As I mentioned in this space before Christmas, Bishop Zubik is inviting parishioners in every parish in the diocese to take part in the next step in his On Mission For the Church Alive! planning process by taking a few minutes to fill out the Disciple Maker Index survey during the Season of Lent.  The purpose of this survey is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each parish and see how each parish compares to other parishes both in our diocese and in other dioceses across the United States.  We will also be able to use the data to continue to improve our own parish, moving toward what Bishop Zubik calls the “Next Generation Parish.”
 
My fear is that you are tired of surveys or that you haven’t seen the results that you had hoped from some previous surveys so that you will not take part in this survey.  However, in reality your feedback is valuable to us, and we do use it in our own planning process.  The Pastoral Council has used both the data from its own survey conducted in the Fall of 2021, as well as the data collected at the parish Synod Sessions in the Spring of 2022.  Our new high school Youth Program, which we are building from scratch, and tweaks to our Music Ministry came directly from the data which you gave.  The article about Pope John XXIII in last week’s bulletin is part of an ongoing series which came about from someone’s feedback wanting to know more about the life of the patron saint of our parish.  There are other new initiatives which will be implemented in the future.
 
This past week I saw a sample copy of the Disciple Maker Index survey for the first time. It is both easy to understand and will not take long to complete.  It will ask you to reflect on your own spiritual life and enable you to provide feedback on our parish’s efforts to help you grow.  All responses will be confidential and the parish will only receive information about the community as a whole.  It will be available to you via an online link or by a paper copy.  The online link will become operational and the paper copy will be available beginning exactly one month from now on February 22, and lasting through March 31, 2023.  We will receive the results in late Spring/early Summer and will share the results with you.  There will be more specific information available closer to the release date.  In the meantime, I want to take this opportunity to encourage your participation and thank you in advance for the information that you will share.