Book Review: Divine Renovation Guidebook

My last book review covered a great “jump start” book, The Rebuilt Field Guide, one “that anyone can make it through, that any team can use to avoid becoming paralyzed by the myriad of (great!) ideas for evangelizing, and instead get to doing, learning, and adapting.” Today I’m looking at another new book for pastoral leaders: Fr. James Mallon’s Divine Renovation Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Manual for Transforming Your Parish (23rd Publications, 2016). At a quick glance, one might think, “oh, so this is the workbook version of that other book that same priest-guy wrote, right?” Wrong. The Guidebook is a book jam-packed with it’s own value, it’s the pastoral planning book for evangelizing parishes.

Pastoral planning has gotten a bad rap over the past few decades. Not outwardly, I mean, who can rationally oppose the idea of planning for the future? But, from the surge of materials encouraging pastoral plans that emerged in the 1990s and 2000s, what fruit have many parishes seen? It’s possible to write an exceptional pastoral plan to maintain exactly what you’ve got in your parish right now. It’s also possible to write an exceptional pastoral plan and simply leave it on the shelf. A check-the-box binder that maybe the bishop required of you.

What a newer crop of resources from the Divine Renovation, Rebuilt, Parish Catalyst, and Amazing Parish teams articulate more clearly is that strategic pastoral planning isn’t a silver bullet. An exceptional pastoral plan accomplishes nothing if there’s no operational leadership, no culture or systems that support and align with the plan. And this is where the Divine Renovation Guidebook shines. It’s a workbook for developing a legit longer-term pastoral plan to rival anything you’ve done before, while ensuring that your parish becomes more and more mission focused along the way. Operational effectiveness, strategy, and leadership are embedded–it’s not an option–you can’t simply write a plan and skip taking a hard look at your concrete processes and leadership culture.

The original Divine Renovation was a deep theological look at many of the assumptions and cultural patterns that contribute to the vast majority of Catholic parishes in North America existing as maintenance outposts, rather than centers of missional outreach. That book is a great read, that I’d highly recommend for anyone (in addition to the podcasts delving into more detail on sacramental preparation, catechesis, etc.). The Guidebook is less widely relevant in that it’s for parish leaders, but more practically impactful. This will enable you to not just understand the situation of modern parishes, but concretely change and plan so that the joyful, Good News of life eternal in Jesus Christ can be heard and experienced wherever you are. I highly recommend it for every senior leader, especially pastors, in a parish setting.

Divine Renovation 2016 Tweet Round-Up

Like Parish Catalyst, Amazing Parish, and Matter Conference, the Divine Renovation 2016 gathering brought together a dynamic group, ready to roll up their sleeves, pray, plan, and fellowship in the Holy Spirit–all for the sake of Jesus and His Church.

Here’s my Twitter-verse round-up: 

On Leadership: 

“There is absolutely NO decision that I as a Priest work through on my own for the vision of the Church”-@FJMallon#DR16#Leadership@SaintBP
— corey robinson (@CoachRobinson1) June 14, 2016

Commitment to growth is incompatible with the “good enough” attitude. #DR16
— Father Souza (@fathersouza) June 14, 2016

“An overled and undermanaged environment is unsustainable..there’s lots of activity but not going anywhere.” #DR16 pic.twitter.com/X2NUsSDsjh
— Dan O’Rourke (@DanORourke) June 14, 2016

“Good administration will not do everything, but bad administration can really harm mission.” @bishopdowd #preach #DR16
— Josh Canning (@CatholicJosh) June 14, 2016

On Strategy and Operations:

“It’s not just about random programs that aren’t connected…the purpose isn’t to be busy.” @FJMallon #DR16 #Parish #Leadership
— Colleen Vermeulen (@EvangelToolbox) June 14, 2016

“I had to repent from ‘more is merrier’ to ‘less is more'” –@FJMallon#DR16#NewEvangelization#Leadership
— Colleen Vermeulen (@EvangelToolbox) June 14, 2016

 Are you married to the method or to the mission? #DR16
— Father Souza (@fathersouza) June 14, 2016

On Stewardship of Treasure, Time, and Talent:

Per @FJMallon, (parish) money problems aren’t actually money problems. Money problems are vision problems. #DR16
— Clayton Imoo (@claytonimoo) June 13, 2016

“Our expectation is that 100% of people will end up in ministry.” @ron_huntley #DR16
— Josh Canning (@CatholicJosh) June 13, 2016

