Initial Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee members from May 12, 2022:
Fr. Zach Etienne: Pastor
Kristen Girten: Principal
Amy Barrett: Parishioner
Tim McGuire: Parishioner
Brian Lankford: Parishioner & Parish Office Volunteer
Additional Committee Members added on December 14, 2022:
Chad Groves: Parish Council Representative
Ken Schenk: Finance Commission
Michael Schaefer: School Board
Beth Elpers: Teacher and Early Childhood Development Program
Steve Witting: Parishioner and Diocesan Finance Committee Member
Timeline for Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee:
Updated March 28, 2023
December, 2021
Fr. Zach Etienne appointed four members to the new Long-Range
Strategic Planning Committee. Kristen Girten-Principal, Amy Barrett-
Electrical Engineer and parent, Tim McGuire-retired Chancellor of the
Diocese of Evansville, and Brian Lankford-retired Banker and volunteer of
special projects at Good Shepherd.
May 12, 2022
First meeting of Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee. In
attendance were Fr. Zach Etienne, Kristen Girten, Amy Barrett, Tim
McGuire, and Brian Lankford. Discussion of Request for Proposal process
by Amy. Agreed that she would work on the RFP over the summer and
have ready for distribution in early Fall, 2022.
May 18, 2022
Discussion at Parish Council meeting about Long-Range Strategic
Planning. See minutes of meeting.
July 27, 2022
Discussion at Finance Meeting about Long-Range Strategic Planning. See
minutes of meeting.
August 22, 2022
Brian Lankford proofread the RFP to ready it for distribution.
September 13, 2022
Committee met to discuss RFP that will be sent out.
September 21, 2022
Fr. Zach discussed RFP at Parish Council meeting. See minutes of
meeting.
September 30, 2022
Brian e-mailed the RFP to three architectural firms – Entheos (later
Browning-Day), Veazy, Parrott, and Shoulders (VPS), and Hafer.
October 12, 2022
Mandatory walk-thru with committee members and architectural firms.
October 13, 2022
Fr. Zach discussed walk-thru and RFP to School Council. See minutes of
meeting.
November 8, 2022
Brian contacted Joe Holtz at Holy Rosary to discuss their Master Plan
developed in 2012. Joe sent information on how they chose a firm.
November 9, 2022
Discussion at Finance meeting about addition of members to the Long-
Range Strategic Planning Committee. See minutes of meeting.
November 9. 2022
Deadline for RFP’s. All were submitted by the deadline of 2:00 p.m.
November 16, 2022
Discussion about RFP at Parish Council meeting. See minutes of meeting.
November 30, 2022
Discussion of Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee at Technology
meeting. See minutes of meeting.
December 8, 2022
Committee members met to discuss questions to ask at the interview
plus scorecard.
December 14, 2022
Additional committee members were added to the Long-Range Strategic
Planning Committee – Chad Groves, Parish Council Representative; Ken
Schenk, Finance Commission; Michael Schaefer, School Board; Beth
Elpers, Teacher and Early Childhood Development Program; Steve
Witting, Parishioner and Diocesan Finance Committee member. Now a
total of ten committee members. Entire committee met to discuss
meeting on January 9, 2023
December 15, 2022
Brian contacted Brad Clark, Asst. Chancellor of the Diocese of Evansville
in regards to getting approval for this piece of the project. He said no
approval is necessary to select an architect.
January 9, 2023
Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee met in Good Shepherd School
room #112 and interviewed prospective Architectural Firms for Master
Plan. In attendance were Fr. Zach Etienne, Kristen Girten-Principal, Tim
McGuire-retired Chancellor of the Diocese of Evansville, Amy Barrett-
Electrical Engineer and parent, Brian Lankford-retired Banker and
volunteer of special projects at Good Shepherd, Chad Groves-Attorney
and Parish Council representative, Ken Schenk-retired Accountant and
Finance Commission representative, Michael Schaefer-Engineer, parent,
and School Board representative, Beth Elpers-teacher and Early
Childhood Development representative, Steve Witting-Banker and
member of Diocesan Finance Committee. Architectural firms interviewed
were Browning-Day (Indianapolis), Veazy, Parrott, and Shoulders (VPS-
Evansville), and Hafer (Evansville). Interviews lasted one hour each with
a 20 minute introduction by each firm followed by questions asked by
Amy Barrett (parish moderator). Interviews were held separately. After
all of the presentations were made, the committee met for discussion.
