This website offers three free ways to learn more about how to engage your parish:

1.  The Short Course.  This basic introduction consists in reading the content of several pages.  Time to complete the Short Course is less than thirty minutes.

2.  The Online Summit.  This collection of podcasts and handouts is available to you at no cost.  Each of the podcasts lasts approximately fifty minutes.

]]> http://all-about-church-engagement.com/learn-more/feed 0 http://all-about-church-engagement.com/new-post http://all-about-church-engagement.com/new-post#comments Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:33:53 +0000 Fr. Daniel Mahan http://all-about-church-engagement.com/?p=577

Does your congregation or parish face dwindling numbers of volunteers?

The April 17 article by Sean Gallagher (“Survey says … Gallup programs geared to strengthen parishioner engagement”) was a wonderful treatment of a successful program for promoting engagement and leadership within many parishes of the archdiocese.

The Clifton StrengthsFinder surveys and the Discover Your Strengths books and resources are powerful tools that are available through the Gallup Faith Practice division to help Catholic congregations discover their innate strengths and unique gifts.

In fact, coinciding with the article’s appearance, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Indianapolis received word that our Leadership Excellence program had been funded in part through the Indianapolis-based Center for Congregations.

Like the parishes cited in the article, Sacred Heart worked very closely with the Marian College Center for Catholic Stewardship and the archdiocesan Office of Stewardship Education to apply for the funding support for the Gallup resources.

Unlike the other parishes, however, Sacred Heart included a component to promote youth leadership development.

Working with Saint Meinrad School of Theology’s Office of Youth and Young Adult Formation, we are enrolling five of our high school youths in Saint Meinrad’s acclaimed “One Bread, One Cup” Youth Liturgical Leadership Conference.

Additionally, our leadership team, which will include the youth graduates of the “One Bread, One Cup” program, will be conducting a retreat at the Saint Meinrad Guesthouse.

We believe strongly that the Holy Spirit is pointing the way to an exciting horizon for Sacred Heart and its members. We believe as well that we are being called to respond positively and urgently to discern that horizon and to begin to act.

These important tools, along with the resources provided by the Center for Congregations, the Marian College Center for Catholic Stewardship, the Office of Stewardship Education and Saint Meinrad School of Theology, will equip us as a community to respond to the call of the Spirit.

- Fr. Frank Kordek, O.F.M., Pastor, Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish, Indianapolis

Parishes across the archdiocese are using the Clifton StrengthFinder (SF) and Member Engagement Survey (ME-25), which are two research-based assessment tools developed by the Gallup organization, to help parishioners identify their talents and enhance engagement in their faith communities. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

It’s not uncommon for parish leaders from one faith community to another to share the same concern: They depend too much upon too few regular volunteers.

Several parishes across the archdiocese are currently using two programs developed by the Gallup organization-known worldwide for decades for its skills in accurate polling-to determine how to enhance parishioner engagement by helping them to utilize their God-given talents and “do what they do best.”

Gallup analysts review the results of a simple 25-question survey called the ME-25 completed by parishioners. Their analysis will indicate to parish leaders the percentage of parishioners who are actively engaged in the life of the parish, are only minimally engaged or are actively disengaged from the faith community.

Using those survey results, parish leaders are encouraged to develop two or three modest but concrete objectives with action steps to be implemented over a 12-month period. All objectives are designed to meet the goal of strengthening parishioner engagement.

The StrengthsFinder assessment tool helps individuals learn their top five God-given themes of talent. Parishioners are then encouraged to reflect upon and begin to discern how to use those talents for growth and service.

Holy Spirit Parish in Indianapolis began using both programs last fall.

Steve Day, a member of the parish’s stewardship and development committee, sees a lot of positives coming out of the programs.

“We’re hoping that it’s going to make people stronger spiritually and enjoy the ministries they participate in more because they’ll be more tailored to the strengths that they have been given by God,” Day said. “As a result, they’ll do them more enthusiastically and with more fervor than they may have in the past.”

Last fall, some 1,200 Holy Spirit parishioners completed the ME-25 survey. Albert Winseman, who helped develop the Gallup programs, spoke to parish leaders in November. And during Lent this year, several groups of parishioners completed the 20-minute StrengthsFinder assessment and met regularly to learn more about their talents and how they relate to their life of faith.

“They can use the results of the [StrengthsFinder] survey in a lot of ways in their lives,” said Father Joseph Riedman, Holy Spirit’s administrator. “We try to encourage them to use them here. And they can use them in other ways in their lives. You could use it when you’re looking for a job.”

Lynda Miller, a member of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in Indianapolis, has helped oversee the use of StrengthsFinder in her faith community. She thinks it can be especially useful in reaching out to new parishioners.

“We’d like them to do the StrengthsFinder before they get too heavily entrenched in something that may or may not be working for them,” she said. “If you’re not happy with the [volunteering] job you’re doing in the parish, you may stop or you may leave the parish. The important thing is to find something that satisfies people and suits their skill set.”

Suzie Didat, the business manager of St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish in Floyd County in the New Albany Deanery, thinks the Gallup programs can help Catholics overcome a way of looking at themselves and at service to the Church that was common in the past.