The priest can’t be a personal chaplain for every person in the parish (unless the church is under 200 ppl). #DR16
— Father Souza (@fathersouza) June 14, 2016

On Evangelization:

If there’s nothing else, it [the Eucharist] is neither a source nor summit for that individual. #DR16 #Evangelization https://t.co/eDIWdwEhiN
— Colleen Vermeulen (@EvangelToolbox) June 14, 2016

#Evangelization isn’t just something you do only when the pews are empty… It has to be a way of life! #DR16pic.twitter.com/evB3zmIrDI
— Father Souza (@fathersouza) June 14, 2016

Our primary interaction with the unchurched isn’t Sunday, it’s #Alpha. –@FJMallon#DR16#Catholic#Evangelization
— Colleen Vermeulen (@EvangelToolbox) June 14, 2016

Parish Truth:

Want to see the St Benedict outline for a homily? #DR16 pic.twitter.com/cuKM5FvYIk

— Josh Canning (@CatholicJosh) June 14, 2016

.@FJMallon “Jesus blessed the kids and taught the adults. We spend our time in parishes teaching the kids and blessing the adults.” #DR16

— Fr. Simon Lobo (@frsimoncc) June 15, 2016

Interested?

You can:

• Read more Tweets tagged with #DR16 (you don’t need a Twitter account, just click here)
• Watch the Plenary Sessions here
• Read the original Divine Renovation book 
• Start tuning into Divine Renovation podcasts
• Learn more about Patrick Lencioni’s framework for “real leadership teams,” an underlying premise of the leadership behind many Divine Renovation initiatives

Alpha Pitfalls

As a follow up to last week’s insights from Unlocking Your Parish by Ron Huntley and Fr. James Mallon, some key points from the book’s launch podcast/video.

First off, doing Alpha isn’t foolproof. Alpha can be done poorly. And, Alpha done poorly, doesn’t work very long. The fruit won’t be sustainable and won’t transform a parish’s culture. Because Alpha’s a small piece of a bigger puzzle, if the “soil” of the parish is truly lacking or toxic, both the culture [soil] and program/Alpha [seed] need to be addressed simultaneously.

Other common Alpha pitfalls?

Negative initial experience at Alpha. 

When a parish runs Alpha in a “rolling” or continuous style [which is ideal], the Alpha guests are in-training to be the next Alpha team. But, if being a guest provides the wrong experience, i.e. if your first impression is a bunch of church-going Catholics complaining about the church, then that becomes the “training”–and transfers/replicates in future sessions.

Spinning off Team members too quickly. 

It usually takes intentional encouragement to keep people in the Alpha pipeline/team, in contrast to immediately allowing Hosts and others to start leading new/other parish ministries for those who “want more.” Human nature often drives a desire to new/other/novel, but retaining Team members for multiple seasons is important for getting the momentum for church renewal and transformation. Once momentum is sustainably generating, then it’s time to help people move on to new ministries. As the Divine Renovation team emphasizes, “Keep your best leader on Alpha, until they can raise up another best leader.” With Connect Groups as the next step after Alpha, it usually takes about 2.5 years from the start of the first Alpha in a parish to the launch of a first Connect Group.

Alpha in isolation.

As Unlocking makes clear, Alpha is a tool that transforms parish culture and is enriched by being rooted in a missional parish culture. This means the pastor and staff are completely on board, i.e. the pastor preaching into the principles of Alpha and how/are these the principles you want in your church. Alpha thrives in the context of relevant homilies/messages, powerful community, non-judgmental interactions, high hospitality, and a belong-believe-behave paradigm. Otherwise, when those who experience Alpha experience the rest of the parish, they’ll be in for an unpleasant surprise! The “Alpha in isolation” pitfall can also look like a small group of parishioners deeply engaged in Alpha while the others merely look on. As Ron Huntley and Fr. James Mallon remind in the podcast, “you’re not doing Alpha until 30-40% of parish has been through it”–it takes a critical mass of a parish community to experience, adopt, and embrace Alpha for a culture to be truly transformed and renewed. 

 

 

Insights from “Unlocking Your Parish: Making Disciples, Raising Up Leaders With Alpha” by Ron Huntley & Fr. James Mallon

Unlocking Your Parish: Making Disciples, Raising Up Leaders with Alpha is one of the newer additions to the list of book resources coming from the Divine Renovation ministry.  In short, it’s a concrete, practically focused look at Alpha in the context of parish life.

