Parish Survey Results
What You Told Us
Your survey responses mark the beginning of a continuous process for improvement in the key areas for Christ The King to become a more engaged parish.
Traditionally, parishes have measured themselves primarily by their attendance, membership, and monetary giving. While these statistics are important, they are outcomes, not causes of a parish's spiritual health, they can be influenced by non-spiritual factors such as demographics and location. Gallup's survey goes to the heart of an individual's and a parish's engagement and spiritual commitment, giving parishes a clear picture of their spiritual health1 .
This excerpt explains the fundamental reason why the survey was done. It is a planning tool designed to help us identify areas where we could be doing a better job. Your answers to the survey questions are the first step towards planning a multi-faceted approach to addressing each opportunity for improvement.
How do we respond? How should we organize our effort? How will we measure our progress? To be effective and meaningful, all aspects of parish life must be involved; parishioners, staff, clerical, and lay leadership.
To that end, we are planning the annual parish meeting as a forum for discussion and input. You should view it as an opportunity to fine tune each area you identified and more importantly; give the results context. The meeting will be held on Monday October 26 at 7:00 PM in the parish hall.
Over the next few weeks we will share the results of the survey rated by a percentage that correlates to your responses. To give you a frame of reference; a score for an engaged parish is 40% or more for each item. The items under 40% need our attention. The names used in our examples are fictitious.
47% Spiritual needs met
George and Martha Hanley are overjoyed to be celebrating the Baptism of their 3rd grandchild here at CTK. They are touched both emotionally and spiritually as our parish welcomes their new grandson during the 9:15 Mass. The music they listen to each weekend makes them feel alive and the down-to-earth homilies as well as the fine attention to details during the different liturgical seasons fill their spiritual bank accounts many times over.
Bill and Tina are the young parents of twin girls and run constantly all week long. Attending mass each weekend is what helps keep them grounded. They feel they remain connected to God as well as to their roles as dedicated parents because of the strength they receive from mass and the Eucharist every Sunday.
Jackson, a URI college student never missed mass while growing up at home in New Jersey. He waivered a bit about whether or not he would make the effort to attend regularly now that he was away from home, but after attending his first 8 PM mass, he never looked back. Not only does our Chaplain feed his spirit during mass, the incredible bond that the college students share during that mass has helped him to discover just how important his Catholic faith is in his everyday life.
This is the second article where we share the results of the parish survey rated by a percentage that correlates to your responses. To give you a frame of reference; a score for an engaged parish is 40% or more for each item. The items under 40% need our attention.
42% Know what’s expected
It didn’t take long before the Hayden’s understood the importance of their roles as active stewards in the Christ the King Community. They fondly recall the early memories of when they first joined CTK nearly 30 years ago. They were welcomed with open arms and joined a faith family that provided them with an overwhelming kinship in addition to a people sharing so freely of their time, talents and treasures. Stewardship is plainly “A way of life” here at CTK and they recognized early on that it is our God-given joy to live out our Baptismal promises in whatever small or large capacity that we all have to offer.
41% Learn & Grow
As a relatively new parishioner, Maryann Gunderson has always believed there is something new to learn nearly every day. At age 60 she is still open to embracing new experiences and feels without them she would not be the person she is today. Here at CTK she feels blessed that her role as a Catholic and active parishioner is also growing because of the many stewardship opportunities available as well as the various events such as the annual concert, the invitation to take a rich, spiritual journey during the seasons of Advent and Lent and the privilege to receive Confession each Saturday if she so chooses. She, like many others, feels blessed to continually learn more about her faith and grow as a loving Christian with the Parish of CTK helping to strengthen this foundation.
40% Mission/Purpose
Our Mission Statement, Christ the King Parish is a welcoming and open Catholic community, believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We live out the challenge of our Baptism by sharing Time, Talent and Treasure. We strive through the celebration of the Eucharist and preparation in lay ministries, educational opportunities and community outreach to become the eyes and hands of Christ, is not only joyfully printed on the cover of our weekly bulletin but more importantly it is truly lived every day here amongst the good stewards of CTK. As Father Joe has so often said when he travels the country to help parishes begin or revamp their stewardship programs, “People know that their input is not just tolerated, but encouraged and necessary.” 40% are with us as we discover how to be better Stewards of all our gifts!
