Episode 220

Reimagining Diocesan Support | How Dioceses Can Equip Their Parishes to Thrive

October 13th, 2026

52 mins 16 secs

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anchor consulting catholic church growth church leadership clear path to discipleship diocesan directors discipleship evangelization everyday evangelization jim jansen ministry new evangelization parish renewal parish tools diocese of tulsa fr gary kastl parish support team diocesan chancery parish accompaniment spiritual roi widow mite ocia metrics parish mission field chancery support

About this Episode

Diocesan offices have operated for decades with the best of intentions: launching youth rallies, running marriage retreats, and generally, drawing people to events at centralized locations. While well meaning, these events can unintentionally usurp the work of the parish. They draw people away from their faith community rather than helping them build deep relationships and make disciples in their own neighborhoods. So what if a diocese made the bold choice to stop running programs and start supporting the work happening in the parishes? Fr. Gary Kastl joins me to talk about how the Diocese of Tulsa tore down its traditional department walls to build a Parish Support team focused entirely on the parish front lines. Because a diocese shouldn't compete with its parishes for people’s time; it should equip parishes to thrive.

Episode Timeline:
  • [00:00] - Introduction and welcome
  • [01:28] - Fr. Gary Kastl on rural Oklahoma roots and meeting Christ
  • [04:35] - Finding a priestly vocation and asking hard questions
  • [12:46] - Why the church exists and keeping our eye on the mission
  • [17:18] - The problem with waiting for someone upstream to tell you what to do
  • [22:23] - Why central chancery programs can draw focus away from local parishes
  • [26:14] - Measuring spiritual return on investment with the widow's mite
  • [30:32] - OCIA as the primary health metric for making new disciples
  • [34:44] - How Tulsa dismantled office silos to build a Parish Support Team
  • [38:50] - Shifting from asking pastors to do one more thing to offering help
  • [44:16] - Overcoming programmatic habits through real accompaniment
Resources Mentioned

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