Huntley and Mallon start with a focus on culture. Using the images of soil, seed, and fruit for the culture of a parish. Programs in parish life (or any ministry) are like seeds. Even the best seeds won’t bear fruit when planted in malnourished, weed-infested, barren, or toxic soil. But, on the flip side:

“If we evangelize and develop leaders well, we will impact the rest of our parish culture–in everything from outreach and social justice to developing new and life giving ministries to fostering an ever deepening love for the sacraments.”

Alpha is a tool that can enrich the soil of a parish and the book highlights “what Alpha can offer the Catholic parish interested in becoming a mission-focused community.”

Alpha matters because many Catholics (including leaders):

“have not encountered the love of the Father in Jesus Christ. They do not see themselves as beloved son and daughters of God, and they may not have made an intentional choice to follow Jesus. In fact, many Catholics today see faith not in terms of their relationship with God and others but primarily as something that places moral demands on them. They adopt an almost servile mentality, focusing on the things they must do for God rather than responding in gratitude for the things that God has done in and for and through them. This can make it difficult for parish to live out their mission, since the overwhelming focus becomes how do I  get to heaven.”

This is a key point. Who would want to share “Good News” that they haven’t personally experienced as good?!? This is a serious problem for many baptized Catholics, as I explore here.

The other key introductory point is that Alpha flips some of our “priorities” upside down. In many parishes, belief is expected, even taken for granted. This can be suffocating for anyone who is doubting, questioning, or just-plain-not-ready-to-believe because they need to experience authentic trust and relationships, love first. An Alpha culture firmly places belonging ahead of believing or behaving in parish life. This is true transformation of the soil!

If you’re interested in reading more about some of the concrete details of how and why to run Alpha in a Catholic parish, I encourage you to check out Unlocking Your Parish.

 

 

Why Serve in a Parish

Parishes (or local churches) can be frustrating places for many an enthusiastic, devoted, and mission-oriented follower of Christ. Often due to human sin and blindness of a variety of sorts, people cannot find a place to belong, to be accepted in service. This shouldn’t be the case, but, it’s a reality (and it can hurt, take time, and require great discernment). I wanted to share an encouragement, from my own life, on why it’s worth it to keep trying and hang in there–even when one’s local church/parish feels like it’s [or you’re!] falling, we can at least be falling together.

My husband and I began serving on the Alpha Team for our parish’s first season of parish-wide Alpha in fall 2017. Going into it, we knew from all of the homilies at Mass how important this was–to follow Jesus by being love to others, making space in one’s life for conversation and relationship-building. I’d already been quite immersed in Divine Renovation and the DR Guidebook, and had been incorporating Alpha content into classes for years–so we were “low hanging fruit” to our Pastor and Senior Leadership Team’s exhortations to get involved with Alpha.

What I didn’t know, was how much God was going to make His presence known in my life through the Alpha Team experience. After serving as a Table Host and Session Leader, I was invited to join the Alpha Core Team. My focus was on developing volunteers as Table Hosts and Helpers, helping us build more and more amazing interpersonal, relationship, and conversation skills so that we truly connect with those we encounter.

This has changed me, personally, as it’s drawn me to be attentive to who I’m called to accompany in my own life–and to treat those relationships, no matter now nascent, as a priority, as if they were a “calendar event” I need to keep making time for, keep trying to schedule…no matter how many failed attempts it takes.

Being given this specific mission from staff and those of a different generation at my parish has been an experience of shared trust and mutual accountability, of being invested in by brothers and sisters in Christ in a way that isn’t just about Alpha, but is personal. This is something new. Many parishes are places where generations “guard” certain ministries, hold on to leadership roles, or simply don’t trust (or give the benefit of the doubt) anyone who’s “new” or thinks a bit differently due to different life experiences.

God shows His loving presence so much through my co-workers on the Alpha Team who intercede, both in prayers and actions, for me. Service within a parish can transform relationships (even while some, inevitably, remain painfully broken within the Body of Christ, especially a the local level). It doesn’t erase pain, but good can still come forth. Bottom line, we must not give up on it, but pursue it. 

I think this ancient hymn sums up both the challenge and grace:

English Translation (Ubi Caritas)

Where charity and love are, God is there.
Christ’s love has gathered us into one.
Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.
Let us fear, and let us love the living God.
And may we love each other with a sincere heart.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
As we are gathered into one body,
Beware, lest we be divided in mind.
Let evil impulses stop, let controversy cease,
And may Christ our God be in our midst.
Where charity and love are, God is there.
And may we with the saints also,
See Thy face in glory, O Christ our God:
The joy that is immense and good,
Unto the ages through infinite ages. Amen.

