of Father Francis K. Scheets, OSC.

CARA, founded in 1967, is the well-known Washington-based research and development agency which professionally evaluates the status of the Church's mission of service and plans detailed programs of development.

Our Lady of the Assumption will be one of the few parishes in the country to have received the study and analysis program of CARA which is recognized as a leader in research and planning within the Church, both in the country and abroad.

OLA was selected by the Marist Fathers of the Washington province as one of three key parishes to receive the professional self-study. Father Vincent P. Brennan, SM, pastor of OLA, explained that Assumption was one of the parishes in the country staffed by Marists that would undergo the professional program which, he explained, is to determine the needs and desires of the parish, how well the parish is functioning and what the long-range goals and priorities of the parish should be in future planning efforts.

The highly detailed study program, which was approved by Archbishop Donnellan and the OLA parish council, covers goals, objectives and programs and presents a refined assessment of all parish needs, by utilizing a variety of planning techniques and procedures. The lengthy study is both a decentralized approach and one integrated to meeting parish needs and includes a discussion structure, planning methods and data systems.

The CARA program book entitled Total Parish Planning: An Integrated Approach Employing a Decentralized Method, describes the necessity of responsible parish planning as "urgent." It states further that there is a definite need for a rational and responsible approach to long-range planning and future use of Church resources. Employing the principles of Vatican II, democracy and subsidiarity, the CARA study develops and uses adequate structures which enable "a parish to place ideas and hopes at the service of the Church in a responsible fashion." The planning manual of the self-study process terms such programs as fulfilling "a deeply felt and experienced need in the Catholic Church."

Emphasis is placed on the requirements, resources, objectives, projected programs, etc., by use of surveys, worksheets, data, task forces and many varied forms of analysis and study.

Parish activities are broken into four main sub task areas: spiritual life, education financial, and community service. These, in turn, are broken into 10 sub-sectors for specific study. The process leads to a study of the fiscal, sociological and other data which is investigated in depth in order to point out the real-life needs and available resources of the parish community.

The study of OLA will commence Sunday, April 20, with a special 1 p.m. Liturgy followed by an afternoon introductory program. During the special program, parishioners will be asked to study a written "Mission Statement" defining the aims and goals of the community. Father Scheets, who will conduct the afternoon study which kicks off the OLA program, will be assisted by Marist Fathers Brennan, Eugene Driscoll and Michael Hovan.