Parish Data Shows Strong Faith, Diocese Continues Pastoral Planning Process

It has been eight months since the Diocese launched the Called for More program. Many interviews, surveys, meetings and discussions have happened since then, all leading to the creation of a Diocesan pastoral plan. While the plan is still under development and not expected to be completed until late spring, survey results for the parishes in the Diocese paint a surprising picture.

A significant piece of the pastoral planning process was the Disciple Maker Index survey. This survey was available to all parishioners in the Diocese and it asked questions about worship likes and dislikes, prayer habits, and thoughts about the individual’s parish and pastor.

“Any effort in pastoral planning has to be rooted in listening first. The Disciple Maker Index provides us with a tool that can give the people of the Diocese a voice and an opportunity to say, ‘This is what I’m experiencing in my parish. This is what’s going well. This is an opportunity where things might be enhanced. This is my faith experience.’ It’s really important for us as pastoral leaders – myself as the bishop and our priests – to know where our people are with their faith with regard to their belief in the basic tenets of the faith, or their comfortability with understanding the faith. The DMI provides that kind of data,” said Bishop Timothy Senior.

Starting in October, parishioners were encouraged to express their thoughts by participating in the survey. Over 20,000 survey responses were captured. While this is a 10% response rate for the total Catholic population in the Diocese, it is a 42% response rate for the average number of Sunday Mass attendees. The data further shows that 34 parishes in the Diocese had response rates of 50% or higher.

The survey results showed overall positive experiences among the faithful attending Mass. Some of the results indicated that:

• 81% of parishioners would recommend their pastor
• 89% of parishioners would recommend their parish
• 84% of parishioners feel welcomed at Mass
• 80% of parishioners feel the preaching at Mass is good
• 81% of parishioners believe their parish helps them grow spiritually
• 92% of parishioners believe in the Church’s teaching regarding the Eucharist
• 93% believe that Scripture is the Word of God
• 93% of those who completed the survey attend Mass weekly or daily

Some questions in the survey related to thoughts on improvements that could be considered. One such question asked parishioners to rate their top three things that they felt their parish needed. The top three results from across all the parishes in the Diocese were to see more young people involved in the parish, have more volunteers participate in ministries and have more catechesis on Church teachings.

“These areas where improvements and opportunities can happen are reflective of the level of commitment that people have. You want more young people involved because you realize that you have something really wonderful for them and you want to share it. You want to see the faith being passed on because it is so precious,” Bishop Senior said.

“People also want to understand their faith more,” he said, noting that oftentimes people don’t necessarily feel competent enough to explain their faith or to talk about it. “I see people’s love for their parish and the faith everywhere I go in the Diocese; there is a lot of vitality here.”

The DMI results, along with surveys and interviews from the clergy, have been combined and are being used by the Diocesan Envisioning Team. This team of 12 people, representing clergy, religious, Catholic education, parish administration, cultural ministry, young adults and Diocesan staff, are working to evaluate the data. The envisioning team will ultimately make suggestions to Bishop Senior on potential goals for the Called for More pastoral plan for the Diocese.

“I’m anxious to get the full report from the Envisioning Team. I know they’ve been working very, very hard. I’m looking forward to receiving their report and suggestions, and my hope is that it is going to provide us with some key goals that will provide direction for where we need to place emphasis and where we need to be putting our resources going forward,” Bishop Senior said.

The Diocese partnered with Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI) for this pastoral planning process. CLI provides bishops, priests, religious, deacons and lay persons in the Roman Catholic Church with pastoral leadership formation and consulting services that strengthen their confidence and competence in ministry, enabling them to articulate a vision for their local Church rooted in Jesus Christ. CLI recognizes that there can be challenges when a bishop transitions to a new diocese. That is where CLI offers to assist in gathering information relative to that diocese, its parishes and ministries, and to assist in developing a strategic vision. This organization has worked with the Diocese since August 2024 and has been:

• Supporting the Diocese in creating a process to listen to leaders and assess strengths and opportunities;
• Providing an experience for priests and deacons to be known and supported in their ministry;
• Gaining insights into every parish community to plans can be created to shepherd the people of God; and
• Helping the bishop create a vision and priority plan to shape the future of the Diocese.

All the services provided by Catholic Leadership Institute are at no cost to the Diocese because of generous benefactors.

To learn more about the Called for More initiative in the Diocese, please visit www.hbgdiocese.org/called-for-more.

(Photos by Chris Heisey and Jen Reed, The Catholic Witness.)

By Rachel Bryson, The Catholic Witness