Church Culture: How to Assess it and Keep it Moving in the Right Direction

Culture is the social norms found in any group. You might think, “nah, my church is normal…we don’t have any special culture”–but you’d be wrong. Like it or not, there are norms of behavior that predominate in any group. The real question is, is your culture helping or hurting the mission and vision you understand your local church serving in the world? 

Peter Drucker famously quipped, “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” meaning that culture isn’t just a side issue or one-time initiative, but something so important to success that it must be cultivated continuously to ensure a healthy and flourishing organization.

Source: Twitter, Divine Renovation (@DivReno) January 15, 2018

 

How Do We Know How We’re Doing on Culture?

As the adage goes, “never accept a story without data, nor data without a story.” In church world, we lean a bit more toward accepting stories without data, so it’s important for us to seek out metrics for keeping a continuous pulse on how we’re doing on growing a healthy culture in our churches.

How to do this will vary from church to church, but a “scoreboard” or “scorecard” is a must-have. Whatever you call this, it’s something that’s concise–can be read/understood in 1-4 minutes, usually 1 page or smaller–that provides a “snapshot” of indicators of culture at the present moment. When teams of leaders at various levels review this regularly, it helps unite everyone around the common goal, see how different initiatives that each might be working on interconnect, and collaborate to make changes on the fly, for the sake of continuous improvement. Worrisome indicators can be addressed before they become huge “implosions” of negative culture (and really 🙂 everyone wants a more peaceful and relaxed life, right?).

What to Include on a “Scorecard” or “Scoreboard”?

Brainstorm about…

• physical environment, aesthetics, and facilities
• customs and habits
• values and attitudes
• structure/organization
• resource use
• process/program outcomes
• leaders

…and see if there are quantitative or qualitative indicators related to any of these. Commit to a mix of both–50/50 discipline if this is a challenge for you! (And it is for most ministries). Keep a special mental “eye” out for leading indicators, meaning, indicators that give you a “heads up” on some larger, future goal, rather than the “lag” indicator that’s available, say, only after that big Christmas outreach has passed, for example.

Sample Church Scoreboards / Scorecards

There’s no one right format for any church. Here’s a very basic example of something that’s 1 page, can be read in <5 minutes, and incorporates both qualitative/subjective assessments of specific actions that are in-progress and quantitative lead indicators.

A scorecard/scoreboard like this should be updated every time it’s viewed, and the Actions should change once completed. The lead indicators, if well chosen, should be relevant for many months (and even years), though as situational understanding evolves, you’re likely to discover that new ones emerge and some become less relevant.

Additional resources I recommend taking a look at:

Amazing Parish Thematic Goals — While the examples given are not about organizational culture specifically, they do show how to break down the goal of a healthy organizational culture into sub-goals. Why I wouldn’t recommend copying this example precisely, is the lack of quantitative measures. Assessing indicators as red/amber/green based on progress can be highly subjective, vague, and thus reduce the effectiveness of a scorecard/board as a tool for spurring collaborative action. [Note: some organizations do assign specific quantifiable metrics to red/amber/green, however, it can be a bit more confusing as it forces readers to reference a “key” to explain the colors.]

First West Church Scoreboards — These examples show various “scoreboards” for different areas within a church, in a form that includes plenty of quantitative leading indicators.

Now time for you to share! Do you have a great example of an assessment tool for culture? Tell us about it in the Comment Box. 

 

 

 

 

A Glimpse of Parish Life as a “None” Parent via”Losing Our Religion”

For the past week, we’ve been diving into key points and applications from Christel Manning’s “Losing Our Religion: How Unaffiliated Parents Are Raising Their Children”. In closing, I’m sharing her own personal experience encountering a Catholic parish as a “None” parent. I’m thankful to Manning for incorporating her own personal experiences into her valuable work of sociology.

