March 4, 2011
Strategic planning meetings draw parishioner engagement, comments
Lynn Alstadt discusses a point in the small group session, evaluating the draft self-assessment surveys for parishes and schools, in Vincennes Feb. 24. Partici-pating in the conversation is Jamie Daugherty. She and Alstadt, along with others at the table, are members of Sacred Heart Church, Vincennes. (Message photo by Paul R. Leingang) Click for a larger version.
By PAUL R. LEINGANG (Message editor)
About 125 people gathered in Vincennes Feb. 24 to learn more about the parish and school self-assessment surveys being developed as part of the strategic planning process in the Diocese of Evansville. Participants reported towards the end of the meeting on what they liked, what they least liked, and what they saw as missing from the surveys.
Before the presentation and discussion began, Bishop Gerald A. Gettelfinger and the priests of the Vincennes Deanery concelebrated Mass at the Old Cathedral.
About 120 people gathered in Haubstadt Feb. 28 for the second of the seven meetings, one in each of the deaneries. Bishop Gettelfinger and the priests of the Princeton Deanery concelebrated Mass at Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Haubstadt.
A deanery meeting was scheduled at St. John Church in Loogootee March 3 (after this issue of the Message went to press and prior to the arrival of the Message by mail to all registered families and households in the diocese).
Meetings are also scheduled Thursday, March 10, at St. Philip Church in Posey County; on Monday, March 14, at St. Joseph Church in Jasper; on Monday, March 28 at St. John the Baptist Church in Newburgh, and on Wednesday, March 30, at Good Shepherd Church in Evansville.
Mass will be celebrated at 5:30 p.m. local time at each of the gatherings, with the presentation and discussion period following from 6 to 8 p.m.
Two self-assessment surveys have been proposed, one for individuals and one for leadership. Sets of questions are included, one for parishes and one for schools.
The parish self-assessment survey, in its draft form, includes opportunities to rate how “liturgies at our parish are prayerful, reverent and spiritually moving,” how music at liturgies “inspires prayer and worship of God,” and other questions about preaching, sacramental celebration, cultural diversity, needs of families, vocations and ministry to the poor. The survey has about 30 questions, ending in an open-ended request for “what else would be significant in painting a picture of your parish community?”
The school self-assessment survey includes opportunities to rate religious education, academic performance, athletics, technology, up-to-date teaching methods and other qualities. About 60 items are listed, also ending with an open-ended invitation to write in comments.
Draft surveys for individuals and leadership are available for review, online at the diocesan website, www.evdio.org.
When the surveys are finalized (by April of this year), they will also be online and available in a printed form.
“The purpose of this process is to energize our parishes and schools, or to re-energize them,” said Bishop Gettelfinger. “When parishes are energized, the diocese will be energized.”
The objective of the seven meetings, according to Tim McGuire, “is to gather feedback on the proposed parish and school self-assessment tools developed by the respective committees, which will be used to make informed decisions about the future of our parishes and schools.”
McGuire, chief operating officer for the diocese, led the participants through a series of statistics, facts and projections, before examining the draft surveys.
After hearing the background information and reading over the draft surveys, participants discussed the surveys in small groups, then reported their observations.
Sample statistics
Some of the statistics and projections brought a gasp of surprise. For example, the total population of school age children in the 12-county area is expected to drop from 103,528 in 2005 to 95,970 in 2040. The number of persons 65 and older is projected to rise during the same period from 70,515 to 117,496.
Perhaps most shocking among the statistics was a comparison of total population in Pigeon Township of Vanderburg County. Seven parishes are located in the township covering the west central part of the city. The total population dropped from 88,035 in 1950 to 33,682 in 2000.
Ohio Township in Warrick County, served by St. John the Baptist Church in Newburgh, jumped from 5,410 in 1950 to 31,002 in 2000.
The background presentation included clergy numbers (fewer priests, more deacons), school tuition and costs (“full tuition” less than the actual cost of operating a school), school enrollment (declining), the number of Baptisms (declining), religious education students (declining) and Mass attendance (about 43 percent).
Draft surveys: What they liked
Following group discussions, representatives from each group reported what they liked, what they liked least, and what they thought was missing from the draft surveys.
- Among what was liked are the following:
- that the diocese is pursuing this study
- that the surveys are online and in print
- the inclusion of open-ended questions so people can say what is on their minds
- that many people will be part of the process
- the thoroughness of the survey
Draft surveys: Least liked and missing
Participants typically included what the small groups “liked least” about the surveys and what could be added.
- Possibility that people might respond multiple times and skew results
- Concern that people with no children or grandchildren in school will respond with comments based on gossip and hearsay about quality of school
- Division between schools and religious education programs
- Missing an evaluation of frequency of Penance and other sacraments in the parish
- Statistics given, but not enough about whether priests are meeting parishioners’ needs
- Youth component missing from survey
- No question about why families did not send children to Catholic school
- Mention of “attendance” but not “involvement”
- Uncertainty about meaning of “Catholic identity” of schools.
- More needed on how parish builds up families
- More needed on Eucharistic devotion
- Missing questions on how “the diocese” is or is not helping parishes
- Uncertainty if people know the meaning of some terms in survey, such as “liturgy”
What’s next
Tim McGuire provided a strategic planning timeline as part of the background information.
The diocesan-wide meetings are now underway, during February and March.
Following all of the comments about the draft surveys, the final surveys will be published in April.
Parishes and schools will use the self-assessment surveys through July and return information in August.
The two diocesan planning committees (the same committees that proposed the draft surveys and adapted them after comments were made) will evaluate what they receive about parishes and schools from August through November, then make recommendations to the bishop in December.
The bishop will review the recommendations with consultative groups in January and February of 2012, then announce any decision to be made in March 2012.
What is certain, what is not
A new bishop will be named for the Diocese of Evansville, possibly before the strategic planning process is complete.
Although a new bishop may modify the timeline before making any of the recommended decisions, Bishop Gettelfinger believes the parish and school data gathered will be very useful.
“I certainly would have appreciated having that kind of information in my early years,” he told the participants in Vincennes.
Related: The Catholic Church in Indiana: a State of Change (PDF format)