Beacons of Light
A new arrangement
What is Beacons of Light?
Beacons of Light is a process of pastoral planning to best arrange all the resources of the archdiocese to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples in this particular time and place. The initial planning work on what would become Beacons of Light began in 2020, with Beacons officially launching in 2022 with the arrangement of 208 parishes into 57 Families of Parishes. Ultimately, Beacons will result in 208 canonical parishes becoming 57 canonical parishes.
Looking to the Future
Why Beacons of Light?
Beacons is not a real estate play on the part of the Archdiocese. It is not a consolidation of depleting resources. It does not have to do so much with a declining number of priests as it does with a declining number of Catholics. As the book From Christendom to Apostolic Mission puts it, ours is not so much an age of change as a change of the ages. We are in the midst of a huge cultural transition from a predominantly Christian culture to an increasingly post- and even anti-Christian one.
Embracing our mission as Catholics in this age, as in every age, requires proactive adjustments on our part. Institutions, programs and structures that served us well in the past have run their course. The statistics indicate as much, along with the personal anecdotes we hear from parishioners all the time. Beacons is our local Church’s response to the Catholic Church’s new cultural positioning as a minority movement. It is a coming to grips with the hard truths of reality, namely, that, as the Beacons materials say, “our resources have often been largely consumed by efforts to maintain the status quo and are spread too thin to be truly effective.” Beacons is ultimately about growth. It is a process of pastoral planning to best arrange our resources to evangelize and make disciples right now — in these times — and into the foreseeable future.
our path
What is Beacons of Light at Stella Maris?
As we know, Stella Maris consists of four beautiful parishes: St. Bernadette (Amelia), St. Mary (Bethel), St. Peter (New Richmond), and St. Thomas More (Withamsville). In the future, Stella Maris will be one canonical parish with four campuses. We’re thinking of our campuses as missionary outposts, so to speak. They are all strategically located across our parish territory and are critical places where we can carry out our mission of helping people encounter Christ.
As we move toward this reality of becoming one parish, we are arranging our resources and maximizing the gifts brought forward from each parish within the Family. And we are seeing tremendous fruit. With everything we have going on across the Family, we are experiencing Beacons of Light rather than merely talking about it. We are moving and growing, we are trying new things and learning a lot about how to be a united family of Catholics in our area.
St. Bernadette
St. Mary
St. Peter
St. Thomas More
What is Next?
Updates
Throughout 2026, Fr. Tim Ralston will be sharing about different facets of the Beacons landscape, like organization, schools, adult and youth evangelization, liturgy, service, finances, and so forth. His updates on our progress in these areas, along with other updates from parish staff members, will keep everyone on the same page and indicate the path forward. We’ll keep a running list of these updates below.
Are you curious about our progress toward parish vitality and the goals of Beacons of Light in our 57 Families of Parishes? Archbishop Casey has released the 2026 Parish Vitality Report to bring everyone in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati up to date. In addition to facts, figures, stories, and witness, there’s an opportunity for you to give feedback on your experience of parish life, which will be used in future planning for our Family of Parishes. You can check it all out by clicking the button below.
Bulletin Letter Archive
Video Archive
Frequently Asked Questions
Where are we in the Beacons Process?
Each Family of Parishes follows the Pastoral Planning Pathway to guide its future. The Pathway consists of five phases. In reality, each Family across the Archdiocese is in its own unique place within the Pathway depending on particular circumstances and needs. At Stella Maris, we believe we have made good, steady progress across multiple phases simultaneously. In 2026, we will be reporting more thoroughly on this progress.
What is a Family of Parishes?
A Family of Parishes is a grouping of parishes led by a common pastor and unified lay leadership, and characterized by collaboration and shared resources. A parochial vicar (or multiple parochial vicars) or retired priest may also serve in a Family of Parishes.
Why is Beacons of Light Happening Now?
We have a responsibility to make the best use of all the means which God has provided us to pursue the mission of the Church to proclaim the Gospel and make disciples. With this as our goal, parishes need to be vibrant, evangelizing communities that continuously draw parishioners and attract new members into a more intimate relationship with Jesus. This is of urgent importance because:
- Religious practice has been declining in both the United States and in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
- Our current infrastructure and schedules were built for a different era. In many cases, our church buildings are grossly underutilized.
- Our resources have often been largely consumed by efforts to maintain the status quo and are spread too thin to be truly effective.
After careful consideration of these factors, along with input from priests and other leaders in the archdiocese, it was determined in 2020 that this pastoral planning initiative is needed.
Are financial donations shared between parishes within their Family of Parishes?
Parishes are individual juridic persons that retain money donated to them. Individual parish finances will remain separate and not be comingled with other parishes in the Family of Parishes unless that parish undergoes a canonical change, i.e. is suppressed or canonically altered in some way.