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From the Pastor’s Desk
Back in October and November 2020, over 270 of our parishioners completed the Disciple Maker Index. A team that has included both staff as well as Pastoral Council members have met for over 12 hours on three occasions to better understand the results.
As a quick overview some of the things we learned are the following: (1) A vast majority understand the importance of the Word of God and that preaching in the parish is highly valued; (2) the core, dogmatic teachings of the Roman Catholic faith are believed by the an overwhelming majority; and (3) attendance at Mass and personal prayer are regularly practiced by those who took the survey.
The findings of the DMI also helped us to initially understand that we have work to do in some areas. For example, with less than 15% of those who took the survey indicating they regularly go to the Sacrament of Penance (confession), this is something we need to look at for the good of the community. Also, while there is a strong belief in the core teachings of Catholicism, there is lot less confidence in our parishioners to be able to share our Faith with others.
The group that has worked with me to begin addressing all of this seems to have settled on three key areas to begin forming a Pastoral Plan for the Parish – Hospitality, Faith Formation and the “Cathedral Experience.” The latter area is a broad way of identifying an on-going response to ensure that all people (whether visitors or parish members) experience the best that we have to offer every day.
The formulation of a Pastoral Plan will be a mighty big task. So please keep us in your prayers as we work on it. If you have any questions, please contact us at cathedraldmi@gmail.com.
Love,
Fr. Tom