Divine Renovation 2.12.2019

How to transform the culture of the parish?

Describe the culture of our parish.

*The culture is very social….there is always something going on!  The only issue is only a small portion of the congregation comes to the events.  The majority do not volunteer. There are a lot of events, but there are a lot of “untapped resources.” The same people volunteer all the time.

 *There is a divide between the parish and the school. If you do not have children in the school, you do not feel connected.  We need to build a better bridge between the parish and the school.  For example, on the Boards, it typically is just parents…we need to have the parishioners that do not have children also represented.  Other examples are the Parish Council, Finance council etc…needs a mix of parents and parishioners.

*We need to make sure all ages feel welcome and have events in which they can participate.

*We need to get to know people better…you see the same people in church but you do not know many of their names. 

*We need to start inviting people to participate.  We cannot simply talk about this…we need to start inviting people.

 *Another suggestion would be to have “retreats” for adults similar to Christ Renews His Parish

Values are communicated by what is celebrated, tolerated and presumed.

What indicates that weekend liturgies are a priority in your parish?

Budget is a telling indicator of priorities. Priorities change over time, and for a long time the construction/education component in much stronger than social justice and liturgy.

Closing the High School was a sigh of relief for some as far as having such a large drain on the budget. For a long time it has felt that everything is centered around the school.

Others feel that the high school closing is against the values, and we are too focused on the families that have money.

Current priorities are 1. Education, 2. Building Maintenance.

Others felt it does seem more balanced as far as priorities. We could use more adult formation in addition to child education.

Recently it seems like more resources have been put toward Liturgy (biased to 9am).

How do you celebrate liturgy in such a way that it touches and affects everything else in parish life?

The catechesis and intentional education about what we are doing and why.

Putting thought into the layout helps, and also the way we actually explain it helps.

Adding explanations to why we are doing things are very helpful.

Right now there is not enough time between Masses.

We liked how they talked about creating a them for the week. How can we do this at our parish?

How is money spent?

Sometimes we concentrate on more practical than evangelization. People get caught up what it keeps to run the house and sometimes that distracts.

What do we celebrate as a parish?

Children, community, music, Benfest, etc. Reasons for the community to gather and outreach to the greater community.  We celebrate our faith.  We have rich liturgy.  We do that well.  We celebrate accomplishments.  But, how well do we invite? But, also, how well do we respond to the invitation as a community?  We are inviting, but how do we prioritize that?

We did have great attendance at Screenagers.  We do spend a lot of time inviting people.

How do you celebrate liturgy in such a way that it touches and affects everything else in parish life?

The catechesis and intentional education about what we are doing and why.

Putting thought into the layout helps, and also the way we actually explain it helps.

Adding explanations to why we are doing things are very helpful.

Right now there is not enough time between Masses.

We liked how they talked about creating a theme for the week, in the book. How can we do this at our parish?

What do we accept?

We accept peoples lack of response.  We invite, then say “oh well.”  Are we adding more things when we could less things very well?

It comes from a desire to know Christ.

We accept things that are good and bad, the way that babies crying and babbling during Mass is a good thing we accept.

We presume that people know where spaces are.  We presume that people know our own lingo etc.  We presume everyone has email, communications, etc.

There is a presumption that if school families are not in Church that they do not go to Mass

Regarding values, how does the parish spend its time and money? Do we really value our faith? How do we use our space?

Transparency around budget could be better? People do not have direct answers to the question regarding what is OK for any ministry budget. We need to talk openly about this.

If something is a priority it should be in the budget.

Can we make our spaces more accommodating? Can we be more inclusive with parish and school?  

Hospitality

Who follows up with new people? There was a welcome, but no real follow up.  No phone numbers, or emails, or contacts with those who welcomed new people.  How to get involved etc.  If you did not take the initiative, then it falls off.  It is good to get everyone to register.

Better greeting for everyone who comes into Mass.  Any excitement, a special experience, etc.

*Welcoming of new parishioners has improved.  Holy Name has started to give out coupons for coffee and donut to encourage people to come to Donut Sunday.  We do not currently do follow up with the new parishioners. 

*Another idea would be to create a “buddy” type program where someone in the parish that has similar interests could encourage people to become involved.

*We have to make sure the welcoming bags are filled with our community calendar so they know about events.

*We can include a mini survey for the new parishioners to see what their interests are and then follow up with them.

*One idea could be to have a quarterly dinner for new parishioners and have all of the ministry leads present so that parishioners could learn more and see what interests them.

*After the follow up dinner, a letter from the Pastor to the new family would be a way to keep them connected.  The Pastor could highlight events going on in the parish.

*We have made progress with Hospitality on the 3rd weekend of the month.  People seem to leave church right away.

*Recreate the Rathskellar bar.  This practice was done after hours….It was not associated with any particular ministry…just a place to go and hang out with your fellow parishioners.

Who welcomes whom at the weekend liturgies?

Hospitality ministry once a month.

Right now there is no welcoming or follow up for new parishioners (despite listing this as a need for several years).

We can do better to welcome people and visitors.

We need to be proactive in welcoming people.

We are FRIENDLY but not necessarily WELCOMING.

This is the lowest cost, both monetary and time-wise, to make a huge different.

UPLIFTING MUSIC

The priests don’t sing along. We can encourage them to sing.

Can we do more contemporary music? In the past there were different genres depending on the Mass that you attended.

Having a refrain Gloria changed the tome of the beginning of Mass…. Possibly in a bad way.