Over the past two weeks, we have been examining results for St. Monica from the 2017 and 2019 “Disciple Maker Index” (DMI). There are some areas that merit special mention and comment:

• Music and Liturgy:
  • Area for concern: “Mass deepens my relationship with Christ:” This was a new question that was added to the 2019 DMI. This was also one area where we had additional data from earlier surveys. The score has declined steadily over the past 9 years (2010 – 2013 – 2017 – 2019)
  • Area for concern: “Music offering helps deepen my relationship to Christ:” The score declined significantly, especially over the past two years.
  • Area of hope: Sacristans. The sacristan population was too small. A cry for help went out. 8 more people stepped forward, 7 of whom were young people - an important demographic to parish growth.

We are not where we want to be in music and liturgy. The DMI result seems to underscore the idea that “we broke something in the parish.” Our Parish Vision is to help people Encounter Christ. We have done this “Through His Word, Through Service and Through Liturgy.“ If we are focusing on discipleship, then liturgy needs to be transformative. Our desire is that a new Liturgy/Music Minister would see music and liturgy as essential tools to help grow the faith of the parish.

When it comes to music and liturgy, we heard you. We are sensitive to what people have said and are feeling. We’re in the midst of a transition. We need your help in this transformation. In further communications, we want to know what efforts we can make to heal and grow. How do we get to that place where Mass is so special that you want to bring your friends to join you?

The other liturgical area where the DMI showed a perplexing result was in the Ministry of Hospitality. Last week I mentioned some of the steps we took to strengthen this ministry. We formed a “Hospitality Committee.” Practices were discussed. Changes were recommended and implemented. Extra resources were invested. Even so, the “hospitality” score simply did not improve. “Community Welcoming” was 37% in 2017 and 38% in 2019. Why? How can we make this ministry “transformative” so that people want to bring others to St. Monica to experience a special type of welcome?

Next week we are going to finish with some analysis and begin to outline some recommendations based on what we have seen in the DMI.