After a lengthy discussion, it was a consensus that the committee
propose Hafer as the preferred Architect. It will be presented to Parish
Council on January 10, 2023, at Finance on January 11, 2023, and at
School Board on January 12, 2023.
January 10, 2023
At the Parish Council meeting, the Long-Range Strategic Planning
committee presented the three firms and proposed that we use Hafer to
prepare the Master Plan. Parish council members agreed that we should
continue moving forward with this proposal. Funding from this will come
from endowments. See minutes of meeting.
January 11, 2023
At the Finance Commission meeting, the Long-Range Strategic Planning
committee presented the three firms and proposed that we use Hafer to
prepare the Master Plan. A motion was made by Ron Pohl and seconded
by Ben Joergens to accepted Hafer as the architectural firm for developing
a Master Plan for Good Shepherd Catholic Parish. The motion was
approved 10 to 0. Funding for the Master Plan will come from
endowments. See minutes of meeting.
January 12, 2023
At the School Commission meeting, the Long-Range Strategic Planning
committee presented the three firms and proposed that we use Hafer to
prepare the Master Plan. See minutes of meeting.
January 12, 2023
Brian Lankford called the three architectural firms to tell them that Hafer
was awarded the Master Plan project.
January 31, 2023
Brian Lankford and Jack Faber from Hafer finalized the informational flyer
for the church bulletin that Hafer’s marketing team created. It will be
added to the church and school websites, church and school videos,
added to the Good Shepherd Facebook page, and as an insert in the
weekly church bulletin on the weekend of February 5, 2023. Large
posters will be placed at the three church entrances and one in the
school lobby. Ruth Becker added it to Constant Contact which is e-mailed
to all parishioners with e-mail addresses. The video also plays on the Live
Stream prior to Mass for the home-bound parishioners.
February 6, 2023
Jack Faber met with the Long-Range Strategic Planning committee to
discuss possible groups for stakeholder meetings.
February 7, 2023
Fr. Zach created a new prayer to be use by the committee and will also be
placed in the missalette for use at the Masses beginning the weekend of
February 18, 2023.
February 20, 2023
Jack Faber created a schedule for stakeholder meetings. The parish staff
created a PDF for distribution to the entire parish via an insert in the
bulletin, constant contact and School Reach. This went out March 2.
March 13, 2023
Survey questions were developed by the Long-Range Strategic Planning
committee at the February 6 meeting. These questions were sent via
Constant Contact and School Reach. This should create talking points
when parishioners attend the meetings.
March 15, 2023
The following stakeholder meetings were held from March 15 to March 21:
March 15 Finance, Parish Council and Long Range Planning
Bingo, Summer Social and Knights of Columbus
March 16 Parish Staff
Bereavement and Over 50’s
OCIA, Confirmation, VBS, Bible Studies and Youth Group
Parishioners
Parents
March 17 Administration
Maintenance
Cafeteria Staff
Faculty
GAP
March 18 Parents
Parishioners
March 20 Student Council
Athletic Director
Coaches
Little Rams Staff
Shepherd’s Hook and Quilters
School Council
Parents
March 21 Choir
Parishioners
There was a total of 23 stakeholder meetings that were held. The
meetings were facilitated by Jack Faber from Hafer. Parishioners and
parents were given three opportunities to attend as these were the
largest group meetings.
March 23, 2023
The next phase of the Master Plan process begins. Jack Faber from Hafer
will compile all of the comments and ideas from the stakeholder
meetings and report the results to Brian Lankford.
March 27, 2023
A team from Hafer visited the parish to do an assessment evaluation of
the current conditions of the parish buildings. Performing the
assessment was John Bolton, Architect; Rob Armstrong, Senior Electrical
Engineer; and Henry Steckler, Staff Mechanical Engineer.
May 02, 2023
Members of the Long-Range Strategic Planning Committee met at 3:30 PM
with Jack Faber to review the Summary from recent Stakeholder interviews.
23 Stakeholder sessions have been completed, and 204 parishioners attended
these sessions.
The following PDF details comments surfaced during these listening sessions:
2023-05-02 Hafer Stakeholder Interview Summary