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FINAL REPORT ON ST. PHILIP'S PARISH • • The St. Philip’s Disciples in Mission Team chose to develop their Lenten Small Faith Sharing Program along the idea of "Accepting The Invitation." After identifying potential small group coordinators, letters were sent to each person. The letters provided an introduction to the Disciples In Mission program, along with a brief description of what the Leadership Team had been doing in preparation. The letter ended with "an invitation" that the person give prayerful consideration to becoming a small group coordinator. The Leadership Team then followed up afterwards with a personal invitation. From these responses we developed our small group coordinators teams. After identifying the small group coordinators, we then presented the program to the parish. This was accomplished in a three step program. First - - large 15" x 40" posters were posted at each church entrance and in the school hall. The posters featured a picture of the church along with the simple phrase of "Accept The Invitation." The intent of the poster was to provide the parishioners with a quick and easy to read sign as they were entering or leaving the church. The picture of our church was used to provide an image familiar to all. Second - - the following Sunday, an oral presentation was made at each mass by one of the Leadership Team members. This presentation was an overview of the program along with "an invitation" to partake in the program. Third - - the following week personal invitations were mailed to each parishioner. The idea was to make the invitation personal, much like a wedding invitation, and not just another notice stapled to the Sunday bulletin. Mailing these prior to Sign-Up Sunday provided an effective reminder of the presentation the previous Sunday, and allowed each person time to think about the invitation throughout the week. On Sign-Up Sunday we distributed sign-up cards at each mass. The cards listed the times and days available for the small group meetings, as well as the names of the team coordinators. We felt this would act as an incentive to our parishioners by letting them know exactly the time and days the teams were available, as well as giving them the opportunity to sign-up with team coordinators with whom they felt more comfortable. After the cards were tabulated, the team coordinators were notified who had signed up for their group. These team coordinators were responsible for contacting their group participants and making final arrangements. In addition to the orientation program offered by the Diocese for the team coordinators, our Leadership Team also provided additional training. The Family Activity Booklets were distributed to the school age children to provide ideas for including the entire family in the Lenten program. On the Sunday before the start of the program a Prayer Service was held prior to the start of each mass to pray for the success of the program. The recommended bulletin inserts were used each Sunday to supplement the program. The Leadership Team polled the team coordinators mid-way through the program to determine if any additional help was needed, and to assess how the program was going. Prior to the fifth week of the program, a letter, along with copies of the Small Group Participant’s Evaluation Form, were mailed to the team coordinators. Coordinators were asked to distribute these forms to the group participants at the end of the fifth week and to collect them on the final week of the program. Self-addressed stamped envelopes were included to encourage return of the forms. A summary of these Evaluation Forms has been included at the end of this report. Final results of the Small Group Faith Sharing program are as follows:
Upon completion of the small group faith sharing program the Leadership Team met to discuss preparation for the Parish Reflection Day. After lengthy discussion the team decided it was not feasible to sponsor a program that would last an entire day. Conflicts with the parish calendar and the coming spring and summer activities led the team to believe attendance and participation at an all day event would be poor. As an alternative to the Parish Reflection Day the team decided to host an evening dinner for the small group faith sharing participants. The gathering was intended to honor and thank those who served as group coordinators as well as seek input for the future of faith building programs within the parish. It was felt those people who attended the faith sharing program would more than likely be those who would attend the Parish Reflection Day. As such, we felt we had the best chance of obtaining constructive ideas from this group of people. The Leadership Team divided into two sub-teams. One team agreed to prepare and serve the meal. The second team agreed to prepare the evening’s presentation to the participants. The team selected Thursday, May 28, 1998, for the night of the dinner. It was held in the school hall. Invitations were prepared and sent to each faith sharing group participant. The theme was "Rejoice and Celebrate." Participants were encouraged to bring a guest. As a "tease" the invitations included a picture of one of the team members, Ed Schroder, who had agreed to head the team preparing the evening’s meal. Using computer software, Mr. Schroder’s head was placed on the body of a chef standing in front of a kitchen prep area. It was hoped this bit of humor would increase the number of people who would turn out for the evening. After the invitations were sent out, group coordinators followed up with phone calls to verify those who were going to attend. The evening’s schedule was as follows: 6:30-7:00 PM - Snacks, Drinks and Mingling 7:00-7:45 PM - Thanksgiving prayer led by Father Ryan followed by dinner. 7:45-8:00 PM - Father Ryan gave a brief talk about the spiritual future of the parish. 8:00-8:15 PM - The small prayer group leaders were thanked for their leadership and honored with a gift of appreciation. 8:15-8:45 PM - Theresa Brugger, Parish Council President and member of the DIM Leadership Team, welcomed and thanked all of the participants for their participation and attendance. She then gave a talk on the need to continue growing in faith and then requested that the dinner attendees provide ideas on what they would like to assist in this effort. Each table was assigned a "scribe" to record the ideas generated by the individual groups. Three questions with the aid of a flip chart were presented to the groups. Question No. 1: In what ways did you benefit by participating in the small faith sharing groups? Question No. 2: What could we as a parish do to help each other grow deeper in our faith? Question No. 3: If we as a parish could only implement three ideas, which three would you prefer? The groups were asked to discuss Question No. 1 among themselves for 5-10 minutes. Question No. 2 was presented and the groups were asked to brainstorm ideas on what the parish could do to help each other grow deeper in our faith. Responses were recorded on a preprinted form . After the list was generated the groups were ask to prioritize the top three ideas the group felt were most important. The forms were collected for review by the Leadership Team. 8:45 - 9:00 PM - The program was brought to a close. A final thanks to all was given and a closing prayer said by the assembly. A laminated bookmark containing the closing prayer was distributed to all of the evening participants as a gift of appreciation. The evenings activities were photographed for posterity and possible use in year two of the Disciples In Mission program. The suggestions received from the Celebration Dinner were summarized into seven major categories. These categories are: 1. Faith
Sharing/Growth Suggestions On June 10, 1998, the DIM Leadership Team gathered together one more time to close out the 1998 year and review the results of the Celebration Dinner. It was decided to present the results of the Grow In Faith Suggestions to the Parish Council for review and action. The team concluded the meeting with "The Spirit of Disciples In Mission" prayer and agreed to reconvene in the Fall of 1998. Respectfully submitted,
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