37% Cares about me
The Paddersons and the Mallards sit together every Sunday at mass, arriving early so they can catch up a bit and visit with other parishioners. They also hope to share a few meaningful words with our priests, but most weekends they only get a quick hello or a casual comment about sports or weather. Mrs. Padderson wonders if Fr. Creedon knows that her husband lost his job six months ago and they are faced with possibly moving. Due to the large size of our parish, the Mallards can appreciate how busy both the priests are but often times feel like just a number. They wish they could develop a more personal relationship with them which they believe would help strengthen their faith.
30% Opportunity to do what I do best
Christ the King is indeed the premier model of a stewardship-based parish where hundreds of members give generously of their time, talent and treasure. Curtis has happily served on a handful of committees and ministries over the years but notices it’s always many of the same people serving with him and that some of their god-given talents are either underutilized or perhaps not encouraged to be tried in other capacities because the parish routinely gets “set in its ways” and doesn’t actively explore what a diverse talent pool we have in this parish. He would like to see this explored in the future so all of our parish members can become active in roles that best suit their likes and talents.
29% Members committed to spiritual growth
Mel and Dody don’t often discuss religion with their close friends or long-time acquaintances here at Christ the King but have recently been open in sharing their strong commitment to enhancing and discovering the loving relationship they both have with God and the Catholic faith. In sharing this information with others, they were surprised to find that a large member of the Catholics in their lives are not committed to spiritual growth and are satisfied in just regularly attending mass and serving on a ministry or two.
26% Encourages spiritual development
There is no denying it—Christ the King has an outstanding reputation for being a strong stewardship parish. While Cathleen and Roy don’t think twice about sharing their time, treasure and talents, they do often wonder why these tremendous efforts stop there and why there isn’t more of an outreach to parishioners both young and old to develop their spiritual growth and development.
25% Best friend
After Millie’s husband died unexpectedly three years ago, she decided to change parishes and joined Christ the King because her niece and her family have been members for years and highly encouraged her to start fresh here because of the strong bond this faith community has with one another. Millie was not disappointed and was welcomed immediately and has met many new people in the past few years. Surprisingly, however, she has many good acquaintances but not a single person she could consider a new best friend. She would love to share some quality time with others that share in this faith and who also live their lives based on loving God and appreciating all he has given to us.
18% Recognition
Benson and Marlene have been helping out behind the scenes at CTK for nearly a decade. They stay after mass to neaten up the pews, are substitute RF teachers each year, and never miss an opportunity to help decorate the church for Christmas and the Easter Vigil. They, like dozens of other individuals are an example of some of CTK’s unsung heroes that give of their time and talents both because they enjoy it and because they feel they can make a difference in helping things run smoothly. They look forward to the annual Appreciation Reception held in the Parish Hall each spring and are pleased to be recognized at the end of mass on Pentecost each year but other than that collective group setting, they quietly admit to themselves that they wouldn’t mind a little nod or personal exchange of gratitude from our priests, parish staff, or other parishioners from time to time.
The Kelseys are always late to mass each week due to their hectic family life. Though they’ve been members here for over 5 years and attend mass each weekend, they don’t always feel like they belong. They shake hands with both priests and exchange pleasantries as they collect the bulletin and head out the door but neither priest regularly call them or their kids by name and they wonder if it’s because they are not as active as other members in stewardship ministries or if they just don’t hold as much clout as others in the parish. Though their contributions are not as great as others, it is all they are able to handle at this point in their lives and they yearn to feel the same recognition that many of their friends and URI colleagues seem to receive.
17% Opinions count
Stan and Helena have served on nearly a dozen committees and ministries while being long-time members of Christ the King but often wonder if their voices are ever heard. They are treated with respect and enthusiasm when asked for their input but time and again, their voice is usually lost when many of the same familiar people are the ones who seem to be heard and answered.
7% Progress in spiritual growth
The Flannigans couldn’t wait to join Christ the King because of the tremendous sense of community they felt after visiting just a handful of times. Parishioners for over ten years now, they still feel a warm connection to this faith community, but openly admit they have never gone the distance in order to grow spiritually other than read the occasional handouts that are left in the front of the church and maybe once every couple of years they attend one of the seminars offered in the parish hall. They feel lost without direction and wonder if that will ever change.
1 - From the Introduction to the Gallup ME25