You may not have noticed yet, but something is different at Mother of God. It has nothing to do with the physical appearance of the church. It’s about the work we are doing as a Next Generation parish in the diocesan-wide With One Heart program.

The program, designed by the Catholic Leadership Institute (CLI), takes a different approach to helping Catholic individuals grow in faith and discipleship—notably by gathering data from parishioners regarding their attitudes and beliefs, engagement in and satisfaction with parish activities, the parish in general, and the pastor. This data is then used to make strategic decisions to help people grow in their faith and feel more connected.

For Next Generation parishes like us, the program also offers in-person mentoring for priests and lay leaders as they go through the strategic planning process.

Last February and March, we participated in the Disciple Maker Index (DMI), a 75-question survey that went out to all parishioners of the diocese to assess the status of our journey of discipleship. Our parish goal was 10% participation, but Fr. Comer challenged us to reach 20%. We responded with a whopping 56%—more than enough information to help us in our strategic planning.

Throughout the summer and fall, our Envisioning Team, appointed by Fr. Comer, met regularly with Jessica Adams, our CLI consultant, to reaffirm our parish’s purpose statement, which was developed in 2020 by Parish Council (just before COVID-19 shut everything down). They defined our parish’s vision and values, combed through the DMI results, and identified three priorities—each with two measurable goals to work on over the next two years.

On Monday, Jan. 8, a newly appointed Implementation Team began the planning process to put the goals into action. There will be opportunities for you to help with this work. Watch for announcements in the bulletin and The Connector about how you can participate.

Mother of God has been incredibly blessed through the years to have a vibrant faith community, but there are many reasons why we can’t take for granted it will always be this way.

• With the decline in vocations to the priesthood, we must be prepared for the day when the daily operations of the parish are handled by a lay administrator, while a priest comes in to say Mass and administer sacraments.
• Nationwide, participation in organized religion and church attendance has dropped off significantly, including the Catholic Church. (Statistics show that 85% of children who were confirmed stopped practicing their faith by age 21.) But that doesn’t mean people aren’t hungry and searching for spiritual food. We must adopt a missionary impulse to let them know what Jesus Christ offers them and respectfully learn to share our own stories of faith.
• We are an aging parish, with approximately 80% of us over 56 years old. It is imperative that we discern what younger people are looking for and find ways to meet their needs to ensure that we remain a vital community and pass our faith on to future generations.

The Implementation Team will be working on accomplishing our parish goals over the next 18 months. We will keep you informed about their progress and how you can help. Each of us has an important role to play in the life of our parish and making sure it continues as a dynamic witness to God’s love for all.

Please pray for our success and be assured that the Holy Spirit is present and working through every one of us at Mother of God Church.