Disciple Maker Index Survey- Why do it?

Part Three of a four-part series on a new and exciting initiative called Next Generation Parish

In part two of our series last week, we described the process of phase one of our Next Generation Parish partnership with the Catholic Leadership Institute. Phase one’s focus is to gather information on the current state of our parish as it relates to having a culture of discipleship. Our coach is asking St. John’s to distribute a survey tool called the Disciple Maker Index. We described what the survey is and what to expect, but now we’d like to address the question: Why?

The main reason for us to distribute the survey tool is to help St. John’s identify ways in which the parish effectively supports spiritual growth and looks for opportunities to support that growth in the future. As Catholic Christians, every second of our life, every choice we make has eternal consequences. Our choices either lead us to grow in our relationship with God or distance us from God. As a parish, all of our efforts should be to help support every single one of you in your ability to grow closer to God. Nothing else matters; this is our primary goal, and everything we do should have this goal in mind. If it doesn’t then we are missing the mark, and we are falling short.

As parish leaders, we can see that we do not everything we can to support your spiritual growth. For that, we sincerely apologize. We know we can do better. This partnership is a chance for us to rectify that situation. We do notice some ways we fall short, but there may be ways that we do not recognize our shortcomings. We need as many people as possible to fill out this survey. We will be able to see our strengths and our weaknesses, especially the ones we do not recognize through your input. How can we get better as a parish, as a family, if we are blind to certain areas of deficiency? If you give us the chance to see those weaknesses, then we can address them in our plan. We ask for the opportunity to earn your trust.

Continue to pray for our parish, that we can become the best parish we can be. Pray that we can know and follow God’s plan for our parish!