From Fr. Bob:
A few weeks ago, we took time during Mass to fill out a questionnaire about life at St. Pat’s. As promised, I am providing
a summary of what you told me.
1. Why are you here? Main reasons were the sense of community, location and the pastor. Other reasons included
Faith Formation, Mass times and spirituality/faith.
2. What ministries are you involved in? Main ministry is as a Eucharistic Minister. Others include Men’s Club and
Circle of Friends, Fall Festival, Faith Formation, Hospitality and SPY.
3. What are you good at? What do you like to do? Lots of responses: family, cooking, gardening, prayer, working
with kids, singing, music, etc.
4. If time and money were no object, what would you do for God? What could/should St. Pat’s do for you? Again,
lots of responses: help the needy, more outreach, pay off our debt (!), new sound system, support the military,
etc.
5. What could we do to increase engagement at the parish? WOW, did you respond! Way too many answers to list,
but the broad categories would be: money, social activities, communication, youth, music, homilies, liturgy,
Archdiocese, parishioners, outreach, people, ministries, Faith Formation.
I have the full list of results if anyone wants to take a look. We’ll also have them on the website.
Random Calling
A while back, I had an idea and I know for some of you, that’s miraculous! Anyway, I thought it would be good to create
a random list of parishioners and contact them to see how things are going. No pressure about finances or getting
involved in the parish. The list has been put together and I and some parish council members will begin making the calls
in the next few weeks. We will have a series of questions to guide the conversation but as I stated, there will be no sales
pitch. So, if I or someone calls to say hi and ask about your life, please be courteous and welcoming to the caller.
Ministry Fair Questionnaire Results
1.
Why are you a member? What attracted you/keeps you here?
The Pastor
llll llll llll llll llll lll l
Location
Teresa
lll
Mass times
Bryan
llll
Parishioners
Sense of community/welcome
llll lllll lll l llll llll llll
Left other parish
Faith Formation
llll llll
Music
Sense of spirituality/faith
llll llll
Traditional Liturgy
More moderate theology
l
Staff
Adult Ed programs
ll
Thinking about joining
Deacon John
llll llll
Was invited to join
llll llll llll llll llll llll llll llll
llll llll
llll l
llll llll
llll ll
l
l
llll
l
2.
3.
4.
What ministries are you involved in?
Men’s Club
llll llll l
Eucharistic Minister
llll llll llll llll llll lll l
Choir
llll ll
Funeral Serve/Bake
llll llll
Fall Festival
llll llll llll
Faith Formation
llll llll llll
Sacristan
l
Adoration
llll lll
55+
llll
Parish Council
lll
Marriage Prep
llll
BTSB
ll
Money Counter
llll
SPY
l
SPY
llll llll
Altar Server
llll
Stuff envelopes
lll
VBS
lll
Grief group facilitator
l
Circle of Friends
YAC
Funeral Choir
Ugly Quilts
Sunshine Ladies
Catechist
Eucharistic Minister
Cursillo
RCIA
Homebound Ministry
Finance
Lector
Hospitality
Altar Server
Cemetery clean-up
Crucifer
SFO
Justice and Outreach
What are you good at? What do you like to do?
Family
Cooking
Working with hands
Crafts
Technology
Problem solving
Public speaking
Event Planning
Working with children
Praying for loved ones here and gone
Singing
Graphic Design
Psychiatrist
Writer/author/screenwriter
Music
Crafts, office/computer work
Sharing my faith
llll llll
l
l
ll
llll
l
ll
llll
ll
llll l
llll
llll ll
llll llll
l
l
ll
llll
l
Gardening
Leading an action based initiative
Building new programs
Computer/Typing
Music
Love working with children
Speaking in front of people
Mechanical
If time and money were no object, what would you do for God? If time and money were no object, what
could/should St. Pat’s do for you?
Provide for the less fortunate
Help/Feed the homeless
More leadership for young kids/provide a safe place to gather
Be more involved
Go on a mission trip
Educate people on why Jesus Christ is important today
Hold the Archdiocese accountable
Be more faithful to the command: Go and teach all I have taught you
Pay off the parish debt
Fix the sound system
Make sure everyone has enough nutritious food
Encourage people to share their gifts and talents with the parish
Build a healing, meditation garden at the VA
Help support active duty soldiers, their families
Have the songs on the screen instead of using the books
Put something together to honor God, Jesus and my Grandmother
Better myself for my soul’s sake and for the sake of others
More Outreach
Hold the Archdiocese accountable
Give more time and treasure
Church bells
Video camera system to video events
5.
What one thing could St. Pat’s do to increase the engagement of our parishioners in the life of the parish?
Many people said that just don’t know.