Manning, like many other parents who identify as “None,” experienced new questions during the “early childhood” stage of her daughter, Sheila. Embodying the diversity of her framework for understanding the beliefs of Nones and range of options to offer worldview formation for their children, Manning took up the recommendation of a Catholic friend, and enrolled her daughter in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at her local parish. Here’s her reflection:

The teacher leading the program was a lovely woman, gentle and non-dogmatic and so good with kids. My husband was initially opposed to any kind of church-based education, but I convinced him to give it a try…I enrolled Sheila for the first year. She loved it…When we went to England for Christmas, my husband’s family was duly impressed with Sheila’s knowledge of religion…At the end of the school year, however, the doctrinal basis of the program became more clear. The first year curriculum, geared to very young children, was centered on the idea that God is a good shepherd who will take care of you–a fairly generic concept that I could accept. By contrast, the second-year curriculum involved teaching children the Catholic creed and preparing them for first communion. I did not feel comfortable with that. Parents were encouraged to attend church with their children, and in talking to other parents I realized that everybody else was actually doing that. I felt like a fraud. So the next Sunday, I went to mass and I took Sheila with me…There were rousing hymns singing glory to God, prayers, a reading from the Bible, a homily on a topic I cannot remember people lined up to receive communion. The hymns struck me as militaristic, the Bible reading felt irrelevant to my life,and the prayers reminded me that I do not believe in God. Sheila was bored and fidgety. I was bored and alienated. It was clear this was not the right path for us. I was disappointed, but also relieved. (192)

Take Aways

1. What appealed to Manning?
   • the recommendation of her Catholic friend, who did not hesitate to share an experience that was positive for her child with her “None” friend —> personal endorsement/invitation is the most powerful marketing
   • about Catechesis of the Good Shepherd? We see it in her own layperson’s description, “a Montessori-based two-year program for preschoolers and kindergarten age children that allows children to choose from various religion-themed play activities rather than imposing a unified curriculum on them” (192). While this is incomplete in a technical sense (i.e. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is in Catholic language a “systematic” catechesis and stretches to age 12) it reveals what resonated with a “None” parent —> our marketing “key words” for outsiders do not need to be what’s most theologically important to us “church folks”
   • the Level 1 (ages 3-6) emphasis that “God is a good shepherd who will take care of you” was experienced by Manning as pre-evangelistic, it connected to her existing values –> the Church’s teaching on the role of pre-evangelization should not be overlooked 🙂

2. As described in her research, it was her interest that convinced her husband to allow the “testing the water” in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. After the child’s interests/needs, spouses exert the second most powerful “push” to explore religious worldviews. And it’s usually the woman. –> #MarketToMoms #ConnectWithMoms 
3. Those familiar with Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) will notice that Manning’s perceptive description isn’t quite accurate, i.e. our “insider” understanding of different “Levels” each spanning approximately three years is not clear to her. And this isn’t her fault, she’s not trying to be a catechetical expert (and yes, the parish mentioned runs typical Level 1 and 2 CGS programs). This impacts her expectations and understanding. –> When describing catechetical programs to parents, let’s remember that they don’t have the time to research or prepare to be familiar with our “insider” language. 
4. Manning takes her daughter to Mass. (!!!) Did you catch that? How blessed are we to receive such seekers in our midst! Remember, Manning is a “None,” her husband initially opposed the idea of having their daughter attend Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Manning herself already feels “uncomfortable,” and yet, she still goes. This is a huge leap on her part. –> Our attitude toward seekers should respect and honor the risks they’ve already taken to encounter us on “our turf,” rather than veil a disdainful or critical, “where have you been all these years?” We rejoice (note Jesus’ 3 parables in Lk 15) that the Holy Spirit has led them this far.

5. Manning finds the Eucharistic homily at Mass to be forgettable. –> #AlwaysBeEvangelizing. While Mass isn’t “for” seekers, seekers are present. Preaching matters–it’s worth spending the time, bringing in the team, and preparing for the sake of those who might only be giving Mass one try. 
6. The music and lectors didn’t captivate Manning either –> Movements like Amazing Parish, Rebuilt, and Divine Renovation all emphasize the importance of the “Sunday Experience.” They’re right. (Other evidence supports this too).
7. Manning’s daughter was bored and fidgety. –> While liturgically oriented Catholics may love having their young children with them at Mass, it’s unlikely a seeker or “None” will find that experience life-giving. We shouldn’t force them to by failing to care enough to offer a memorable and engaging experience for their children. It was Sheila who indirectly “brought” her mother to Mass this time–imagine if Sheila had spent the car-ride home telling her mom about the kids she met, how much she loved the singing, how fun it was–many parents would come back a second time (or more!) simply because their child had a great experience. That’s how us parents work 🙂

Again, I’m grateful to Christel Manning for sharing so personally in the conclusion of her book. Rarely do we get such a detailed description of how a “None” parent/child can go from non-attending, to catechesis, and even make it to Mass. 

Having concluded this series on Losing Our Religion, what new thoughts are you thinking about “Nones” as parents?

