Town Hall on Strategic Planning
Town Hall Meeting on Strategic Planning
Canadian Martyrs Parish
March 24, 2008
(Report of the Meeting Facilitator)
Recognizing that strategic planning is a long term commitment process, the Pastoral Council working group organized a reference meeting or 'Town Hall' meeting, inviting the parish community at both the Saturday and Sunday Masses and posting an invitation notice in the church bulletin. On Sunday March 24th 2008, approximately 25 people attended a three hour meeting to initiate the strategic planning process by doing a SWOT (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats) exercise.
The morning began with a mapping exercise where all participants placed a dot on an Ottawa city map to show where they lived in relation to Canadian Martyrs Parish (CMP). Then they divided into four groups, two of which analyzed the strengths and challenges, the other two looked at weaknesses and opportunities. Below is a summary of the key points. Attached is a compilation of all of the points identified in the breakout groups.
Strengths
In both the groups the strengths focused on the characteristics of the laity and the style of the church. Parishioners’ generosity, level of involvement, commitment to church ministries, willingness to contribute and create a welcoming environment, were all seen as strengths as were people’s openness to new parishioners, and especially to youth and children. Being part of the Oblates’ historical tradition of social activism and mission was also valued by participants. The characteristics of the church itself were also identified: having active ministries, maintaining long term parishioners, being non-pretentious in both the service/homily, leaving the diocese or Catholic ‘politics’ out of the Mass, and maintaining good ecumenical relationships. An active out-going priest who was open to change was also identified as a key strength as was the new presence of the married deacon and his wife, and the commitment and generosity of Jane and Kaye.
Weaknesses
All organizations, institutions and people have weaknesses. The value added by identifying weaknesses is to establish a collective understanding of what could be improved or to flag an emerging issue, and to create a space where people can feel comfortable enough to raise their concerns. As often happens with weaknesses, they are connected to the strengths, and can often at times be seen as the downside of the very same strength.
The weaknesses identified focused on volunteers, parish size, communications, relevance and the lack of space for large group gatherings or physical activities. Concerns raised regarding the parish volunteers were that the church relied on a relatively small core of volunteers in key positions resulting in them being potentially stretched, getting burnt out, or not creating the space for new/different kind of involvement from new parishioners. Communication needed to be improved, especially regarding a website, but also in engaging new parishioners on a personal level and in developing stronger communication strategies to outreach (and especially to do so while building on existing events).
The limited involvement of youth was a weakness potentially leading into the larger issue of how be relevant and connect to the world issues of social justice, the environment, and human rights. Moreover it was felt that the parish was too inward looking, not reaching out beyond the limited yet committed core base, and that it should explore how to reach out to outsiders be they lapsed Catholics, youth, those searching for spiritual meaning, or those who are facing doubts in their faith.
Opportunities
Participants saw various opportunities for Canadian Martyrs, building on the identified strengths and weaknesses. Attracting youth by supporting volunteer hours for students and assigning specific/interesting projects for them (such as being responsible for developing or maintaining the website) was seen as important. Reaching out to new Canadians through neighbourhood school welcome centres or other mechanisms was seen as important not only from a social justice perspective but also as a means to grow the parish and continue to reflect the communities.
Finding social justice volunteer activities that the parish could collectively support such as the Good Food Box or soup kitchens, was seen as a way of building community and living out one’s faith. Finding out what resources were available through the diocese (NET) and what hidden treasures of skills and assets lay within the parish amongst parishioners was also seen as important. Building relationships with neighbours, both the school and neighbouring parishes was a seen as a potential strategy to address issues about space and strengthen the sense of community.