Money:
Stop asking all the time
Be more subtle asking for money
Be a better steward of our money
Too many extra collections
Acknowledge all monetary gifts, large and small
Take those not coming to mass off the registered list
Get everyone to give, if only a dollar or two
Social:
More social activities that promote marriage and family life
More activities to bring people together as a community
More parishioner based, fun activities—softball team
Weekly bingo
Have an activity that doesn’t cost money
Invite surrounding communities to join us for events to see how inviting and friendly we are
Don’t ask for alcohol at mass for the festival or other parish events
Don’t emphasize alcoholic beverages at events. It sends the wrong message
Provide child care so people can try ministries
Have more big events
People need to asked personally to join
Have a moms/dads group 1/week for families with children at home
Get people together to talk about God has done in their lives
Block party
Dinner fundraiser or show a sports game in SH and donate proceeds
Communication:
Youth:
Improve communication for volunteers
Improve communication of when event/meetings are taking place
Weekly email to parishioners to let them know what’s going on
Monthly newsletter
More speakers at masses to promote our activities and opportunities
More one on one interaction—“know you by name” kind of thing
Be more honest
Be more supportive—let people know that the work they do is noticed and appreciated
This survey is a good idea—it gets people thinking instead of just passively sitting and
listening
Youth mass
Youth more involved in mass, perhaps 1/month
Youth hospitality ministers, lectors, choir
Engage the youth. Help them identify with the church
More service projects for the youth
Make things more fun for the youth
Have kid’s activities after mass. A good way to meet other families with children
Catholic summer camp opportunities
Have mission trips that cost less so there is less fundraising—like St. Joe’s
Keep Bryan Collins; he is really inspiring the youth.
Music:
Sing less verses
Fix the sound system—too hard to hear the music
Have more music
More contemporary music
Too many music ministries—members leave to join other music groups within the church
Have men’s group sing more often
Was in choir for many years and no one asked why I quit
More lively music during mass
Music is not inspiring
Homilies:
Don’t read homilies from a piece of paper
Do the homily from the front of the altar like the visiting priests
Relate homilies to everyday life
More emphasis on Catholic faith and its relevance in daily life
Mass/Liturgy:
Keep mass times the same year round
Gear either the 5 p.m. or 10:30 a.m. towards the youth
Have a 4 p.m. mass like the Cathedral
Sunday evening mass
Later mass times
Announce names of deceased for whom mass is being said
Greet people at mass
Daily masses in the evenings for working people
Hearing assist devices
Open communion for everyone
More opportunities for confession
Invite people to bring their prayer requests to church
Homilies geared toward young people and their issues/problems
Have contemporary mass 1/month
Announce funerals from the altar with end of mass announcements
Get people of all ages involved in mass
Address Archdiocese issues more openly with information and prayer
Be honest about the abuse, remove the priests and do not pay them
Archdiocese has mismanaged their finances—don’t pay the back assessments
Get a new Archbishop
Be more honest
Archdiocese:
Parishioners:
Be more welcoming
Try to engage the families with kids to make the choice to come to church
Have a meet and greet with new parishioners once a year
Some parishioners could be friendlier and more welcoming
**Invite others to join a ministry personally
Outreach:
Serve a meal here at St. Patrick’s for no charge
Free lunch 1/week like WSP churches do
Answer the community’s needs
Support the local community
More visible community involvement—IGH parade was a good thing to see
Get seniors of the parish involved with our youth
Offer more community volunteer programs that would involve children and would allow them
to see how good it feels to help others
People:
**Keep inviting people to join
It’s hard to approach people when they’re not here
Don’t burn out the regular volunteers
**Pair seasoned parishioners with newcomers
It’s up to everyone to engage in the parish
Priest should welcome new people to parish
**Be more receptive to new volunteers
**New to the parish and have not been welcomed or connected with by anyone
Don’t take parishioners for granted
Not be so judgmental
Figure out why people aren’t engaged
Have people who aren’t engaged invite people personally to join an activity/ministry
Ministries:
Was in a ministry and was not treated very well
Explain ministries more
More emphasis on ministries during the year
Publish results of last 2 surveys on the web
Could Ugly Quilts be during the day??
Allow people to try ministries with no commitment AND have child care available
Have church leaders speak from the pulpit on what ministries they are involved in AND how
they do it with their busy lives
Faith Formation:
Refresh curriculum
Have kids try a ministry as part of faith formation
Bible study for young adults (20-30 year olds)
Have babysitting for young families so they can participate in gatherings to learn about their faith
Include the feminine in your language regarding God
More emphasis on Pro life
Keep Fr. Bob
This pastor is a gift
Encourage critical discussions of our faith as it pertains to current, relevant topics such science, politics, etc.
Change isn’t going to happen overnight
Former pastor assigned 5-10 people to certain tasks/committees so each person had to serve at least 1/year
People are informed of parish opportunities but they choose not to be involved
Invite those who haven’t attended recently or only attend sporadically to return
Try to bring back perpetual adoration
Why is mass attendance down?
Why have the 20-26 year olds stopped coming to church or have changed faiths?
People need to find within themselves the commitment to church
People may become more involved or more willing to be involved if asked by phone or visited
Offer classes/seminars that address issues we all struggle with in our lives