Vision in a Homily

So your parish has a vision, and maybe even a catchy vision statement–now what?

Vision that’s not communicated broadly falls flat. Because the point of vision is that it guides everyone. Not just the elite. Not just leaders. Everyone.

How to communicate broadly in a Catholic parish?
The Sunday Homily.

I can hear the mental excuses now. All the reasons why your parish can’t communicate vision in homilies, how the people won’t like it, how it can’t be planned, there’s not enough time, etc. But, none of the excuses override the critical importance of preaching the vision, frequently and repeatedly, to the broadest parish audience.

As Fr. James Mallon, author of Divine Renovation and The Divine Renovation Guidebook, explains:

I remember catching myself saying once, ‘But I spoke about that in a homily last year.’ It is foolish for us preachers to think that most parishioners are going to remember something we said two weeks before, never mind a year before. In truth, if the sign on the bus is to be plainly recognized, we must speak about vision over and over again. In the last three years, I have committed myself to preaching some form of visioning homily at all the weekend Masses every three weeks. I am convinced that this is necessary (Divine Renovation, 255).

Sometimes it can be tempting to think, it’s in the bulletin right? We’ve got a sign up? The staff knows? It’s on the website? But that’s not enough, “there are no shortcuts when it comes to communicating vision: it takes time and intentionality” (DR Guidebook, 60).

Let’s start with the practical: what is a visioning homily?

• not simply information, but the inspiration and motivation “to desire that preferred future and be wiling to make the changes necessary” (DR Guidebook, 60)
• “A homily that attempts, in some way, to address the question of why are we here, where are we going and why we do the things we do, or are trying to do the things we are trying to do” (DR Guidebook, 62)
• “Preaching about the mission of the Church and the future of your parish in a way that all your parishioners can hear and understand” (DR Guidebook, 62)

Does it really need to be repeated so often?

Answer: Yes. Here’s why: “If a parish is becoming truly missional and is innovating, there will be ongoing change within the parish. Change must always be explained in light of the vision” (Divine Renovation, 256). Most people don’t love change. By communicating the vision frequently (as Fr. James Mallon does, roughly every 3 weeks) the parish helps each and every person know and understand how concrete changes and decisions fit into the big picture, and help guide the efforts.

Okay, I’m ready. But what goes into a visioning homily?

Drawing from Divine Renovation (pg. 256-257), here are the key elements in a visioning homily, with examples from a visioning homily (Groundbreaking 05: Vision, April 24, 2016) at Church of the Nativity in Timonium, MD.

• Answer: why are we here? Remind the listeners why the parish exists, what God has called you to, what your mission is. For Church of the Nativity, it’s growing disciples while growing as disciples. This gets mentioned twice in the first four minutes (at 1:50-2:08 and 3:50-4:04).
• Name: what’s not right at the gut level. Scratch the point of dissatisfaction that people are experiencing. Help everyone feel the need. For Church of the Nativity, it’s that it’s “hard to invite people to come people to church when there’s no place to park and no place to sit” (4:30-4:45). This is something tangible. Lots of people in the parish may have experienced this…tentatively thinking about inviting a friend to Mass, but wary of doing so because of the seemingly crowded experience.
• Explain: why the current situation or past models won’t work. This might include some transparency or vulnerability. Or showing how the parish has “done its homework” in trying to address the point of dissatisfaction in the past. Aim to be clear and honest about how a particular [old] way of doing things isn’t working, but without blaming people, staff, specific groups, etc. Since Church of the Nativity is addressing how to accommodate growth, the leaders share what they’ve done in the past or tried (different times, off-campus sites, etc), and how these solutions don’t effectively lead toward the parish’s vision (1:00-1:22).
• Inspire: capture imaginations, invite people to dream. Encourage everyone listening to join in the “imagine if…” for the parish. What could it be? This is a time, not for information, but to make our hearts leap, make even the most change-averse person in the pew have a momentary optimism about the future. In the example from Church of the Nativity, Brian Cook reminds the community of pieces of plywood the parish had “filled with the names of all your friends, family members, co-workers…people you’re praying for, that one day they’ll come to church and meet their Heavenly Father…this project is about making room for them, all of them” (5:30-6:00) and continues to spur the imagination as to the wider significance of the parish’s direction, that “This new building can stand as a hopeful sign that intentional growth is still possible…that God is still using the local church to change lives” (6:10-6:41).
• Share: the plan for how we’re getting to where we’re going. This part is the most intuitive. We like to talk about what we’re doing. But remember, this is just one of five key elements. Without the other pieces, this part of a visioning homily can quickly become a litany of information, rather than the transformation that’s at the heart of vision and change leadership. Church of the Nativity puts it concisely: it’s about “creating empty seats at optimal times” and that phrase is used at least four times in the 7-minute vision-casting portion of the Sunday message (remember, repetition works!). The “how” is that as the parish responds to the call to “invest your treasure in the Church” this will result in hearts “connected to the Church” and the “growth in faith that comes somewhere outside of your comfort zone.”

