The Importance of Involving So Many in Parish Evaluations
“As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of body, though many, are one body, so also Christ.” — 1 Cor 12: 12
There are good reasons that the Faith in Our Future process asks the Core team of each parish to engage as many parishioners as possible in an evaluation of parish life. First, involving parishioners in the evaluation gives them an opportunity to reflect on their own experience of belonging to the parish. Secondly, involving parishioners in the evaluation invites them to think critically about the parish and its mission. There is a respected planning maxim that says “you don’t plan for the people, you plan with the people.” Involving parishioners builds up a sense of shared responsibility for the parish.
Involving many parishioners in the evaluation also gives the Core Team a better window into the real perceptions about the parish that exist within the community. It challenges the Core Team to explore both satisfaction and dissatisfaction; and to name the places where the parish is meeting the deep needs of people and where it is failing to see opportunities. Engaging the parish community strengthens us as the Body of Christ, and enables us to move forward into the future and continue to proclaim the Gospel that comes from Jesus Christ.
Cohort training sessions will be held March 15-16, 2016 at the following sites:
MERCER COUNTY COHORTS 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
MONMOUTH COUNTY COHORTS 11, 12, 13, 14, 15
OCEAN COUNTY COHORTS 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
BURLINGTON COUNTY COHORTS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
MONMOUTH COUNTY COHORT 16, 17, 18, 19 –
IMPORTANT NOTE: Attached to this Update is the Final Cohort listing. Due to requested changes the number of your Cohort may have changed. Please take note of this as relates to the dates and locations above. Core Teams can only attend their scheduled date.
Some other reminders:
Please make a note of the next steps for Core Teams:
As you continue your regular meetings as a core team, plan for regular communications with parishioners through bulletin announcements, announcements at Mass, messages on your website and more.
Please call your Reid Group consultant if you need a parish facilitator to help with town hall meetings, core team meetings and more.
If you have not already done so, please encourage all your parishioners to view the six-minute video
message from Bishop O’Connell introducing Faith in Our Futureat http://www.dioceseoftrenton.orgfaithinourfuture/
You can also encourage parishioners to look at all of the resource material for Faith in Our Future that is on
the web site. This includes the Planning Guide in English and Spanish and the print resource “Building Our Future Together. “
Here are a few frequently asked questions about Faith in Our Future:
Where can we find the sample Survey C in Spanish for our Spanish speakers?
This survey has been translated into Spanish and can be found attached to this update and on theFaith in Our Future web site.
As we gather input for the parish evaluation forms, I notice that much of the survey feedback is pretty optimistic about the state of the parish. What can we do to encourage parishioners to be as honest and realistic as possible in giving their evaluation?
Good question. We want people to help with a realistic assessment of parish life – both the strengths and the struggles. While asking parishioners to be honest and realistic in their assessments, it is imperative that the core team interpret the results as realistically as possible. After all, these results are going to be shared and discussed with other members of your cohort.
Please let us know what other questions you have and we will answer them in future updates. Thank you once again for contributing your time and energy to Faith in Our Future.
FAITH IN OUR FUTURE STAFF & COUNTY CONSULTANTS
Diocesan Office Staff
Msgr. Leonard Troiano, [email protected]
1-609-403-7159
Sherrie Sporek, [email protected]
1-609-403-7193
FAX: 1-609-406-7413
MAILING ADDRESS:
Faith in Our Future,
Diocese of Trenton
701 Lawrenceville Road
Trenton, NJ 08648
The Reid Group Consultants
Burlington & Ocean Counties Consultant
Tom Reid, [email protected],
1-206-947-2990
Monmouth County Consultant
John Reid, [email protected],
1-206-947-1055
Mercer County & Bi-Lingual Consultant
Karen Castellon, [email protected],
1-908-240-9941