Recently our parish conducted an in-house survey, spearheaded by the Evangelization Ministry of our parish. Thank you to everyone who participated in it. You saw the results that were published in last week’s parish bulletin. Those who participated gave us much food for thought. We hope it is an opportunity for our parish to become an even better one. After we developed the in-house parish survey for all of you, we were presented with yet another unforeseen opportunity to help us be a better parish. We learned that the Archdiocese of Chicago is one of 16 Dioceses in the USA chosen to participate in another Catholic survey, of a different sort. You might be thinking, “Oh brother, I just did a survey so why should I do another one?” I was asked to be the St. Michael point of contact and I will try to give you the information as best I can. Please read carefully and bear with me as I explain. Starting immediately until March 31, we invite all parishioners 17 years of age and older to share their input by participating in a 10 minute web-based survey conducted by the Catholic Leadership Institute. It is called the Disciple Maker Index (DMI) Survey and allows parishioners to reflect on their own spiritual growth and discipleship and identify the ways in which our parish effectively supports that growth. I really believe this will be of interest to you. Important: All responses will be anonymous. Also, we will NOT have access to individual survey responses and will received the results directly from the Catholic Leadership Institute. This survey offers us a unique and important opportunity to learn about issues of importance in a confidential and professional way. We will use these results to 1) look at opportunities to support parishioner growth in discipleship and 2) create goals and plans to achieve that growth. I hope you will check it out and participate. It doesn’t take long to complete. You can have a cup of coffee and piece of pie while you do it! Our results will be compared to the results of the other parishes in the Archdiocese, as well as the other 15 Dioceses participating in the Discipleship Maker Index Survey. Your feedback and input will help shape various ministries as we plan for the future and strive to be the best parish we can be. We will receive the results in late spring at which time we will share what we have learned with all of St. Michael’s Parish. To participate, please scan the QR code above to access the survey.
Thank you for helping our St. Michael Parish in Old Town! God loves you! Love God back!