Disciple Maker Index Survey; January 19, 2020

Dear Friends at Saint Mary’s Immaculate Conception Parish and Saint Frances Cabrini Parish:  Praised be Jesus Christ!

I wanted to use this opportunity to make everyone aware of a program that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee is helping to test-pilot with a few other dioceses around the country, which impacts each of us in our local parishes.  The program is the Disciple Maker Index Survey (hereafter DMI), and it is intended to create a demographic snapshot of each of our parishes.  The intent is to give pastors and parish leaders some feedback on how well parishes are doing on several key areas of evangelical outreach and formation; the same information will also be useful to the Archdiocese for their process of assigning pastors to parishes, helping parishes better collaborate, etc. 

To obtain the snapshot, all parish members are to complete an electronic survey.  For those who are not proficient in the online survey world, paper copies will also be made available.  The roll out for the survey will be in the later part of this February, and we will have until mid-March to complete it.  The goal is 100% participation in the DMI by all parish members.  The survey results will be given back to the parish as well as to the Archdiocese, but in aggregate form which means it will not be possible to see individual responses or to know which individual answered which way.  Therefore it is anonymous. 

The DMI offers the parish leadership, and the Archdiocese, a helpful data snapshot. What’s the benefit to each of you for taking time to do this?  Few people enjoy taking surveys, it is true.  In the case of the DMI, I think it is a very important personal exercise to have to ponder, even if for just a brief moment, our personal answers to the questions about our faith practice, parish life, who Jesus is to us, what the faith means, what further growth is needed, etc, etc.  I do not think most of us have the opportunity to intentionally step back and unpack what is often taken for granted when it comes to faith practice.  While the DMI is not a perfect survey, it does offer an important chance for reflection on a personal level, and also on a parish level.   That will be a valuable exercise as an end in and of itself regardless of what sort of data snapshot comes back.

Please watch for more information coming soon about the survey, which will include the instructions for how to complete it in a timely manner.  Thank you in advance for your participation in it, and for your prayerful reflection upon what it means to be a parish family in our day today. 

Access the Survey Here!  http://www.disciplemakerindex.com/