This process recognizes that the parish is where the Church lives—it is the heart of our Church. Every parish strives to be a vibrant community where faith flourishes, the Gospel is lived, and believers encounter Jesus in word and sacrament. Every parish experiences the challenges of being a community where the Church lives. Pope Francis reminds us that a parish capable of renewal and adaptation remains “the Church living in the midst of her people’s homes.” There is no one way to make this happen, no one path to follow, no one way to be a thriving, vital community of faith. There are many paths to thriving.

The Pathways toward a Thriving Parish project helps your parish create its own path toward a thriving, vital community of faith that is living its mission in today’s world by

• equipping a parish leadership team with the knowledge, skills, and practices for creating pathways toward thriving.

• forming leaders and the parish community in the processes of listening and interpreting the needs of the community, and in the spirituality of discernment.

• embracing and discovering the shared vision and mission of the Church, and the gifts, abilities, and resources of the parish community and equip them as individuals and teams for ministry and service in the parish and in the world.

This is a three-year experience where your parish will be blessed with

• a profound experience of Church as the people of God, embracing a common mission with love and purpose.

• pastoral accompaniment and training for your leadership team, helping them shepherd the parish as they develop a plan toward a thriving future.

• enriching formation resources to deepen your ability to listen with compassion, understand your community’s needs, and prayerfully discern God’s will.

• inspiring resources and tools to discover the gifts of the parish community.

• practical resources and guidance to create and implement the parish’s pathways toward thriving.

Our Pastoral Facilitators work directly with parish coordinators and parish teams to guide them in creating their own paths toward a thriving, vital community of faith that is living their mission in today’s world.

Jessica Adams
Jess serves as Pastoral Associate at St. James the Greater and Epiphany of our Lord parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Louis and brings 20 years of experience in parish and diocesan pastoral and social ministry, executive non-profit leadership, and strategic consulting with parishes.

Jane Angha
Jane is the founder and dreamer behind Ministry Blueprints. With years of director, coordinator, and mentorship experience in parish, diocesan, and non-profit ministry, she brings to the work of hospitality a broad knowledge and understanding of the inner workings of faith communities and a passion for them to be places of welcome and belonging

Elizabeth Becerra
Elizabeth is a dedicated bicultural Latina leader who is renowned for empowering young Latinos to have personal encounters with God and leverage their culture for positive change. With a professional demeanor and enthusiasm, Elizabeth excelled as the Program Coordinator for Engaging Stories: Summer Theology Program for Teens at Lewis University, Romeoville, IL, since July 2018.

Sister Ruth Bolarte IHM
Sr. Ruth is a member of the Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Immaculata, Pa. he has been involved in parish and diocesan ministry working in areas of adult faith and leadership formation, both national and internationally, within an intercultural context.

Lori Dalhoff
Lori is an experienced leader, educator and consultant with a demonstrated history of working in non-profit organization management. She is the former director of lifelong faith formation for the Diocese of Portland (ME).

Edwin Ferrera
Edwin serves as Director for Hispanic Ministry in the Archdiocese of Seattle and has more than 25 years of pastoral ministry in different contexts. He brings more than 10 years of executive leadership in diocesan, regional, and national ministerial organizations, and has served as a collaborator/consultant to various USCCB agencies.

Claire Gallagher
Claire implements the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation-funded project "Flourishing Sisterhood: Nourishing Communities in the Gulf South." Born and raised in the New Orleans area, Claire is a consecrated virgin for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Jodi Hunt
Jodi is the Executive Director of the Neuhoff Institute at the University of Dallas. Dr. Hunt has been actively teaching in the secondary and higher education levels for over ten years and active in parish ministry (youth ministry and catechesis) for over fifteen.

Jim Merhaut
Jim is an award-winning author, national motivational speaker, internationally-known leadership trainer, and ICF-Certified Coach.

Eunice Park
Eunice is a Korean American pastoral minister from the San Francisco Bay Area. She received her two Master’s degrees from the Franciscan School of Theology and her Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. She has worked in Young Adult Ministry, Multicultural and Intercultural Ministry, Campus Ministry, and Youth Ministry; and has sat on various boards and consultative committees for the USCCB and other national organizations.

Bertha Peralta-Rodriguez
Bertha is the former Director of Ministry Formation at the Department of Youth Faith Formation in the Archdiocese of New York. She has been a catechist and youth minister for close to 30 years, has worked in the areas of higher education and mental health, and has been involved in diocesan leadership/faith formation programs for 15 years.

• Visit the Pathways Toward a Thriving Parish website to

  • download the Project Overview

  • review the Project Plan

  • complete an Interest Form

• Contact

  • Tracey Lamont, Ph.D., LIM Director | tlamont@loyno.edu | 504-865-2797

  • John Roberto, NCCL Executive Director | jroberto@ncclcatholic.org