“I’ve always been taught that if you’re not strong in one area, you need to look at ways to change and grow and adapt to that,” Didat said. “This comes from the opposite end. You discover what your strengths are and then gear your activities more toward those strengths.

“That will empower you to draw more people into the community and be involved.”

Staff members at St. Mary-of-the-Knobs Parish and several of its lay leaders have taken the StrengthsFinder test. A daylong workshop on the program in the parish is set for May.

“I am so hopeful that it will just jump- start volunteerism,” Didat said. “We have a lot of volunteers now, but it’s the same volunteers.”

Father Daniel Mahan, executive director of the Indianapolis-based Marian College Center for Catholic Stewardship, helps parishes use the Gallup programs in the context of stewardship of talent and time. He sees great potential in the programs.

“Those who are engaged are the ones who are serving much more,” said Father Mahan. “They’re inviting others to participate in Church activities. And they are giving, to the tune of three times as much as those who are not engaged or who are actively disengaged.”

He also thinks that the Gallup programs are good because, from the start, they are focused on being able to measure accurately their rate of success. It’s very much tied to outcomes.

“We’re looking for real outcomes in terms of service: The hours that people are spending in service in the parish and throughout the community, how many people have invited someone to participate in a Church activity over the last month, and giving as a percentage of income,” Father Mahan said.

But beyond the tangible ways in which the program’s success can be measured, he also emphasized the positive influence they can have on parishioners’ souls.

“When you get a person to become engaged in the parish, … it’s amazing how much more open they are to the spiritual counsel that’s offered in homilies, the extra programs that are offered in the parish,” Father Mahan said. ” … Engagement leads to spiritual commitment in many, many cases.”

(The Marian College Center for Catholic Stewardship is sponsoring a summit on strengths and engagement on Oct. 22. For more information on it or the center, call 317-955-6152 or log on to www.marian.edu/stewardship. For more information about Strengths and Engagement programs, log on to www.allaboutchurchengagement.com.) †

Don’t miss this video!

Do you want to get a good picture of what an engaged church is all about?

Do you want to hear from the pastor of the church with the highest percentage of engaged parishioners ever recorded?

Do you want to be inspired to take the steps necessary to build engagement in your congregation or parish?

If so, Inside an Engaged Church: The St. Gerard Majella Story is for you.  It is a 51 minute video that gives you a great look at what engagement is all about.

And you can watch it for free!!!

You may view the video free of charge. Click here for the streaming video.

Enjoy the video!

Before and After:
The Saint Gerard Majella Story
with
Msgr. William Hanson

	Listen to Fr. Dan’s interview with Fr. Bill Hanson.
Click above for lesson outline.	Click the arrow below for streaming audio.

Course work:

1. Please comment below about your impressions of St. Gerard Majella Church. What surprised you? What about this church motivates you to want to learn more?

2. Think about your own congregation or parish and offer the engagement prayer for the Church that Jesus first prayed: “That they may be one even as we are one.” (John 17: 22)

Click here for the next lesson.

Stewardship and the Vision of an Engaged Church:
Belonging Leads to Believing
with
Leisa Anslinger

	Listen to Fr. Dan’s interview with Leisa Anslinger Key Points: 1. The kind of changes that can be made within a church to increase engagement. 2. Engagement as a process, not a quick fix 3. Belonging leads to believing.
Click above for lesson outline.	Click the arrow below for streaming audio.

Coursework:

1. Comment below on how you understand the phrase, “Belonging Leads to Believing.” How could this phrase be unsettling to some people? When have you seen the dynamic of “belonging leading to believing” played out?

2. Pray for your congregation or parish.

Click here for the next lesson.

Why Talent Matters
with
Fr. Vin Rush

	Before listening to this lesson, please complete the StrengthsFinder assessment found in your copy of Living Your Strengths. If you do not have a copy, you may purchase it here. (You may select the Original Edition, the Catholic Edition, the Spanish editon, or the Spanish Catholic edition). Print out your Top 5 signature themes or write them down themes on a sheet of paper. Listen to Fr. Dan’s interview with Fr. Vin. Key points: 1. The StrengthsFinder and Positive Psychology 2. What is meant by “Signature Themes,” “Talents” and “Strengths” 3. Toward a strengths based parish or congregation
Click above for lesson outline.	Click the arrow below for streaming audio.

Coursework:

1. What are your Top Five Signature Themes? Post them below.

2. Comment on what surprised you about your report. Comment on what your report affirmed about you.

3. Pray for your parish or congregation, and pray for all of the churches taking part in this Online Summit.

Click here for the next lesson.

The Power of Coaching
with
Jean Zander

	Listen to Fr. Dan’s interview with Jean Zander. Key Points: 1. The benefits of Strengths Performance Coaching 2. Level One, Level Two and Level Three Coaching 3. Getting started in your church by ordering Living Your Strengths and Leisa Anslinger’s Study Guide.
Outline coming soon.	Click the arrow below for streaming audio.

Coursework:

1. Think of a time when someone affirmed one of your talents? What was that like? How did that make a difference in your life. Please comment below.

2. Pray for your congregation or parish.

Click here for the next lesson.