A well-crafted visioning homily weaves these elements together, independent threads yet repeated and interrelated. There’s a logical flow from reminding who we are, to identifying and understanding the “situation” (Name & Explain), to inspiring, and only then speaking the plan.

A visioning homily doesn’t need to take a lot of time. While this entire message from Church of the Nativity is “long” (20 minutes in total) by most Catholic standards, the vision casting portion is solidly within the first 7 minutes. Visioning homilies can be done in any Catholic parish on a regular basis. Here’s an example from

The other lesson from the Church of the Nativity example is that a parish need not have a singularly incredible, awesome, best-preacher-ever to communicate vision. Brian Cook, Tom Corcoran, and Fr. Michael White (the 3 speakers in the Church of the Nativity message) are ordinary folks, just like you. They stumble on their words (as we all do). It’s not always the most beautiful language. And think about it–if you’re preaching on vision once every three weeks, not every one is going to be your personal best. The point is, they commit. They do it. One doesn’t have to be an especially-gifted dynamic preacher to communicate vision. Check out their book, Rebuilding Your Message (and related podcasts) for practical tips on how any disciple of Jesus Christ can grow as a communicator.

Do you have a great visioning homily to share? Post a link in the Comment section to help us all grow in this essential area of parish ministry.

p.s. Download the “Groundbreaking 05: Vision” example I used here. All vision casting elements are present within the first 7 minutes. I’m not sure how long beyond March 2017 the download will be available, but all key excerpts are in this post–viewing is optional 🙂

Christian Unity 2017: Working the Vineyard

Welcome to the Octave Week of Prayer for Christian Unity at Practical.Catholic.Evangelization.

I don’t think this can ever be a happy, celebratory week–as this time of prayer and reflection exists due to our human sinfulness, our giving in to the temptation to divide what God has drawn together in His family, the Church. But, I do think it can be a time of deep appreciation for the reality that, despite our sins of separation, there’s a tremendous amount of practical wisdom, knowledge, and practical spirituality for the the ministry of evangelization we’re all called to. Lessons to be learned from looking outside the “visible boundaries” of churches (as the world sees it).

Just look at Thom Rainer of LifeWay Christian Resources’ 2017 list of major trends for churches:

1. Renewed emphasis on evangelism.
2. Renewed emphasis on practical ministries.
3. Increased frequency of allegations of child sex abuse in churches.
4. Increased financial fraud in churches.
5. The multi-site movement becoming a neighborhood church movement.
6. An acceleration of church closures.
7. Church acquisitions becoming normative.
8. Worship center downsizing becomes normative.
9. Longer pastoral tenure.
10. The remarkable shift toward continual learning.

Rainer comes from a Southern Baptist, evangelical perspective, and predominately writes for established churches. Yet look at his list–practically, we’re all wrestling with similar pastoral issues. We’re co-workers in the same vineyard of the Lord, especially when our “vineyards” exist in similar cultural, geographic spaces.

Think through Rainer’s list through a Catholic lens, for example:

Renewed emphasis on evangelism and practical ministries, like hospitality and discipleship? Big yes for Catholic parishes and dioceses.

Better operations to prevent child sex abuse and financial fraud? Absolutely. Look at the great work to offer standards of excellence from the Nat’l Leadership Roundtable on Church Management.

Leaders thinking through the right-sized organizations and footprint for the Body of Christ in local communities, including neighborhood ministries, multi-site parishes, consolidations, and more? Yes. Big time in Catholic dioceses–and it doesn’t always have to be negative either. We can learn from our separated brothers and sisters and new structures for new times can be a good thing.

And finally, longer pastoral tenure and a shift toward continual learning? Yes again! The Rebuilt Parish Association, Divine Renovation Network, Amazing Parish, Parish Catalyst, and the Evangelical Catholic all represent huge growth showing that learning must be continuous for practical-minded, evangelizing leaders. Fr. James Mallon, founder of the Divine Renovation Network, clearly advocates for longer pastoral tenures within dioceses and deliberate stability and mentoring relationships designed to foster healthy and dynamic organizational cultures.