Participants also felt that it was important to gain a better understanding of the needs/gaps in Canadian Martyrs activities and programming. Finding out the interests and needs of those who are regular members that attend Mass but do not become involved was seen as necessary, as was maximizing outreach opportunities through socials, church bulletins, etc. at key times/activities that bring out a broader audience (i.e. Christmas, Easter, Baptisms etc.). Suggestions included making the space more welcoming with photos of the priest, parishioners and activities that show that the community is alive and flourishing. Other ideas included an outdoor sign that states what the topic of the homily and establishing a welcoming/visiting committee while reminding all of the regular parishioners that it is everyone’s responsibility to welcome newcomers.
Challenges
Challenges or Threats are external factors that play a role or have an impact on activities or strategy development. Some of these challenges can be influenced or addressed, while others are beyond the control of individuals or organizations. However it is important to name the issues, so that outreach and strategy development can address and prepare for potential barriers.
External challenges for Canadian Martyrs included understanding and explaining the Oblate organization, keeping a priest that reflects the Canadian Martyrs community, an increasing secular world where religion is often seen as a negative factor, an aging population in both the parish but also the priesthood, and keeping the church open during daytime hours for private prayer and meditation.
The other challenges identified focused on the internal workings of the parish. How does Canadian Martyrs keep young people involved? How does it live out the gospel and spread the evangelical message through living its message? How can it attract the immigrant population and make them feel welcome? A key issue was how to better respond to the needs of parishioners within our own community, to acknowledge, name and address the suffering side of our own parishioners be it issues they face due to age and social isolation, abuse, addictions, or poverty.
It was also recognized that a key challenge was the risk of alienating committed long time parishioners as the Church seeks to make changes. There may be a fear of change or a sense of losing control and unease with asking (or answering) and exploring the underlying questions of what does it mean to be Catholic in today’s world. This was also connected to the theme that parishioners expect/want different things from different churches. Some parishioners attend more than one church to meet the different aspects of their faith, and do not necessarily expect one church to meet all their needs.
Conclusion and Action
Over the three hour session, participants reviewed the activities of the parish and concluded that many activities support the liturgy but are not very parishioner centred. There was an emphasis on maintaining activities but not enough exploring or deepening new experiences/activities. This could be linked to one of the weaknesses of relying on a stretched and limited volunteer base. While this is the first step in a longer process of developing a strategic plan, some key activities/initiatives were identified that could inform the process, and be seen as ‘quick wins’ for the parish. These are:
- Strengthen connection/relationship with Immaculata High School
- Connect with the Welcoming Centre for newcomers and find out about their resources and how CMP could complement their activities
- Learn more about the Diocesan resources that we can use
- Learn more about social justice activities in Ottawa including the Good Food Box
- Develop a website and let the youth take the lead role
- Conduct a church survey or census (for example, using an web-based survey tool that provides anonymity), and let youth take the lead role
- Put a city map up at the back of the church and ask parishioners to place dots on where they live to get a better idea of demographics
- Establish a welcoming/visiting committee for new parishioners
- Have more displays of photos with parishioners and priest
Gaps where it was felt that strategies needed to be developed were:
- How to bring in more of the 22-35 and 35-50 age groups, recognizing that their time demands need to be different
- Retaining the involvement of youth in their mid-late teens, when they often experience a resistance or hostility to church and even to religion
- Learn more about the needs and ideas of parishioners that attend mass at different times (weekday Mass, Saturday Mass, feast days)
- Find ways to support/address the suffering side among our own parishioners and provide comfort and support.
- Seize key moments/activities to strengthen outreach and build relationships (i.e. feast days, Gregorian chant performances, marriage preparation courses)
- Find ways to better market our identity as Canadian Martyrs (a welcoming, laity driven parish).
A useful exercise for outreach/strategy development is to map out levels of participation/involvement though concentric circles, recognizing that not everyone will want to become involved in parish activities, and that there are different ways and degrees of showing one’s involvement. In looking at outreach, the question is how to develop strategies that respond to and address these differing levels and potential groups for involvement.
Inner | Medium | Outer | Broader |
|
Adriana Beemans
Workshop facilitator
April 11, 2008
Previous page: Pastoral Planning Team
Next page: Bulletins