With over 2,300 parishes and 600 identified as financially at risk, the institution needed a new model. One that could transform under-utilized properties into mixed-use developments that served both the community and the balance sheet. The challenge wasn't the vision. It was getting dozens of complex, deeply invested stakeholders to move in the same direction.
Community trust was the foundation everything else had to be built on. No development process would move forward without it, and no amount of process expertise would substitute for genuine, patient engagement.
We went through the institution's internal onboarding process, developed a work plan and communications framework, and designed a structured program of weekly discussion circles and stakeholder consultations. Every step was consented and transparent, bringing the community along rather than presenting decisions to them after the fact.
The revisioning process moved forward with community support intact, a result that typically takes two to five years to achieve and often stalls entirely. The model established here became a replicable framework for future parishes facing the same crossroads.