So this year, during these next eight Octave days, I’m going to share some of my favorites from “outside the visible boundaries of the Catholic Church” that offer me grace-filled practical wisdom for understanding how we participate in God’s mission of extending the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all of the world. So, stay tuned! 🙂

 

Finding a Local Church to Call Home

From the Pew Research Center comes a new study ripe with implications for how we think about hospitality, evangelization, and growing disciples in our local churches.

Question #1: What to Americans look for in a new congregation? 

Question #2: Why do Americans look for a new church home to begin with? 

Let’s dig into each of these areas further to flesh out implications for how we share Jesus’ love with the world…

Becoming a Parish Ad Gentes

1. For Americans with kids, 65% say that education/programs for children age greatly valued. How are your children/student programs? Do they run year round? Are they convenient? Are they high-quality enough that parents would choose to place their children there? Would they appeal to outsiders (not just those feeling an “obligation” to attend)? As the leaders of Church of the Nativity (Timonium, MD) often say “when you do something for my kids, you do something for me” is an important societal, parental value to respond to.
2. When Americans go looking for a new church home, roughly half consider switching denominations (note: while this isn’t a term we use in Catholic theology, it’s common in vernacular conversation, so I use it in that sense here). This is a huge opportunity! Talk about openness. As Catholic parishes we should ask ourselves, what kind of impression or perception would someone from a different faith background take away from setting foot on our campus or at our programs? 
3. We may think that the unaffiliated don’t visit our parishes. But this would be a mistaken assumption. Almost “about three-in-ten current religious “nones” (29%) indicate they have searched for a new congregation at some point in their lives.” What’s for them at your parish? What would their experience be like? 
4. How do typical Americans find a new church home? More than eight-in-ten adults who have ever looked for a new house of worship say they attended a service during their search (85%). And roughly seven-in-ten talked to members of the congregation (69%) or to friends or colleagues (68%) about the house of worship they were considering. What kind of recommendations or comments would your typical parishioners make about your parish? Would they be enthusiastic? Resigned? Unsure what to say? 
5. Though it’s not the most important method for learning about potential local church homes, 59% of adults under 30 say they have incorporated online searches when looking for a new congregation. Your online presence matters. And, it should resonate with Millennials. 

Becoming a Parish for Catholic-Seekers

1. What’s most important when choosing a new parish for Catholics? “nothing is more important than location. Fully three-quarters of Catholics who have looked for a new church (76%) say location was an important factor in their choice of parish.” Our first reaction might be to think (with relief or discouragement) there’s not much we can do then. But this misses something more significant–if Catholics are most likely to select a parish based on location, then it’s vitally important that every parish have a discipleship pathway, that every parish be intentional about ministering to people at every step of a disciple’s journey. We can’t be content to have some “powerhouse” parishes where intentional discipleship and fruits of the Holy Spirit are typical and then “maintenance” parishes for the rest. Taking this reality seriously might force us to think about collaborative organizational structures, networks or associations, and other ways to move more parishes from maintenance to mission. 
2. Not convinced of the need for every parish to have pathways for intentional discipleship? Here’s another perspective: of affiliated Christians, Catholics are the least likely to ever look for a new congregation. Most Catholics will stay in the parish they’re at, unless the geography (location of household or parish) changes. What’s this mean? Our expectation must be that every parish be fully alive in the Holy Spirit, offering robust pathways for disciples to grow–otherwise, many Catholics will continue to exist in “maintenance” parishes.
3. When Catholics are looking for a new parish, after location (76% rate as important), the next most important values are “feeling welcomed by leaders” (71%) and sermons (67%). This data supports the pitch made by Amazing Parish, Rebuilt, and Divine Renovation in recent years as to the importance of the “Sunday Experience.” Authentic welcome from leaders and good preaching aren’t accidents or “bonus” attributes of charismatic leaders–no, these are essential parts of ministry that must be planned, cultivated, and assessed for effectiveness.
4. Though Catholics are less likely than other Christians to look for a new local congregation, when Catholics do go seeking, about one-in-three report exploring changing denominations or religions. This might come as a surprise to many of us–but it’s a reality we can’t ignore. The question becomes what’s going on in your parish, so that when parishioners do move or go looking for a new congregation, they seek out a Catholic one? 

Okay, so those are my takeaways from this study. What are yours? How might this data impact how you do ministry?